David and Godfrey Jones emerged the big winners from the Avon Tyres British GT Championship's weekend at Snetterton, the Leicestershire brothers emerging on top in Saturday's ninth round of the series in their Preci-Spark Ascari, and then collecting maximum points in GT3 in round 10, beaten to the chequered flag narrowly by the Invitation Class Ginetta G50Z of Olly Bryant and Piers Johnson.
Race 1David and Godfrey claimed their second win of the season on Saturday at Snetterton, taking command of the ninth round during the second half of the race and holding off determined challenges from several of their rivals to win by the narrowest of margins, thus extending their championship lead.
The brothers' Preci-Spark Ascari held station during the first half of the race behind the Momo Mosler, which Daniel Brown catapulted into the lead away from pole position. On the eve of his 18th birthday, Brown showed maturity well beyond his years as he resisted challenge after challenge from David Jones.
Brown's lead at the pit stops was of the order of five seconds, but his team-mate for the weekend, Rollcentre boss Martin Short, found his hopes of maintaining that advantage disappearing along with the Mosler's engine coolant. "The water temperature rose significantly in the pit stop," said Brown, "and then the car lost a large amount of water as it left the pits. The engine was running far too hot, causing a significant loss of power, and that really hurt us. Martin had to back right off."
Within seven laps the Ascari, now in Godfrey Jones's hands, swept past for the lead through the Esses, Godfrey spurred on by the Preci-Spark team in the pits, who warned him that the MTECH Ferrari 430 was closing in fast. Duncan Cameron had put in a superb opening stint in the car, battling with Piers Johnson in the Barwell Ginetta G50Z for third, and now Cameron's driving partner, ex-BRM F1 driver Mike Wilds, was performing similar wonders to threaten for the lead.
Wilds slipped past Short for second on the 40th of the 50 laps, but alas got it all wrong through Sear next time around and spun off.
Godfrey was to get no relief, however, as the Ginetta was now coming up fast, Olly Bryant at the helm. "The Ginetta was catching quite quickly," said Jones. "If there had been an extra lap it would have been even harder work. We had to push hard right to the end..." The Ascari made it to the line three-tenths clear of the Invitation Class Ginetta, with Short nursing home the Mosler for third overall and second in GT3.
The Hector Lester/Allan Simonsen Rosso Verde Ferrari made it to third in GT3 on the final lap, when the VRS Ferrari of Phil Burton/Adam Wilcox started to run out of fuel and lost ground. The VRS car managed to splutter across the line for fourth in class, still some way clear of the RPM Ford GT of Philip Walker/Michael Bentwood.
With the ABG Viper and Chad Ferrari both retiring with mechanical woes, the only other classified GT3 finishers were Andrew Howard/Jamie Smyth in the Beechdean Aston, which lost time in the pits with a clutch issue, and the Cameron/Wilds Ferrari.
The GT4 class was dominated by the Team WFR Ginetta of Jody Firth and Nigel Moore. Firth was given a good run for his money in the opening laps by Ian Stinton before pulling into a clear and unassailable lead which Moore stroked out to more than half a minute over Stinton's driving partner, Hunter Abbott, by the end.
Race 2There was drama on and off track at Snetterton on Sunday - Lester and Simonsen claiming a brilliant tactical victory in the 10th round of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship, only to lose the win post-race after falling foul of technical rules.
The Lester/Simonsen Rosso Verde Ferrari 430 led from pole position to chequered flag, Simonsen laying the groundwork for the win by bolting into the lead at the start and building an advantage during his stint at the wheel of around 27 seconds, enough of a lead to give Lester every hope of hanging on in front during his time at the wheel.
The Invitation Class Barwell Ginetta G50Z of Olly Bryant and Piers Johnson was their most likely rival for victory, and Johnson tried his hardest in the latter stages to close the gap to the Ferrari. At the flag Lester's advantage was however still 3.9s. Said Lester, who was awarded the Sunoco Driver of the Weekend trophy: "Allan gave me a great lead; the car was well wrung-out but consistent. The secret was not to look in my mirrors but to focus forwards."
Alas for Lester, he was found in post-race scrutineering not to be wearing the required safety clothing, something for which he had been warned earlier in the meeting. Stewards took the option to exclude the Rosso Verde Ferrari from the results, which action Lester is appealing. Thus the on-road victor is the Barwell Ginetta, with championship leaders Godfrey and David Jones taking second overall and maximum points in the GT3 class.
Godfrey started the race in the Preci-Spark Ascari and played a conservative game to save the car's tyres before handing over relatively early to brother David. "It was bloody hard work," said David, who battled through from sixth in the closing stages. "I think we had the right strategy; ours was the fastest car out there for most of the race, we just needed a few more laps really." The Jones brothers arrived at Snetterton with a one-point championship lead and leave with seven points in hand over third-placed Brown.
Dan Brown celebrated his 18th birthday with another podium finish, claiming second in GT3 in the Momo Mosler, co-driven by Rollcentre boss Martin Short. Mike Wilds and Duncan Cameron were next up in the MTECH Ferrari.
Jody Firth celebrated his seventh GT4 class win of the season, co-driven in the Team WFR Ginetta by Nigel Moore. Said GT4 points leader Jody: "Nigel gave me a good car, he'd looked after the tyres and brakes well, the guys kept me well informed of my lead and once it had grown over 20s it was a case of easing off a little and making sure I got the car to the end." The Stark Racing Ginetta of Ian Stinton and Hunter Abbott claimed second in class once again.
Avon Tyres British GT ChampionshipProvisional results round 9Snetterton 4/7/200950 laps / 97.6 miles1 GT3 Preci-Spark Ascari KZR1, David Jones/Godfrey Jones 1h 0m 16.690s2 INV Barwell Ginetta G50Z, Piers Johnson/Olly Bryant +0.316s3 GT3 Rollcentre Mosler MT900, Daniel Brown/Martin Short +9.191s4 GT3 Rosso Verde Ferrari 430, Allan Simonsen/Hector Lester +19.481s5 GT3 VRS Ferrari 430, Adam Wilcox/Phil Burton +27.457s6 GT3 RPM Ford GT, Michael Bentwood/Philip Walker +41.740s7 GT4 WFR Ginetta G50, Jody Firth/Nigel Moore 46 laps8 GT4 Stark Ginetta G50, Ian Stinton/Hunter Abbott 46 laps9 GT3 Beechdean Aston Martin DBRS9, Andrew Howard/Jamie Smyth 45 laps10 GT3 MTECH Ferrari 430, Mike Wilds/Duncan Cameron 40 lapsNot classifiedGT3 Chad Ferrari 430, Chris Hyman/Paul Warren 17 lapsGT3 ABG Dodge Viper, Aaron Scott/Craig Wilkins 6 lapsFastest lapsGT3 Brown 1m 09.700s / 100.81mphGT4 Firth 1m 16.194s / 92.22mph
Provisional results round 10Snetterton 5/7/200950 laps / 97.6 miles1 INV Barwell Ginetta G50Z, Piers Johnson/Olly Bryant 1h 0m 47.387s / 96.33mph2 GT3 Preci-Spark Ascari KZR1, David Jones/Godfrey Jones +0.545s3 GT3 Rollcentre Mosler MT900, Daniel Brown/Martin Short +4.509s4 GT3 MTECH Ferrari 430, Mike Wilds/Duncan Cameron +15.420s5 GT3 Beechdean Aston Martin DBRS9, Andrew Howard/Jamie Smyth +25.695s6 GT3 VRS Ferrari 430, Adam Wilcox/Phil Burton +32.798s7 GT3 ABG Dodge Viper, Aaron Scott/Craig Wilkins +40.877s8 GT3 RPM Ford GT, Michael Bentwood/Philip Walker +45.564s9 GT3 Chad Ferrari 430, Chris Hyman/Paul Warren 49 laps10 GT4 WFR Ginetta G50, Jody Firth/Nigel Moore 47 laps11 GT4 Stark Ginetta G50, Ian Stinton/Hunter Abbott 46 lapsExcludedGT3 Rosso Verde Ferrari 430, Allan Simonsen/Hector LesterFastest lapsGT3 Bentwood 1m 09.913s / 100.51mphGT4 Moore 1m 15.781s / 92.72mph
Provisional championship standingsGT31= Jones & Jones 67 points; 3 Brown 60; 4 Lester 52; 5= Wilkins & Scott 49 etc.GT41 Firth 56; 2 Moore 47; 3 Stinton 37; 4 Abbott 28 etc.
