from a Croft downpour
YourRacingCar.com driver Fulvio Mussi held on to his sixth place in the Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup driver standings at Croft Circuit on Sunday, 14th June, after his best qualifying results to date and finishing a consistent fourth in rounds 12, 13 and a rain-soaked 14 earning 22 points each time.
Round 12 on the Saturday afternoon, was on a hot dry track and late in the day. Fulvio Mussi had a good start and held his position with Chris Dittman spinning off across the gravel in the first corner behind him. Despite picking up debris on the second-lap which was carried by the YRC car to the end, position was held for the first fourth place of the weekend.
Starting on the second row for Round 13 the YRC car had to give to Christian Dick and whilst working hard to try to reduce the gap to the cars in front, Mussi was unable to stop Wrathall taking fourth at Tower Bend on the seventh lap and was lucky to miss the bouncing tyre stack at the Esses after the unfortunate Carl Breeze careered off after touching them. Within a couple of laps Tom Sharp was pushing to try to gain fourth place and spun out, releasing the pressure on the YRC car which took it’s second fourth place of the weekend.
Back to the garages and yet more work for the hard-pushed TCR team who engineer the car for YRC as the gear-box had to be dropped out and replaced within the 4 hours between the races. An amazing effort by the team saw the work completed and the car ready to go out to a rain-soaked track for Round 14.
Sitting on the grid behind the empty pole position spot in front of him, as Breeze could not take to the grid due to damage to his car, the YRC team were disappointed to have a start, albeit at full racing speeds, which was run for three laps under a Safety Car due to heavy rainfall.
This was YRC’s first time in the wet so a maiden voyage for the car’s wet set-up. Wrathall made an early move on Mussi and gained second place which Mussi was not able to recover despite best efforts in the tiring and challenging wet conditions. Within a couple of laps Sharp was on top of Mussi and eventually got round the outside of the YRC car to grab third position. Hampus Rydman was putting the pressure on the YRC team during the final three laps of the 15 lap race, but Mussi held on to come across the line in fourth.
Speaking on the events of the weekend, Hannah James team manager said: "Fulvio pulling second row grid positions out of the bag was a great start to the weekend. A strange mix of racing incidents, mechanical issues and the weather meant however a first podium for the eager YourRacingCar.com fans was not to be this weekend. The consistent points haul does mean that the team has held on to sixth in the Championship and we’ll be working over the break to find that little bit more that is needed to bring home some silverware. Thanks to all the YRC fans at Croft and at home who were cheering us on."
The Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup now takes a break from competition with rounds 15, 16 and 17 scheduled to take place on the 1st and 2nd August at Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk. The team which is funded by fans is looking for more fan sponsors and with the chance to win a visit to the Ginetta factory in Leeds in July this is a great time to join in; so if you want to be part of history in the making of the fan-funded car and get your name and picture on the car go to joinyrc.com.
