This was the second round of the Bute Motorsport GT Trophy Endurance Series. The format was two handicap races, a one hour race in daylight and then a dramatic one hour race in the dark. It was a grid of top quality cars, teams and an interesting mixture of ‘sportsmen’ and ‘professional’ drivers. The grid was in three Groups with cars like the Ferrari 430 GT3 Scuderia, Corvette and Ultima in Group One. In Group two were the Ferrari 430 GTC and Porsche 997 GT3 Cup and in Group Three the Porsche 996 GT3 Cup and Ferrari 360 GTC.
The handicap system was applied to time spent in pits based upon the qualifying times of both drivers.
Race One.
This was a ‘rolling’ start but Ryan Lewis #61 Ferrari 430 GT3 misjudged things badly and jumped the start. This gave him a massive lead but also earned him a drive through penalty. This left him a tough job working his way back through the field and then to go on and establish a large enough margin to unwind the handicap and then hand the car over to Paul Warren. Steven Brady in the #63 Ultima, driving on his own, stayed out as long as he could before taking his mandatory pit stop but rejoined ahead of the flying Ferrari now driven by Paul Warren. The pressure was on both drivers and Warren was relentlessly closing the gap in a thrilling chase but Brady kept calm and won by only 0.748 seconds after 49 laps. The second Chad Racing Ferrari 430 GT3 #62, driven by Miles Hulford and Andrew Tate, came home third in Group One.
In Group Two it was the #6 Porsche 997 GT3 driven by Andy Ruhan and Glynn Geddie that were fastest in qualifying ahead of Will Goff and Oliver Bryant in another Porsche 997 GT3 Cup. Ruhan and Geddie’s spectacularly quick qualifying times had earned them a tough handicap that they just couldn’t work off during the race and they came home second in Group Two ahead of Goff and Bryant but the Group winner’s were Rupert and Alex Martin in the #49 Ferrari 430 GTC. Rupert did the opening stint and quickly handed the car over to son Alex who drove impeccably in his first outing in a Ferrari. The Barff/Eastwood challenge had evaporated when Eastwood was forced to pit with a puncture.
In Group Three Chris Bentley and Brazilian Adrianos Medeiro in their #57 Porsche 996 GT3 had taken pole ahead of Francis Galashan and Paul Mace in their #35 Porsche 996.
Bentley and Medeiro just took the chequered flag 0.55 secs ahead of Mace and Galashan.
Race Two.
For safety reasons the cars started in single file at the rolling start, none the less it was still a spectacular sight! The heroes of the weekend were the JMH team who had worked day and night to change an engine in David Back’s Ferrari 360 GTC. They only just made the grid for race one but then the clutch failed so the team had to work flat out to just scrape onto the grid for the Race Two night race!
The rolling start was led by Steven Brady in the #63 Ultima and he made no mistakes as he headed off into the dark, largely unlit Snetterton Circuit, ahead of the Lewis/Warren Ferrari. It was a great sight.. But two laps later Brady was in the pits with a broken drive shaft and was going no further. There was plenty of close racing until the safety car came out at mid race distance to recover the stricken Warren/Lewis Ferrari that was stranded with a failed gearbox. The safety car caught out #18 Ferrari 430 GTC of Rob Barff and Gary Eastwood. Rob Barff had been going flat out in the dark and revelling in it. But their challenge was over when they dropped a lap under the safety car. The Ritchie/Sumpter duo was going well and they didn’t get caught out in the same way.
With the Ultima sidelined with a broken drive shaft and the Ferrari with a broken gearbox it was Nima Khandan-Nia and John Dhillon who took a well deserved Group One win in their Ferrari 430 GTC
In Group Two the highly experienced Mark Sumpter is very familiar with racing in the dark and it showed. He handed the car over to Stephen Ritchie who was left the job of pressing on but making no mistakes and keeping calm under pressure on his first ever venture into the dark. Their race strategy worked and the pair won an intriguing Group Two race. Rob Barff and Gary Eastwood came home 2nd in Group Two ahead of Oliver Bryant and Will Goff in their #59 Porsche 997 GT3 who came third.
In Group Three Francis Galashan and Paul Mace got to grips with their handicap and didn’t fall foul of the safety car and won Group Three ahead of Sean Winder and David Back in their repaired Ferrari 360 GTC. Third in Group Three Chris Bentley and Adrianos Medeiro survived to come home first in Group Three.
RACE ONE
Group One.
1st Steven Brady #63 Ultima GTR
2nd Ryan Lewis/Paul Warren #61 Ferrari 430 GT3
3rd Miles Hulford/Andrew Tate #62 Ferrari 430 GT3
Group Two
1st Alex Martin/Rupert Martin #49 Ferrari 430 GTC
2nd Glynn Geddie/Andy Ruhan #6 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
3rd Oliver Bryant/Will Goff #59 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
Group Three
1st Andriano Medeiros/Chris Bentley #35 Porsche 996 GT3 Cup
2nd Francis Galashan/Paul Mace # 57 Porsche 996 GT3 Cup
RACE TWO
Group One
1st Nima Khandan-Nia #23 Ferrari 430 GT3
Group Two
1st Stephen Ritchie/Mark Sumpter #36 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
2nd Rob Barff/Gary Eastwood #18 Ferrari 430 GTC
3rd Oliver Bryant/Will Goff #59 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
Group Three
1st Sean Winder/David Back #9 Ferrari 360 GTC
2nd Chris Bentley/ Adriano Medeiro #35 Porsche 996 GT3 Cup
