RACE ONE
In Group One Alex Martin #87 Porsche 997 GT3 had an exciting race long battle with Michael Saunders in his #99 TVR Cerbera. Saunders kept Martin under huge pressure and eventually took the lead at three quarter distance only to spin coming into Graham Hill Bend leaving Martin with what turned out to be a comfortable win. The two FF Corse Ferrari 430 GTCs of Gary Eastwood #18 and Leon Price #88 had their own battle coming home 2nd and 3rd
Group Two it was Marco Pullen in his #13 Ferrari 360 who won the Group Battle by about half a second ahead of Colin Mowle in his #77 KTM XBow. Colin Broster had qualified 14th and then had a brilliant drive back up through the field and joined the battle for the Group Lead until he spun at Dingle Dell, even so he still came home 3rd in Group Two.
Group Three was another very close race , this time between Tom Andrew in his #7 KTM XBow and Dan Norris-Jones in his #73 Lotus Exige. Dave Botterill picked up a puncture and performed the impressive feat of returning to the outer paddock to change the wheel himself, came back, rejoin the race and qualify as a finisher coming 3rd in Group.
Group One
1st Alex Martin #87 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
2nd Gary Eastwood #6 Ferrari 430 GTC
3rd Leon Price #88 Ferrari 430 GTC
Group Two
1st Marco Pullen #13 Ferrari 360 GTC
2nd Colin Mowle # 77 KTM XBow
3rd Colin Broster # 15Porsche 996 GT3 Cup
Group Three
1st Tom Andrew #7 KTM XBow
2nd Dan Norris-Jones #73 Lotus Exige
3rd David Botterill #8 Porsche 944 Turbo
RACE TWO
Saunders started the race well down the grid having only established one quick qualifying lap leaving much work to do to join Martin at the front of the grid and to repeat the excitement of race one. The opening lap of race two was to dash any prospect of the crowd seeing another Cerbera v. Porsche duel. Leon Price #88 Ferrari 430 GTC spun in heavy traffic going into Paddock Bend, this then caused a number of other incidents further back down the field and as a result Mike Saunders ,#99 TVR Cerbera, ended up in the gravel traps beside the Price,t hankfully both relatively unscathed. Marco Pullen #13 Ferrari 360 GTC was also involved and was forced to retire. However the car had leaked oil and this caught out Peter Belshaw #39 KTM XBow who spun at Druids. Tom Andrew also had a spin. The safety car came out, when racing resumed Alex Martin emerged with a comfortable lead well ahead of his nearest Group One rival , Gary Eastwood who had been held up in the first lap incident. Danny Winstanley had decided that the TVR was no longer a viable proposition and instead he brought out the #48 Porsche 964 Turbo and he came a 3rd in Group One
The action now moved to Group Two where #52 Nick Foster BMW CSL Coupe, Keith Webster in his now rather battered #10 BMW M3 E46 and Benjamin Harvey in his #45 KTM XBow had a race long battle. The three crossed the line in that order.
In Group Three David Botterill led the Group for a large part of the race and eventually Sara Bennett-Baggs in her #72 BMW M3 E46 took the lead ahead of Tom Andrew who had spun early on in his #7 KTM XBow . At the flag it was a delighted Sara Bennett-Baggs who took her first ever Group win followed by Tom Andrew and David Botterill.
The next round of GT Cup Championship is at Spa on October 2nd and 3rd
