Rounds 13 Result – Brands Hatch
Cirtek Power Through to Take Second
Win number 9 for Tim Mullen and Chris Niarchos has given the Scottish team a three point championship lead with three races remaining. A clash between the Ferrari and the Team LNT Panoz caused the rear right wheel to fail and Luke Hines was forced to come into the pits. A charge back through the field by Hines resulted in 3rd overall and 3rd in GT2 behind the flying Cirtek Porsche of Adam Jones and Peter Lloyd.
GT3 saw another win for Leo Machitsky and Jonathan Cocker, the Aston Martin battling with the more powerful GT2 cars for most of the race. The points have moved Machitsky to within half a point to the Lotus pairing of Sam Blogg and George MacKintosh in the GT3 Championship, however the Lotus pairing had their best race of the 2006 season finishing 2nd and clearing showing that the last round at Silverstone is going to be a battle royale for class honours.
Tom Ferrier and Phil Glew took a dramatic win in the GTC class, just ahead of Ryan Hooker and Phil Keen. However an eight second penalty handed to Phil Keen for driving standards dropped the #3 Trackspeed Porsche down the order and promoted Matt Allison and Jonny Lang to second place and gave them a 5 point advantage over Hooker in the GTC championship title race.
A goog start by pole position holder Ian Flux saw the Rollcentre Mosler lead the Team LNT Panoz and the Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari into Paddock Hill for the first time. The three GT2 cars were nose-to-tail through Druids and Graham Hill as the two championship contenders battled to get past the very wide and fast Mosler.
On lap 2 Tom Kimber-Smith got the run on Flux on the Grand Prix loop and as the cars came back into view at Clearways the Panoz was in front with the Ferrari of Tim Mullen back in third place. Kimber-Smith started to pull away as the Ferrari struggled to find a way past the Rollcentre car.
Finally on Lap 3 Mullen made his move at Westfield and he set off after the Panoz. However Kimber-Smiths lead was curtailed as the safety car came out after Matt Harris in the #4 Trackspeed Porsche was tipped into a spin by another car and was collected by the Ascari of Richard Stanton.
On lap 7 the race was restarted with the two leading cars pulling ahead of the rest of the field as the pitstop window approached. In GTC Chris Beighton was storming through the field in the Team Tiger Marcos, hitting the class lead on lap 9 after passing Phil Keen at Paddock Hill. Matt Griffin borught the #17 RPM Porsche into the pits after running over debris on the track, the car unable to rejoin the track.
Meanwhile Mullen was pressurising Kimber-Smith and the Panoz ran wide at Westfield and the Ferrari pounced, taking the lead just as the safety car was deployed for the second time. Just as the saftey car came out the pitstop window opened and Leo Machitski came into the pits just as it opened, handing over to Jonathan Cocker who leapfrogged up the field as a result of Machitski's quick thinking.
A frantic few minutes ensued as most of the teams took advantage of the saftey car to do their compulsory stops. Mullen handed over to Chris Niarchos at the same time as Kimber-Smith handed over to Luke Hines, but the LNT crew managed to get the drop on their rivals and Hines rejoined ahead of Niarchos. Ian Flux stayed out and was leading as the safety car pulled into the pitlane.
The Panoz / Ferrari battle continued as they fought they way back up the grid from 6th and 7th under the safety car. On Lap 19 Flux pitted, leaving the Panoz out in front just 0.2 seconds ahead of teh Ferrari and the rapid Aston Martin of Jonathan Cocker not far behind in 3rd. In 4th place the Cirtek Porsche of Adam Jones was flying up the order after starting from a lowly 23rd.
On lap 21 Niarchos got alongside the Panoz at Surtees, but Hines didn't see the Ferrari and turned in, clipping the rear end of teh Team LNT car and causing a wheel failure. The Ferrari continued with minor wing damage but the Panoz had to limp back to the pits for a new wheel.
A charge back through the field then developed, eventually getting back up to 3rd place by the end of the race behind the Cirtek Porsche and the winning Ferrari.
Sam Blogg in the Lotus Sport Cadena Exige was also having the best race of the season, forcing his way through the field and passing the GT3 Porsche of David Ashburn on his way to 6th overall and second in GT3.
The GTC battle was raging for the entire race and the Motorbase Performance Porsche of Phil Glew and Tom Ferrier was in the thick of it. Tom Ferrier found himself battling with Bradley Ellis in the Team RPM Porsche and Ryan Hooker in the Trackspeed Porsche. On lap 33, contact between Ellis and the DBRS9 of Paul Drayson dropped the RPM car out of contention, with Ferrier challenging Hooker for the class lead as they entered the final lap side-by-side across the line.
Out on the GP loop Ferrier made his move and came back into view ahead of Hooker and took the chequered flag.
A dramatic end to a thrilling British GT race that saw Tim Mullen and Chris Niarchos extend their lead over Tom Kimber-Smith and Luke Hines with three races remaining.
Leo Machitski now heads for the final round at Silverstone just half a point in the GT3 championship chase behind George MacKintosh and Sam Blogg.
The stewards judged that Phil Keen was at fault for the earlier accident that caused Matt Harris to spin into the wall, which also eliminated the Ascari of Richard Stanton and was awarded an eight second penalty which dropped himself and Ryan Hooker down to 11th overall and 5th in class. It also gave Championship leaders Matt Allison and Jonny Lang an extra point over their championship rival with one race remaining.
Tim Mullen: “It’s fantastic that we leave Brands with two more wins, especially as I can dedicate them to my cousin. I still think it’s weird though that we’ve won nine out of 11 races but we’re only two points ahead on the score sheet. The Championship is so tight that we can’t afford any slip-ups, but then we don’t intend to make any. Roll on Silverstone!”
Chris Niarchos: “Brilliant! What else is there to say? It’s a great result for us and I thoroughly enjoyed the racing here at Brands Hatch, although I could have done without the steward’s inquiries as they’re not good for me! I’m delighted with the result!”
Leo Machitsky: "It was very exciting, we had a problem in qualifying, which meant we started 3rd in class and 9th overall. We made good progress, stayed out of trouble, we didn't want to get involved with the GTC class battle. We picked them off one by one as they spread out. When I saw the accident I knew it was going to be safety car so I dived in at the right time and it meant we were a lap up on some of the cars. It's great for the championship, it's looking very tight for the last round at Silverstone."
Tom Ferrier: "Excellent to be up here, we had a bit of a disappointing race yesterday so to win it today was exceptional. It was an incredibly close race, Phil (Glew) did all the hard work really getting us up to second. It was just close from then on. I missed a gear on one lap, which dropped me to third, but it all worked out on the last lap, a pretty exciting finish."
