Last weekend saw Round 2 of GT Battle take to the famous Silverstone Circuit…….
Held at Silverstone on June 17th, the event managed to push forward the drifters most capable of high speed drift to equally match the speeds witnessed when viewing the Japanese last year. Speeds were recorded around the 95mph mark at the first entry point as the cars entered the Brooklands corner and only 6 inches from the wall!
As the practice sessions moved on more drivers got comfortable with the high pace and began to amaze the crowds with their speed, smoke and vast skill. Although managing to get into the top 16, Round 1's winner and current Championship leader Brett Castle was pipped to the premier spot by Phil Morrison who went on to win the event outright and claim a superb victory, the first ever 1st place for Morrison who was comforted with cheers and applause from the spectators. Morrisons' victory now gives him a huge boost to challenge Castle for the Championship and a well deserved win in Round 2.
D1GB Qualifying
Darren McNamara 97 Points Ben Broke Smith 93 PointsBrett Castle 95 Points Stephen Evans 93 PointsPhil Morrison 95 Points Mark Coyne 92 PointsDamien Mulvey 95 Points Declan Hicks 92 PointsMike Deane 94 Points Garry Kennedy 92 PointsMatt Steele 94 Points James Grimsy 88 PointsNiall Gunn 94 Points John Chambers 87 PointsTim Marshall 94 Points Ian Harrison 87 PointsGlen Maher 94 Points Tiff Needell 87 PointsRalph Crampton 93 Points Simon Russell 85 PointsMaceij Polody 93 Points Scott Armstrong 70 PointsJames Hudson 93 Points Julian Smith 10 PointsPaul Vlasblom 93 Points John Power 1 PointIan Coyne 93 Points Nick Hawes 1 PointStephen Shine 93 Points Mark Luney 0 Point DNF Engine FailureMike Murphy 93 Points
D1GB Round 2 Race ResultPhil Morrison 20 PointsDarren McNamara 18 PointsJames Hudson 16 PointsBrett Castle 14 PointsPaul Vlasblom 12 PointsMaciej Polody 10 PointsGlen Maher 8 PointsNiall Gunn 6 PointsDamien Mulvey 4 PointsIan Coyne 2 PointsMike Deane 1 PointMatt Steele 1 PointTim Marshall 1 PointRalph Crampton 1 PointSteven Shine 1 PointMike Murphy 1 Point
D1GB National Championship Scoreboard after Round 2Brett Castle 34 Points Nissan 200SX S14Phil Morrison 28 Points Nissan 200SX S14 – Works Driftworks carDarren McNamara 19 Points Toyota AE86Mark Luney 18 Points Nissan Skyline R32 GTR ( RWD )Ralph Crampton 17 Points Nissan 350Z – Works SVA Imports carJames Hudson 17 Points Nissan Skyline R32 GTSDamien Mulvey 16 Points Nissan S13Tim Marshall 15 Points Nissan 350Z – Works Sumo Power carMaciej Polody 14 Points Nissan 200SXPaul Vlasblom 13 Points BMW E36Ben Broke Smith 10 Points Nissan Skyline R32 GTSGlen Maher 8 Points Nissan S13Declan Hicks 6 Points Toyota SoarerNiall Gunn 6 Points Nissan S13Mat Steele 3 Points Nissan 200SX S14Ian Coyne 3 Points Nissan S13Mike Deane 2 Points Nissan S13Stephen Evans 1 Point Nissan Skyline R32 GTSSteven Shine 1 Point Nissan S13Mike Murphy 1 Point Nissan S13
Andy Barnes, D1GB Championship Co-ordinator said ‘The Championship is now taking shape and the competitors are finding the new and exciting tactics required to keep ahead in the twin drift battles. We can expect to see some revisions of vehicles as competitors square up to their rivals in terms of power and chassis modification. The first two events have shown that car setup is crucial to winning, combined with a good driver they will see the results. Also new to the UK was the anticipated crowd excitement that the events are now proving to have, with cheers and appreciation coming over the fence from the revved up spectators, giving the extra boost to the drivers to push to the limits to win over not only the judges but also the crowds. ‘
Once more the countries finest tuned cars made their way to GT Battle for Round 2 of the Series. Entrant numbers for the event were oversubscribed giving a full and mixed grid for the second chance for the Pro and Club Challenge class' to do battle once more to see who is quickest around the National Circuit at Silverstone.
This Round saw a new entry in the Pro class from the Ford Cosorth of Steve Scott, who was laying down some great times to better the Japanese cars and on paper there would seem to be a favourite to take the fastest lap following on from Rockingham and the efforts made by the Litchfield/Powerstation Subaru however stepping up the pace and making further changes to their car, the RC Developments Evo 6, driven by Clive Seddon managed to set some blistering laps, narrowly beating fellow competitor and rival tuner Norris Designs and their Evo 9 by just a few hundreths of a second in the final Time Attack session to go on to take the days fastest lap in the finals and pounding down a 1.02.815 lap on the National Circuit.
The Club Challenge also saw the entry of the RK Tuning Skyline, driven by Darren Bly who went on to show that the sprint friendly GTR could use the advantage of its power on the long straights at Silverstone to take the win just ahead of the GTR Registers own Peter Everett in his R33 GTR Skyline. Darren's time even equalled some of the Pro cars, laying down a lap time in the finals of 1.04.750 to take the overall fastest lap.
Full information and results and info on GT Battle, D1GB and Time Attack are available at:
gtbattle.comtimeattack.co.ukd1gb.co.uk
The Next GT Battle Event is:Knockhill Race Circuit : July 1st
