BRITISH GT CHAMPIONSHIP ROUNDS 13 & 14 Brands Hatch, 2nd & 3rd October 2004
The final event of the series saw the battle for the Cup class and Dunlop team awards decided. Dunlop awarded a set of tyres each to Scuderia Ecosse and Kershaw Motorsport for most pole position in each class (7 & 8 respectively). Gruppe M won the N-GT Dunlop Top Team Trophy which also wins them 50 tyres for use at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. DRM & Tech 9 Motorsport started the final race tied on points but their class win secured Tech 9 the Cup Class Dunlop Top Team award. Kenny Chen, Team Owner Gruppe M: “It means a lot to us to win this award because we are a young team. Last year was our first year in the cup class and this is our first year in N-GT with a new car. The team has worked hard together to get this result – it’s incredible. I think that we’re the first team in a few years to win the team and drivers titles – as a team owner I can’t ask for more. As a team our next step is to progress to something like FIA GT or LMES and my dream is to be on the Le Mans podium so we’ll try to be there. The prize is definitely a good start.” Steve Bunkhall, Race Engineer Gruppe M “I just want to add that Michael Butler and his guys do a top job. They’ve really helped us a lot in our first year – not just with fitting but with the advice. Their experience is always something we can call on. Dunlop has definitely helped us win this championship in out first year and we’re very grateful.”
Michael Butler, Dunlop Motorsport: “We’ve had fantastic grids this year and the teams have worked hard with great competitive racing as a result. The teams have worked well with us as always. It’s been a fantastic season.” Qualifying Jonathan Cocker showed why he has been crowned 2004 British GT Champion by snatching pole position for the penultimate round of the series at Brands Hatch. The GruppeM Porsche topped the times by just one-thousandths of a seconds from the Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari 360 of Nathan Kinch. Gavan Kershaw put his Lotus Sport Elise onto the dailysportscar.com GT Cup Class pole. Kershaw’s time was more than enough to take the dailysportscar.com GT Cup class pole. Marco Attard put the Damax Ferrari 360 into second place, while Adam Wilcox kept his and Ni Amorim’s title hopes on track with third place. The second qualifying session was an all Ferrari affair in NGT. The Scuderia Ecosse cars of Andrew Kirkaldy and Tim Mullen dominated the front row. Tim Sugden managed to put the GruppeM Porsche third on the grid after trading times with Adam Jones in the Tech 9 car.
The Cup class pole went to title contender Adam Sharpe. The Tech 9 Porsche swapped places on a number of occasions with Barrie Whight in the Lotus. Alan Simonsen finally put the Glenvarigill Ferrari second in class, just ahead of Whight and Aaron Scott. Round 15 – NGT 1 Sugden/Cocker Porsche 911 GT3-RSR 47.032s 2 Kinch/Kirkaldy Ferrari 360 Modena 47.033s 3 Cole/Jones Porsche 911 GT3-RSR 47.612s 4 Niarchos/Mullen Ferrari 360 Modena 47.727s 5 Sumpter Porsche 911 GT3-RS 47.897s 6 Hyde/Johnson TVR T400R 47.930s Dailysportscar GT Cup 1 Kershaw/Whight Lotus Sport Elise 48.665s 2 Attard/Adams Ferrari 360 Modena 49.425s 3 Wilcox/Amorim Ferrari 360 49.518s 4 Ahlers/Scott Morgan Aero 8 49.574s 5 Lester/Simonsen Ferrari 360 49.622s 6 Bilmoria/Wandless Porsche 911 GT3-Cup 49.972s
Round 16 – NGT 1 Kirkaldy/Kinch 46.673s 2 Mullen/Niarchos 46.937s 3 Cocker/Sugden 47.133s 4 Cole/Jones 47.154s 5 Tomlinson/Greensall 47.585s 6 Hay/Cunningham 47.965s Dailysportscar.com GT Cup 1 Sharpe/Lesniewski 48.951s 2 Lester/Simonsen 48.975s 3 Whight/Kershaw 49.046s 4 Ahlers/Scott 49.549s 5 Attard/Adams 49.569s 6 Horsfield/Corbyn 50.403s
Race 1 Tim Sugden and Jonathan Cocker took giving Sugden second place in the NGT Championship after the Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari of Nathan Kinch and Andrew Kirkaldy failed to finish. Adam Wilcox and Ni Amorim clinched the Dailysportscar.com GT Cup class title. Cocker and Kinch went wheel to wheel at the start of the race with Kinch finally coming out in the lead after the new champion had tried to make a move at Paddock Hill Bend stick on two occasions. Cocker managed to hang on to the rear of the Ferrari up until the pit-stop window, where Sugden was able to get out ahead of the Ferrari, as it took a longer stop. A safety car period during the pit-stop window put an element of confusion amongst the teams, as Neil Cunningham took over the Embassy Corvette from Richard Hay, but lost a lap on the leading pack. As Sugden pulled out a strong lead at the front, Cunningham was under the impression that he was in the thick of the front-runners and as Sugden came up to lap him he refused to give way. Andrew Kirkaldy had set an incredible pace trying to catch Sugden. However, an exhaust manifold problem on the Ferrari led to retirement, gifting Sugden the runner-up position in the championship.
Nigel Greensall pushed Sugden hard after the safety car pulled in. The RSR TVR looked to have the measure of the success ballasted Porsche. But, Sugden was able to react and managed to pull out a lead over the rest of the field before crossing the line. Greensall was able to bring the TVR home to equal the team’s best result of the season. Piers Johnson brought the Eclipse TVR home in a well deserved third place. He was under immense pressure from Mark Sumpter throughout the second half of the race and the Porsche driver managed to close within a handful of seconds on the final lap to take fourth, after driving by himself for the hour-long race. Nick Adams and Marco Attard took victory in the Dailysportscar.com GT Cup Class. Gavan Kershaw hassled the NGT pack in the opening half of the race in the Lotus Elise. However, the car developed a mis-fire, ending its impressive run. Allan Simonsen took a hard fought second place to lead the Morgan of Keith Ahlers and Aaron Scott. Wilcox and Amorim were fourth across the line, but when Adam Sharpe’s team-mate Dominic Lesniewski beached the Tech 9 Porsche in the Paddock Hill gravel trap, it gifted them the Cup Class championship.
NGT 1 Sugden/Cocker Porsche 911 GT3-RSR 1h00m46.257s 2 Tomlinson/Greensall TVR T400R 1h01m08.041s 3 Hyde/Johnson TVR T400R 1h01m10.310s 4 Sumpter Porsche 911 GT3-RS 1h01m10.992s 5 Niarchos/Mullen Ferrari 360 Modena 1h01m27.588s 6 Hay/Cunningham Corvette C5R 1h01m34.837s Dailysportscar.com GT Cup 1 Attard/Adams Ferrari 360 +3 laps 2 Lester/Simonsen Ferrari 360 +3 laps 3 Ahlers/Scott Morgan Aero 8 +3 laps4 Wilcox/Amorim Ferrari 360 +3 laps 5 Burton/Flux Ferrari 360 +4 laps 6 Bilmoria/Wandless Porsche 911 GT3-Cup +4 laps
Race 2 Andrew Kirkaldy and Nathan Kinch took victory in the final round. The Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari had to work hard for the win ahead of the Ultima of Steven Brady and Alan Bonner. Adam Sharpe and Dominic Lesniewski won the Dailysportscar.com GT Cup class, sealing the team title for Tech 9 Motorsport. Kirkaldy came under immense early pressure from his team-mate Tim Mullen. However, Mullen’s race ended in the Paddock Hill gravel trap on lap six when he went for the lead. As the track conditions began to deteriorate with heavier rain Steven Brady was closing in on the leading trio of the Ferrari, Tim Sugden in the GruppeM Porsche and Neil Cunningham in the Embassy Corvette.
It took the Ultima just a handful of laps to move into the lead and begin to pull away. His lead was soon wiped out though, as the safety car was scrambled for the Emotional Engineering Monaro, which had spun into the gravel at Druids. After the round of driver changes, it was Alan Bonner who held onto the lead in the Ultima. Kinch pushed hard in the closing laps and stole the lead on lap 54 with Bonner bringing the Master Motorsport car home with its best ever finish. Cocker brought the Porsche home for a final third place of the season. Adam Sharpe led the race outright during the pit-stop window as the rest of the field dived in under the safety car period. A shrewd move by the Tech 9 squad allowed it to gain almost a lap on the rest of the cup class field and gave Lesniewski an easy run to victory. Adam Wilcox and Ni Amorim managed to come home in second place, but it was not enough. Keith Ahlers and Aaron Scott picked up another podium finish in the Morgan. The pair both struggled with a broken windscreen wiper but managed to claim third place.
NGT 1 Kinch/Kirkaldy Ferrari 360 Modena 1h00m47.268s 2 Brady/Bonner Ultima GTR 1h00m50.339s 3 Sugden/Cocker Porsche 911 GT3-RSR 1h00m52.755s 4 Hyde/Johnson TVR T400R 1h01m03.229s 5 Sumpter Porsche 911 GT3-RS 1h01m03.769s 6 Hartshorne/Eagling TVR Tuscan R + 1 lap Dailysportscar.com GT Cup 1 Lesniewski/Sharpe Porsche 911 GT3-Cup 1h01.37.441s 2 Wilcox/Amorim Ferrari 360 + 1 lap 3 Ahlers/Scott Morgan Aero 8 + 1 lap 4 Lester/Simonsen Ferrari 360 + 1 lap 5 Bilimoria/Wandless Porsche 911 GT3-Cup + 2 laps 6 Croydon/Smythe Ferrari 360 + 3 laps
