New Ferrari adds spice to the grid in Belgium, too
The return of the fearsome Ford GT and the debut of a new Ferrari are just two of the highlights of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship's visit to the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium next weekend (9/10 May) for the third and fourth rounds of the action-packed series.
Ford's 5-litre V8 supercar will be in the hands of British GT racewinner Michael Bentwood and his new team-mate, historics champion Philip Walker, and the RPM Motorsport-run machine represents probably the biggest threat to the championship-leading Momo Mosler of Stuart Hall and Daniel Brown.
The Ford GT won on its Avon Tyres British GT debut last year at Snetterton, and has the pace to do it again at Spa, says Bentwood: "We have to be realistic with our expectations - this is the first weekend together for me, Philip and the team - but I see no reason why we can't compete at the front. The car is quick, Philip is quick and I'm quick; we can finish on the podium."
But the Hall/Brown Mosler may take some stopping at Spa, not least because it will have back-up in the shape of a sister Rollcentre Racing MT900. Team boss Martin Short and highly experienced sports car racer Gregor Fisken will share driving duties. "Gregor has long been keen to do the British championship, and ours seems like a perfect partnership," says Short, who has a string of superb Spa successes to his name, having won there in Rover saloons, TVR Tuscans, and in British GT with the TVR Cerbera and Mosler. "I have a pretty good record at Spa," adds Martin, "but I fear that I might be outdone by young Hall and Brown. Daniel is a remarkable driver, such a cool character."
It was 17-year-old Brown's coolness which aided him and Hall, 24, to twin wins ahead of some much more experienced opposition at Oulton Park at Easter, victories which have given the duo a four-point lead in the championship standings.
A field of 20 British GT cars is expected at Spa, where they will share the circuit with a similar-sized grid of GT3 and GT4 cars from the Belgian GT Championship; together they form a curtain-raiser to the circuit's famed 1000km sports car race.
Further excitement for Spa comes in the shape of the new Ferrari 430 Scuderia, the latest development of Maranello's impressive GT3 charger. The MTECH team looks like having won the race to be the first to get the car - lighter and more powerful than its predecessor - to the British GT grid.MTECH team boss Mike Edmonds can't wait to see how the new car goes in Duncan Cameron's hands: "We are really pleased to have what is only the second customer car delivered and the first in the UK. We shook down the car at Donington last week and it went brilliantly. It's a beautiful bit of kit and much, much better already than the old car."
Another addition to the UK runners is the Aston Martin DBRS9 of 22 GT Racing, which returns to the championship driven by Tom Alexander and his new team-mate, the 2002 Formula Palmer Audi Champion Adrian Willmott.
The Rosso Verde Ferrari 430 - which with great Dane Allan Simonsen at the wheel was the only car other than the Hall/Brown Mosler to take a turn in front at Oulton - will be looking for a rematch at Spa, as will the Godfrey/David Jones Preci-Spark Ascari, with the veteran brothers seeking to go one better than the second-place finishes they scored last time out. The Aaron Scott/Craig Wilkins ABG Viper will be looking for further podium results at Spa also.Andrew Howard and Jamie Smyth enjoyed an encouraging GT3 debut at Oulton in the Barwell-Beechdean Aston Martin and should also go strongly in Belgium, as will no doubt the Ferraris of Chris Hyman/Paul Warren and Adam Wilcox/Phil Burton.
As in GT3, it's a young driver pairing leading the way to Spa in GT4 in the shape of 27-year-old Jody Firth and his 17-year-old team-mate Nigel Moore. Their Team WFR Ginetta G50 was a double victor at Oulton in what is proving once again to be a hotly contested class. Five GT4 Ginettas are expected in Belgium, with Gary Simms and Ian Stinton/Mike Thomas among the driving talent confirmed thus far.
A wild card in the British GT pack will be the Barwell Motorsport-prepared Ginetta G50Z-Zytek, which is beginning a four-race development programme as an Invitation Class runner. It will be driven in Belgium by multiple racewinner Olly Bryant, who said: "I'm really looking forward to working with Barwell Motorsport and Ginetta on this exciting new project. We have a good opportunity to race with the British GT frontrunners, and it offers me the chance to develop an ongoing relationship with a leading British sports car manufacturer."
The championship is sponsored by Avon Tyres and is further supported by motorsport insurance specialist AON, by Sunoco Racing Fuels and by Anglo American Oil Company.
Provisional championship placings after round 2
GT3 1= Stuart Hall & Daniel Brown (Mosler) 20 points; 3= David Jones & Godfrey Jones (Ascari) 16; 5= Hector Lester & Allan Simonsen (Ferrari) 11 etc.GT4 1= Jody Firth & Nigel Moore (Ginetta) 20; 3 Ian Stinton (Ginetta) 13; 4= Neil Clark (Ginetta), Ben de Zille Butler & Richard Jones (Aston Martin) 9 etc.
