The final hour started as the teams were completing their final stops. Kevin Estre climbed aboard the leading #58 Von Ryan Racing McLaren 650s for the last stint with a sizeable lead. It wasn’t plain sailing for the sister car #59 McLaren of Alvaro Parente however.
Parente in was hit hard at Luffield by Andy Soucek’s 7th place #8 M-Sport Bentley just four minutes into the hour, after an optimistic dive up the inside, hitting the right-rear of the 650s. Parente took a slow lap back to the pits for repairs with a punctured tyre, spreading bits of rubber all over the Wellington straight on the way, causing a Full-Course-Yellow period to clear the debris.
“We were up to third, our pace was quick, so we were hoping Alvaro would be able to push on and catch the #1 WRT Audi. Hopefully we can get some points after pushing on,” said Parente’s teammate Adrian Quaife-Hobbs.
A drive-through penalty was handed to the #23 Nissan for the contact in the first hour which effectively cost the team a chance of winning the race.
Benefitting the most from the FCY in the end was the #74 ISR Audi of Marco Bonanomi, after pitting during the procedure vaulted the R8 to second overall and just under 20 seconds behind the leading McLaren. Bonanomi initially tried to reel in Estre, but the Frenchman immediately responded the Audi-factory driver’s increased pace and maintained his comfortable lead.
Behind Bonanomi however it all started to heat up, as the #1 WRT Audi (Vanthoor), #73 MRS Nissan (Plowman) and #3 WRT Audi (Ortelli) were all just a few seconds behind him dicing through traffic. The #1 #1 Audi had a brief scare which left the car right in the thick of the action, after screens cut to a shot of the R8 crawling around the circuit before its final stop to hand over to Laurens Vanthoor.
“We had an electronically problem, unable to shift gears, we lost 15-20 seconds,” said Jean Karl Vernay. “It’s a shame, we lost a bit of time and an ability to fight for the win.”
Stephane Ortelli was the first to make a move in the bunch at the head of the field. Martin Plowman lost out after a brave move to take fourth place by the Monegasque demoted the Nissan to fifth.
Pro-Am was by no means settled either, as the Triple Eight BMW got caught out by the other contenders pitting under FCY. The Leonard Motorsport Aston Martin emerged in the lead of the class, with the #888 Z4 down to sxith in class midway through Lee Mowle’s stint. Second was then then claimed by the #51 AF Corse Ferrari with the #22 RJN Nissan holding the final podium spot as the end of the race neared.
Laurens Vanthoor made the move to take second place overall with just under half an hour left, leaving Marco Bonanomi picking up the pieces. The lead margin was over 30 seconds however, too much for Vanthoor to overcome in the remaining minutes. Bonanomi on the other hand would have to try to retain third with a hard-charging Ortelli not too far behind and a 5 second time penalty handed to him for abusing track limits.
With under 15 minutes to go, there were still many positions yet to be decided, as Norbert Seidler (Rinaldi Ferrari) caught Adrian Zaugg’s Grasser Lamborghini Huracan for sixth. But a risky move at Abbey to in traffic caused Siedler to slip back and go careering off the circuit after tapping the #8 Bentley of Soucek on the exit of the complex.
Soucek then rapidly caught the Huracan and quickly took sixth off Zaugg who made a small error under braking at Brooklands. Siedler also made up ground as they battled, and filled the Lambo’s mirrors.
With under 10 minutes to go, the #59 McLaren of Alvaro Parente stopped by the side of the circuit to retire the car, a disappointing result after running well in the first half of the race.
The fight for 7th continued almost until the flag between Zaugg and Sielder, as the Rinaldi Ferrari took advantage at almost the same spot as Soucek’s Bentley at the end of the 81st lap to take the place.
It had been a fantastic all-round performance from the Von Ryan crew, who after 84 laps of Silverstone took victory by over 20 seconds. Kevin Estre cruised to the line to score the first Blancpain win for himself, his teammates Shane Van Gisbergen and Rob Bell, Von Ryan Racing and the McLaren 650s.
Leonard Motorsport won Pro-Am and Boutsen Ginion won the Am-Cup.
Full report to follow…
Stephen Kilbey
