JOHN WILSON DOMINATES AT DONINGTON - GALLEGO MOVES TO THE TOP OF THE POINTS - WRIGLEY LOSES MOMENTUM - SPILLS, CHILLS AND PROTEST!
Londoner John Wilson finally managed to fulfil both his and his car's potential with a dominant performance at Donington. Leading from pole to chequered flag despite some strong challenges from Richard Eyre, Hubertus Bahlsen and Fredy Kumschick, the Tyrrell 011/6 driver repaid his team's hard work with a long awaited race and Class C win in front of a busy crowd. John Delane (Tyrrell 001) won Class A as the Tyrell family watched from the stands. Rodrigo Gallego won class B to move to the top of the drivers' standings level on points with reigning TGP Champion Mike Wrigley (Tyrrell 012/3). Wrigley suffered mechanical failures and Steve Hartley (Arrows A6) won class D.
DONINGTON QUALIFYINGThe FIA TGP World Championship arrived at Donington in sunny climes on Sunday and despite threatening skies, the free practice and qualifying sessions were run under dry conditions. That didn't stop Fredy Kumschick sliding off and damaging the rear end of his Williams FW07 in the free practice session and the Swiss racer had to be helped out by Richard Eyre and Simon Hadfield who provided spare components to the stricken Kumschick and enabled him to qualify 4th on the grid in the second session. Fellow Swiss driver Hubertus Bahlsen (Arrows A4) was in front of him in 3rd.
In session 1, Wilson set the pace with 1:03.640 on his 8th lap, just as the Avon tyres were reaching their most effective state. Richard Eyre responded with a 1:02.613 and that would be the best time of the session but by the end of the day, Wilson had turned the tables and put in a 1:02.560 lap to take the pole position. Eyre would start second.
Remarkably, Steve Hartley was lying second fastest for a lot of the early stages. When Nick Rini span bringing out the red flags half way through the session, Hartley was asked to explain his position. He seemed staggered to be at such dizzy heights and once the session re-started, promptly reverted to self and ripped the bottom off the Arrows and damaged panels in a jaunt over the kerbs. When questioned afterwards he denied having hit anything up until the point the Mirage Motorsport boys pointed out the holes and all the bent bits; on seeing this he claimed he might have felt something…. Sitting out session 2 his time placed him second in class D.
In class A, John Delane, driving Tyrrell 001in front of the Tyrrell family, pipped Ean Pugh (Brabham BT34) to lead the class on the grid. John Crowson was fastest in class B with the rapid Mauro Pane noticeable by his absence in the 6-wheeled Tyrrell P34. Entered into the race and highly publicised in the build up to the event, the car's owner, TGP driver Pietro Ratti, has decided that the car, class winner at Jarama in the previous round, will run at the Monaco historic and then return to Mr Ratti's museum in Italy.
Mauro Pane and his father Marcello were at Donington to support the championship and both were visibly upset that after much hard work getting the P34 into race winning condition, Mauro would not be able to compete any longer in the championship. An opportune time then for Martin Stretton to make an appearance with the suggestion that he may well be able to compete in the Simon Bull owned P34 at one or two TGP events later in the year.
Another driver missing from TGP for a period returned at Donington, Chris Perkins in his Fittipaldi F5A. The local driver suffered from some gripes during qualifying and had his times from the first session disallowed after Technical Delegate John Gentry scrutineered the car in Parc Ferme. The repairs made, he qualified a respectable second quickest in class B and would be the fastest in class for the Monday morning warm-up.
DONINGTON RACEA cold, wet start to the Bank Holiday meant saw John Crowson crash heavily during the morning warm-up. His team rushed around to repair the damage and did an admirable job in turning John out for the race. Unfortunately, having repaired the man-made damage, a mechanical breakage forced him out of the race after 2 laps with a broken gear lever coming off in his hand.
By the lunch break the climate had changed for the better, and TGP drivers enjoyed a lunch provided by the Hospitality Partners for the weekend, Swiss private banking firm Lombard Odier Darier Hentch. With 2 Swiss drivers in the top four, the executives from the company on hand to enjoy the TGP race weekend and meet the drivers and teams were looking forward to a great race. It was exactly what they got.
The sun shone for the start of proceedings. The grandstands were full of eager fans as the cars came out of the pitlane, all of them bar one opting to take the chance of one lap through the pit lane before coming round to form up on the grid. The one car that decided to get 2 warm-up laps in was Hubertus Bahlsen'.
With everyone in position after the green flag lap, the 5-second board was shown. Two seconds later, Ian Barrowman began waving his hands having stalled on the line. Nick Rini and John Delane, like Barrowman, seemed to expect the start to be aborted by Race Director John Felix as the yellow flags, waved by the well-drilled marshals, highlighted the Osella driver's plight. But, as Barrowman sat there, the lights went red and blinked out for the start of round 3 of the 2004 FIA TGP World Championship. Barrowman was left stranded as the cars moved away and marshals tried frantically to push start the Osella. They made it half way down the straight just as the leaders were coming into the chicane at the end of lap 1 before the car fired into life, much to the joy of the spectators who cheered Barrowman away from the line.
John Wilson had made a good start, getting away cleanly from Eyre and Bahlsen with the Swiss driver making it through past Eyre in the opening corners and mounting a hard charge after the leader. Kumschick followed after Eyre whilstbehind the leading four, Christian Glasel in the Brabham BT49D was running in a strong position. The German racer hasn't had much seat-time in the BT49 in 2004 and was putting in good lap times just less than a second behind his team chief, Kumschick, for the first three laps until the Cosworth DFV in his BT49 expired in spectacular fashion going down the start-finish straight. With Glasel out of the scrap, the top four made off into the distance and ran nose to tail for the first 12 laps with less than 2 seconds dividing them.
In class A, John Delane, delayed by the Barrowman incident at the start, had dropped back behind Ean Pugh. For 2 laps the US racer remained there before blasting past the Monaco-domiciled Irishman on his way to class honours and 15th overall. After blowing an engine in the heat of Bahrain in round 1, Delane was thrilled with the result.
The class B battle was interesting. With the favourite Pane not in the equation seemingly for the rest of the season, Gallego would have hoped to have things his own way. It was not to be however with both Chris Perkins and John Crowson ahead of the Portuguese driver on the grid. Crowson left the game after lap 2 with Perkins some way ahead of Gallego, himself pursued by Peter Wuensch in the ex-Graham Hill Brabham BT37 and Terry Sayles' Surtees TS20. Perkins looked to have the measure of the class until that was, the leaders began to lap them. With a yellow flag waving for an incident, Perkins raised his arm to indicate that he was aware of the problem and was slowing. Gallego interpreted the gesture as Perkins suffering problems and went past, unaware of the yellow flag. Perkins, actually stuck in 4th gear for the entire race, set off in pursuit but could not get back at the diminutive Portuguese driver who went on to win the class with the fastest lap point elevating him to joint leader of the championship. There was a protest in front of the stewards after the race and Gallego was officially reprimanded but the result stood. Weunsch came home third in class with Sayles the only other class B finisher, Abba Kogan having been collected by a spinning Alistair Morrison at the chicane on lap 9 and Nick Rini having been punted out of the race following a collision with Nick May's March and subsequently the wall. Rini's Surtees had only recently been completed following a rebuild and suffered substantial damage to the chassis. May, part of the James Watt Automotive stable of cars, left the track shortly afterwards at the end of what was a disappointing weekend for the JWA cars that included Kogan's McLaren M23 and Mike Wrigley's Tyrrell 012.
Wrigley, reigning champion and points leader by some margin before the Donington race, broke a gear linkage on lap 11 and was stuck in the pits for several minutes as the team tried to fix the problem. He went back out but could only finish 5 laps down, 4th in class D. The other class D runners capitalised on the luckless Wrigley, Steve Hartley taking the class honours ahead of Morrison, one lap down, and Barrowman two laps behind the race winner. Barrowman was incandescent after the race, incensed at the start-line incident and the start not being aborted.
The final laps at the front of the field were full of back markers. Running on the short track at Donington, they were among the leaders by lap 6. Wilson looked good out front and was making swift work of the back markers to extend a 2 second gap by lap 11. Kumschick was capitalising on Eyre's delays and closing in but could not get close enough to the Southender to try a move. Bahlsen led the three chasers as they carved through the field and with just one lap to go, it would appear to have been settled...
But that was without figuring for the 'Bahlsen effect'. With Wilson left with just the chicane between him and the flag, Bahlsen came hairing under the bridge towards the right-left flick onto the finish straight. The car spluttered, once - twice. Coming out of the chicane and with all the fuel loaded over onto the right hand side of the tank, the engine was starved of gas and died. With a mere 10 metres to go, Hubertus coasted over the line, but not before both Eyre and Kumschick were past him, claiming second and third as their own and relegating Bahlsen to a miserable 4th, the Swiss driver ruing his decision to do a second lap through the pit lane before the start of the race.
The results mean that Wrigley remains at the top of the leader board but is joined there by the fortunate Gallego, both on 23 points. It was the first time in 2004 that Wrigley didn't take a full points haul away with him from the race weekend and gives the chasing pack something to hunt after. Steve Hartley was the major benefactor, moving from 8th equal up to third on 19 points, ahead of the charger Kumschick on 18. Morrison, despite his collision with Kogan, moves up to 5th.
There are 7 points between 1st and 5th now, and the next round is at Monza. In 2003, Wrigley had a lot of problems and didn't start the race. He'll be hoping for better luck in 2004 to try and regain his advantage on the table. Gallego, never far from controversy, is a surprise front runner for some, but was in a similar position last year before some bad luck and some comings together - most memorably at Monza when he hit John Crowson - knocked him down the rankings. Kumschick is desperate for the title but knows how hard it is in the competitive class C world, and both Hartley AND Morrison know that with a bit of luck, the points are theirs for the taking.
The next round is at Monza on Sunday 30th May.
Full results and championship points at tgpf1.com
