This weekend saw registered racers in the Britcar Production GTN Championship, Dunlop Touring Car Trophy and MSV F3 Cup all have the chance to improve their average point score in the Sunoco GRAND-AM 200 Challenge.
The Britcar Production GTN Championship and the Dunlop Production Touring Car Trophy (PTC) raced at Thruxton this weekend in very wet conditions. Rain falling from first thing in the morning until last thing at night caused chaos on the grid with the Britcar Production round being cut short and the last PTC race cancelled.
Qualifying was held on the Saturday in bright and dry conditions and saw the Topcats Racing, Ginetta G50 of Mick Mercer and Gary Smith take pole, with Smith taking the 20 points towards the Sunoco GRAND-AM 200 Challenge. In the PTC pole position went to Ryan Bensley who narrowly beat current challenge leader, Adrian Churchill, to take the points. Churchill however placed the second fastest time in qualifying and he took points for the second pole.The first PTC race of the weekend took place on the Saturday. Adrian Churchill in the Courtney Motorsport, Vauxhall Astra VXR, put in a fantastic drive taking the chequered flag and 100 points towards the challenge. Thomas Carnaby took second with 75 points and Ryan Bensley took the last podium spot with third place and 55 points towards the challenge.
Sunday saw heavy rain fall and track conditions at one of the worst Thruxton has ever seen. Britcar’s first warm up in the morning proved to be disastrous for Kevin Clarke and Wayne Gibson however not due to the weather; a rod went through the block of their Intersport, BMW M3 E46. The team then got another car brought down from Birmingham in record time in order to be able to race in the afternoon’s race.The second PTC race took place in the wet conditions and unfortunately saw Adrian Churchill lower his average point score by crossing the finish line in third place, taking the 75 points towards the challenge - Churchill also scored 20 points for placing fastest lap. Thomas Carnaby took the win and 100 points towards the challenge, closely followed by Josh Cook in second place taking the 75 points.
The Britcar Production 2 hour endurance round was next on the timetable and proved chaotic from the start. The Syncro Motorsport, Honda Civic, of Dan Ludlow and Alyn James lost it on the first corner of the first lap and went nose first into the tyre wall causing the duo to retire. This wasn’t the only retirement of the race with another four production vehicles having to limp back to the paddock - including that of Clarke and Gibson with their replacement BMW M3.With weather conditions getting worse the race director waved the checkered flag 50 minutes early and the Ginetta G50 invitation car of Atkins and Allpass took the win. Second place went to the second of the invitation cars and the last podium position to Jenson Lunn and Sarah Bennett-Baggs who took 55 points each towards the challenge standings.
With the rain getting heavier the decision was also taken to cancel the last PTC race.Meanwhile at a dry Spa the MSV F3 cup held their next round alongside the Austrian F3 cup, making a 48 car field.In race one Aaron Steele found himself boxed in at the start and remained in third place at the end of the opening lap however Steele couldn’t keep up with the leading Austrian F3 Cup pair of David Hauser and Gery Hauser. Steele came home with a very credible third lace and a first in class meaning maximum points toward the challenge, Steele also scored points for pole and fastest lap. Further down the field Matt Draper took second place and the 75 points while Dave Karakas rounded off the top 3 taking 55 points.Race 2 saw Steele make a strong lead and after overtaking leader David Hauser he soon started to build a gap which saw Steele take first place and again maximum points towards the challenge and again points for fastest lap and pole position. Chris Needham upped his average point score by coming home in second place and Kat Imprey improved on her performance in race 1 edging out Draper by a tenth of a second to finish third in class.
After an eventful weekend Adrian Churchill in the Production Touring Car Trophy still maintains his lead in the Sunoco GRAND-AM 200 Challenge; however a fantastic point scoring last round sees Aaron Steele in MSV F3 Cup rapidly catching up. With less than 3 points separating the top two it’s still all to play for!
