The Aston Martin DB5 of Ian McCallum and John Bussell was the star of the weekend during the final two races for the 2007 Charterhouse Heritage GT Car Challenge at Spa-Francorchamps over the weekend (13/14 October).QualifyingWith extra classes for Elises, Caterhams and BMWs the Heritage GT grid was increased to 53 cars at the magnificent Belgian track. Bussell put in a cracking time of 2m51.066s to make the DB5 the leading HGT car and fourth fastest overall.Sixth on the grid was the Ram Cobra of John Dickson and Andrew Chalmers, while just outside the top 10 overall was the VW Golf GTi of Richard Cooke/Simon Verschueren.
Boysie Thurtle was delayed in a light aircraft with Roger Bennington because of fog and they were eventually diverted to Liege, arriving just before qualifying. Boysie then jumped into Bob Searles' DBSV8 for his first ever lap of Spa. Thirty-third on the grid meant a few overtaking moves would be needed before they were in contention!
Unfortunately Robin and Zoe North's Mustang retired because of an oil pump failure, Gordon Streeter went home with a broken gearbox and Andrew Knight hit overheating problems in his Mustang and had to withdraw.Race oneAn impressive fifty cars lined up for the start of the opening 50-minute race, making a fine sight as they streamed down to Eau Rouge. The Lotus Exige of Chris Randall and Scott Fitzgerald was unstoppable, eventually lapping the entire field. With lap times around 10 seconds slower than the overall winner, Bussell and McCallum brought the DB5 home in a mighty second overall, first in class C. Third overall was the Caterham Mega Rover of Nick Frost and Andy McMillan; there was some close racing between the vastly different types of car but everybody behaved impeccably with no real incidents.
Sixth and seventh overall were Dickson/Chalmers and Cooke/Verschueren, while Searles stormed up the field from 33rd to fifth before handing over to Thurtle. His first lap in the race was 11 seconds quicker than his best in qualifying! Unfortunately, after a great stint Boysie inadvertently hit the kill switch coming out of Eau Rouge and not knowing what had happened to the car parked it on the grass for the last four laps.
Good performances from regular Heritage GT competitors included Pat Cooke (Aston Martin Vantage) who was an impressive 14th overall, but pipped by his son Richard, driving the Golf GTI with Verschueren. Tony Lees won his class and was 15th overall, while Conor O'Brien was just outside the top 20 in his Aston Martin DB4.
Race twoWith most of the Lotus, Caterham and BMW contingent departed, a smaller grid formed for the 30-minute race on Sunday, but it was still full of incident.
Dickson took the Ram Cobra into a commanding lead by lap one and held it until the driver changes, where Chalmers had to contend with some of the quicker partners. Chris Pearson took his Exige to the front for another Lotus victory but was followed very closely by Bussell in McCallum's DB5. Thurtle, now getting to grips with the circuit had a great tussle with a deceptively quick Pat Cooke, and he got up to fourth before handing over to Searles. Unfortunately a Boysie excursion over the grass meant the car overheated necessitating a trip to the pits to remove debris, effectively ending their challenge once again. Richard Cooke and Verschueren had to retire their Golf with a sheared drive shaft.
Pat Cooke had another fine run in the Vantage, finishing just clear of the Lees' Morgan, with Jonathan Bloohn and Andy Nunn inside the top ten in the Hertz Racing 350GT. Their achievement in getting the Mustang round Spa on drum brakes in a 2m57s lap was particularly impressive. Chasing them at the flag was Conor O'Brien, who knocked several seconds off his best time as he mastered the track.
