GT Cup Championship Round 7 Spa

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October 5, 2010 in Motorsport

GT Cup Championship Round 7 Spa

Oct 2nd/3rd 2010

RACE ONE

The weather at Spa was, as usual, unpredictable. The race was declared ‘wet’ but there was a drying line, even so if you went ‘off line’ it was very slippery.. As the lights went green the action started when Alex Martin #87 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup and Gary Eastwood #18 Ferrari 430 GTC touched. This lost Martin his pole advantage and he slipped back down the field. This let Andy Ruhan through into the lead. The next casualty was Leon Price #88 Ferrari 430GTC who spun and hit the pit wall hard and as a result he went no further. Fortunately he was unharmed but the car would not be out again for Race Two. Danny Winstanley in the #78 Porsche 964 Turbo was in amongst the leading bunch with Michael Saunders #99 who eventually retired on lap eleven with a lack of fuel due to a leaking fuel filler cap. Jim Geddie had crashed his Porsche 997 GT3 Cup in free practice and had acquired a Ferrari 430 GTC but his race was cut short after damage in a previous race proved to be worse than expected and he retired the car after just three laps.

In Group Two there was all sorts of drama. Sam Mowle had got the #77 KTM XBow right up with the leading group, the conditions suiting him and car, until he got sidelined with a rare puncture after a brilliant drive. This left Keith Webster in the #10 BMW M3 E36 having a great race with the two KTM XBows of Peter Belshaw #39 and Benjamin Harvey #45. They were hauling him in right until the last lap when Webster’s BMW expired with fuel problems in sight of the finish line. This gave Peter Belshaw a well deserved Group Two win but this didn’t help Webster’s overall Championship winning plans. Initially things had been looking good for Webster because Marco Pullen in his #13 Ferrari 360 GTC had also misjudged his fuel load and stopped on lap 13 of 16! Michael Symons was forced to retire when his gear box failed on lap13, not before he managed an entire lap with only 5th gear working!

Alex Martin in his #87 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup car was way back in 10th place and 7th in Group One. So this series of events meant that each of the GT Cup Championship contenders for the over all title had a bad race which closed the Championship chase still further!

In Group Three the ever consistent Tom Andrew in his #7 KTM XBow beat David Botterill and his faithful Porsche 944 Turbo into 2nd place.

It had been an exciting race which left the GT Cup Championship still wide open.

Group One

1st Andy Ruhan #6 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup

2nd Gary Eastwood #18 Ferrari 430 GTC

3rd Danny Winstanley #78 Porsche 964 Turbo

Group Two

1st Peter Belshaw #39 KTM XBow

2nd Benjamin Harvey #45 KTM XBow

3rd Francis Galashan #57 Porsche 996 GT3 Cup

Group Three

1st Tom Andrew #7 KTM XBow

2nd David Botterill #8 Porsche 944 Turbo

3rd - -

(Full results on http://www.race-rally.be/2010/rf2010/liveresults.aspx)

RACE TWO

The weather improved dramatically for the second race of the weekend on Sunday. The sun was out, the track was dry.

This time Alex Martin was not going to get caught out at the start and he led the race from the start right through to the chequered flag. It was very impressive drive and he won the class by an astonishing 43 secs. Behind him Jim Geddie was having an impressive race given he was new to his #79 Ferrari 430 GTC. He had seen off a challenge from Danny Winstanley’s #78 Porsche 964 Turbo and he eventually came home 2nd in Group One and very pleased with the new Ferrari 430 GTC.

Gary Eastwood had been running 3rd in Group One but he had the bad luck to tangle with Keith Webster ’s #10 Group Two BMW M3 E36 in what was deemed to be a ‘racing incident’ and this dropped him down the field and off the Group One podium. Much of the Group One action had surrounded Michael Saunders in his #99 TVR Cerbera and Danny Winstanley in his #78 Porsche 964 Turbo. These two had a great race but Winstanley had a half spin and survived but it dropped them both off the pace of the leading two cars and they eventually came home 4th and 6th overall.

Keith Webster in his #10 BMW M3 E46 found that Spa really suited this car and he had an amazing race causing some of the faster Group One cars a fair bit of trouble. He brought the car home 3rd overall behind Martin and Geddie.

In Group two nobody got anywhere near the flying Webster and the next Group Two car to see the flag was the #77 KTM XBow driven by Colin Mowle.

Marco Pullen in the #13 Ferrari 360 GTC needed to keep out of trouble and bring the car home in the points to keep his overall Championship winning bid alive and he did just that and had a straight forward run to the flag and came home 3rd in Group Two. Regular Group Two front runner Colin Broster retired with a broken differential on lap three after a difficult weekend playing with set up.

In Group Three Tom Andrew brought the #7 KTM XBow home to another win. But during the open laps it had been David Botterill in his #8 Porsche 944 Turbo who had held the lead of the class, just as he had at Brands Hatch but gradually he lost a couple places and came home 3rd behind the #73 Lotus Exige driven by Dan Norris-Jones.

A great weekends racing that has left everything wide open for the Championship title which will be decided at the closing round at Silverstone in two weeks time.

Group One

1st Alex Martin #87 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup

2nd Jim Geddie #79 Ferrari 430 GTC

3rd Michael Saunders #99 TVR Cerbera

Group Two

1st Keith Webster #10 BMW M3 E46

2nd Colin Mowle #77 KTM XBow

3rd Marco Pullen #13 Ferrari 360 GTC

Group Three

1st Tom Andrew #7 KTM XBow

2nd Dan Norris-Jones #73 Lotus Exige

3rd David Botterill #8 Porsche 944 Turbo