The Jordan Warnock Racing Team suffered mixed fortunes in rounds three and four of the British GT Championship at Mondello Park in Ireland over the weekend (8/9 May). The team's pair of Porsche 911GT3RS's each recorded a second place and a non-finish at the unique Irish track.
Mike Jordan and Mark Sumpter started the first race from pole position in the John Guest-backed car, but a gearbox failure wrecked their race. However, they came back strongly to finish second in the later race and score vital championship points.
Meanwhile, David and Godfrey Jones almost clinched victory in the opening race. Slick pit-work and some good fortune with two safety car periods gave the Preci-Spark car the lead over the Porsche of Tim Sugden/Jonathon Cocker with just 18 minutes of the race left to run.
But FIA GT ace Sugden drove a strong race to overhaul the JWR car with just three minutes left to. However, second place was just reward for David and Godfrey after the dramas of the opening rounds at Donington Park in April.
Jordan was still recovering from the after effects of a rallying accident and after Friday's pre-race testing decided that claiming points in Ireland was going to be the best option. "I'm struggling over the bumps and the kerbs," he said. "The Ferraris were incredibly strong in testing on Friday and we decided that coming away from the weekend with as many points as possible would be the best thing. Although this isn’t the best start," he added after the gearbox failure in the opening race.
"The track is really bumpy and we had to adjust the brake bias to stop locking up the wheels. With the twisty nature of the track as well it meant that we were changing gear a lot more than usual. The mixture of the two put a lot of strain on the gearbox and it was just too much,” he added.
"I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to hold Sugden off when he caught me," said Godfrey Jones after the opening race. "I knew what my quickest pace was in testing and it was going to happen sooner or later, but the result is good and we had all the bad luck at Donington so it was our turn for a podium," he added.
In the GT Cup class, the Porsches were battling to match the pace of the smaller cars on the tight and twisty circuit. In the opening race, the JWR cars of Stuart Scott/Steve Wood and Peter Chambers/Graeme Langford finished close together in seventh and eighth places.
Sumpter started the second race from sixth on the grid and had a fairly lonely run up to the driver change. At this stage, a podium finish seemed unlikely, but some dramas for the leading Ferraris gave Jordan the chance to go for glory. Mounting a typically attacking drive, he stormed through to take second place at the flag and give the team its second podium of the weekend.
"I had a lonely race really," said Sumpter. "I let Godfrey past in the opening laps as he was on a charge, but he was unlucky. Everything worked really well though and it's a great result for us." "We definitely needed the points from a championship point of view," concluded Jordan.
Unfortunately, the Jones' twins race ended prematurely. Godfrey was battling hard with the Chevrolet Corvette of Paula Cook when he was hit from behind at turn three and was pitched into the gravel and retirement. Langford and Chambers, meanwhile, finished seventh in the GT Cup class, while Wood/Scott claimed ninth.
The team will be back in action in the next pair of races at Snetterton (Norfolk) on 5/6 June.
