It was a superb start to the Avon Tyres British GT Championship season yesterday at Oulton Park for the MTECH Racing team, whose drivers Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin guided their Ferrari 430 Scuderia to a brace of impressive victories over the Rosso Verde Ferrari of Allan Simonsen and Hector Lester.
And in the two action-filled races, there were G4 class wins for Speedworks Motorsport's Ginetta, driven by Christian Dick and Jamie Stanley, and for the Prestige/ABG KTM X-Bow of championship debutants Rory Butcher and Benjamin Harvey.
Round 1Cameron and Griffin survived a late-race mechanical scare to win the opening round. The MTECH Ferrari 430 Scuderia duo took control of the race 12 laps from the end when the Preci-Spark Ascari of reigning champions David and Godfrey Jones ran out of road.
But Cameron and Griffin saw their 34-second lead whittled away to just 15s by the closing lap, Simonsen's Rosso Verde Ferrari looming large in the mirrors as Griffin nursed his car home. "We had a broken exhaust," said Duncan. "We weren't sure where it had split, so we told Matt to slow it down. It was a very nervous final 15 minutes of the race, but we're very relieved now." It was the MTECH duo's second British GT win, the first coming at Silverstone last year.
Simonsen, who took over the Rosso Verde Scuderia in sixth spot after Lester drove the opening stint, picked off rivals in the closing stages to rise to third place, and was gifted second when gremlins struck the Trackspeed Porsche of British GT rookie Siso Cunill. Allan was too far behind the MTECH car to do anything about victory, however. "I was aware they had a problem but the gap was too big once I got into the car," said the Dane. "Cameron did a fantastic job in his stint. To win races we need to try a bit harder."
There was little for the Jones brothers to celebrate. David drove a blinding first stint in the Ascari and was the last runner to pit for the driver change-over; he did so with 59 seconds in hand over Griffin, and Godfrey emerged from pit lane with lead intact some four seconds ahead of Matt. Disaster struck four laps later when he clouted the barrier at Druids and had to limp to the pits.
The David Ashburn/Cunill Porsche lost third to the Barwell-Cadena Aston of Paul Whight/Michael Bentwood two laps from the end and slipped to fourth on the final tour behind the United Autosports Audi of Richard Dean/Zak Brown. Fifth was some reward for Trackspeed after a particularly impressive showing from the young Spaniard.
The Predator CCTV Ferrari of Adam Wilcox and Phil Burton completed the top six. Eleven GT3s started, the GT3 Racing Viper failing to make the grid after its Saturday qualifying accident. The sole GT Cup contender, the Kinfaun Porsche of John Gaw and Phil Dryburgh, collected 11th overall after a spirited run.
There was a superb tussle for G4 class honours between the Speedworks Motorsport Ginetta of Stanley/Dick and the Prestige Car Leasing/ABG KTM X-Bow of Harvey and Butcher. Stanley built a handsome lead during the opening stint but, after the stops, Butcher whittled his way into Dick's advantage and closed it down to nothing. Butcher sliced past Dick for the class lead only to lose it next time around at Lodge.
"I kept seeing on the pit board that the gap was coming down," said Christian, "then he went to pass me and I squeezed him as much as I dared, let him go and then he made a mistake at Lodge and I got back past. I thought then that 'you can have the lead once, but not twice'."
The Piranha Motorsport Lotus 2-Eleven of Simon Mason and Chris Bialan was a strong third in class.
Round 2The MTECH team and drivers Cameron and Griffin made it two out of two for Ferrari at Oulton Park, winning the second round of the championship in fine style to add to their first-round victory and so assume the championship lead. As in race one, it was the Rosso Verde Ferrari of Lester and Simonsen which ran them closest, but not close enough.
In the G4 class, Butcher and Harvey, in their Prestige/ABG KTM, turned the tables on round one class victors Stanley and Dick to take the win.
Cameron and Griffith's second win of the day was once again a second-half feat, for it was Simonsen who made all the early running, bolting into the lead from the outset from pole position. But try as he might, Allan couldn't shake Matt in the MTECH car. The Irishman held station on the Dane's tail, always around a second behind, all the way to his 20th lap pit stop to hand over to Cameron.
Simonsen pitted for his hand over to Lester two laps later, but as Hector exited the pits he had to settle in behind the MTECH car and watch it disappear up the road and on to a 12.5-second victory. Cameron was delighted: "Two wins from two races is an unbelievable result; we're over the moon. It was easier passing the Rosso Verde car than I thought it was going to be, because we didn't have to pass him on track. I don't know what went wrong with their pit stop but he came out behind me. Happy days!"
Lester was not too downhearted to be leaving Oulton Park with a brace of second-place finishes. "Better that than finishing nowhere or spinning off or something," said the Ulsterman. "We arrived here in a very disorganised fashion so to salvage two second places, we're very happy." Cameron and Griffin's twin wins gives them a healthy early championship lead of four points over Lester and Simonsen.
The battle for third place in GT3 was a highlight of the race. The Predator Ferrari, driven by Wilcox, held third up to its pit stop but a delay in the change-over saw it drop back to seventh by the end and the Trackspeed Porsche 911 GT3R, brilliantly driven early on by Cunill and later by Ashburn, take over in third. Ashburn, the oldest driver in the race, was piling the pressure on Lester towards the end and narrowed the gap to 4.4s before running out of laps in which to make the podium.
Dean and Brown brought the United Autosports Audi home fourth, American Brown earning the Sunoco Driver of the Day award for his efforts at the wheel on his Oulton debut. They finished just ahead of the sister Audi of Mike Guasch and Mark Patterson, with the Paul Warren/Tom Ferrier Chad Ferrari completing the top six. There was more hard luck for the Jones brothers, whose Preci-Spark Ascari lasted only six laps before it was halted by mechanical problems.
An eighth-place overall finish was a good reward for the GT Cup Porsche 911 of Kinfaun team-mates Gaw and Dryburgh.
The G4 class once again provided some excellent entertainment, with Butcher's KTM this time the early pacesetter. Rory raced away to a 30-second class lead over Dick's Speedworks Ginetta before handing over to Harvey, who did an equally good job to lose only about 10 seconds to the hotly pursuing Stanley. Said Butcher: "I got a good start, got my head down, and handed over to Ben with a useful lead. I think they only clawed back a few seconds from us in the second half, so it was a good all-round team effort."
For the second time at Oulton Park, the Piranha Lotus 2-Eleven was best of the rest in G4, Mason and Bialan filling the final podium slot.
British GT is sponsored by UK tyre manufacturer Avon Tyres and is further supported by Sunoco Racing Fuels, Anglo American Oil Company and The Independent.
Provisional results Oulton Park 5/4/2010
Round 1 35 laps = 94.22 milesOverall & GT31 MTECH Ferrari 430 Scud Duncan Cameron / Matt Griffin 1h 0m 21.844s2 Rosso Verde Ferrari 430 Scud Hector Lester / Allan Simonsen +10.394s3 Barwell-Cadena Aston DBRS9 Paul Whight / Michael Bentwood +28.891s4 United Autosports Audi R8 LMS Zak Brown / Richard Dean +35.866s5 Trackspeed Porsche 911 GT3R David Ashburn / Siso Cunill +36.777s6 Predator CCTV Ferrari 430 Scud Phil Burton / Adam Wilcox +39.864s7 Chad Ferrari 430 Scud Paul Warren / Tom Ferrier +40.005s8 United Autosports Audi R8 LMS Mike Guasch / Mark Patterson +1m 04.693s9 Chad Ferrari 430 Scud Chris Hyman / Dan Brown 34 laps10 Chad Ferrari 430 Jose Balbiani / Juan Garriz 33 lapsRetired Preci-Spark Ascari David Jones / Godfrey Jones 23 lapsDid not start GT3 Racing Viper CC Craig Wilkins / Aaron ScottFastest lap Griffin 1m 39.084s / 97.80mph
GT Cup1 Kinfaun Porsche 911 Cup John Gaw / Phil Dryburgh 33 laps
G41 Speedworks Ginetta G50 Christian Dick / Jamie Stanley 33 laps2 Prestige/ABG KTM X-Bow Benjamin Harvey / Rory Butcher 33 laps3 Piranha Lotus 2-Eleven Chris Bialan / Simon Mason 33 laps4 Century Ginetta G50 Nathan Freke / Vibe Smed 32 laps5 Team Osborne Ginetta G50 Joe Osborne / Osman Yusuf 32 laps6 ProMotorsport Nissan 350Z Rick Pearson / Derek Palmer 31 lapsFastest lap Butcher 1m 46.441s / 91.04mph
Round 2 35 laps = 94.22 milesOverall & GT31 MTECH Ferrari 430 Scud Duncan Cameron / Matt Griffin 1h 00m 35.430s2 Rosso Verde Ferrari 430 Scud Hector Lester / Allan Simonsen +12.523s3 Trackspeed Porsche 911 GT3R David Ashburn / Siso Cunill +16.928s4 United Autosports Audi R8 LMS Zak Brown / Richard Dean +35.551s5 United Autosports Audi R8 LMS Mike Guasch / Mark Patterson +52.557s6 Chad Ferrari 430 Scud Paul Warren / Tom Ferrier +1m 13.480s7 Predator CCTV Ferrari 430 Scud Phil Burton / Adam Wilcox 34 laps8 Chad Ferrari 430 Scud Chris Hyman / Dan Brown 32 lapsRetired Chad Ferrari 430 Jose Balbiani / Juan Garriz 15 lapsRetired Preci-Spark Ascari David Jones / Godfrey Jones 6 lapsRetired Barwell-Cadena Aston DBRS9 Paul Whight / Michael Bentwood 0 lapsDid not start GT3 Racing Viper CC Craig Wilkins / Aaron ScottFastest lap Simonsen 1m 38.535s / 98.35mph
GT Cup1 Kinfaun Porsche 911 Cup John Gaw / Phil Dryburgh 33 laps
G41 Prestige/ABG KTM X-Bow Benjamin Harvey / Rory Butcher 33 laps2 Speedworks Ginetta G50 Christian Dick / Jamie Stanley 33 laps3 Piranha Lotus 2-Eleven Chris Bialan / Simon Mason 32 laps4 Team Osborne Ginetta G50 Joe Osborne / Osman Yusuf 32 lapsRetired Century Ginetta G50 Nathan Freke / Vibe Smed 8 lapsRetired ProMotorsport Nissan 350Z Rick Pearson / Derek Palmer 8 lapsFastest lap Butcher 1m 46.499s / 90.99mph
Provisional championship standings1= Griffin & Cameron 20 points; 3= Lester & Simonsen 16; 5= Cunill & Ashburn 10; 7= Brown & Dean 9; 9= Whight & Bentwood 6 etcG4 Class 1= Stanley & Dick, Harvey & Butcher 18; 5= Bialan & Mason 12 etcGT Cup 1 Gaw & Dryburgh 10.
