A Mighty Race In Prospect.
For several weeks now Benjamin Franassovici and the SRO team have been promising a grid of 40 cars for the three-hour ‘Silverstone 500’ and, even without the addition of the Avon GT4 Cup runners, they have achieved this impressive target; the entry for the race being an all-time high. In fact, were it not for a couple of issues, the total entry could have exceeded 50 and be in Blancpain Endurance Series territory.
In terms of marques, the (BGT) entry breaks down as:
5 x Porsche 997 GT3 R
8 x Ferrari 458 Italia GT3
1 x Ferrari 430 GT3
1 x Ferrari 458 Challenge
3 x Aston Martin Vantage GT3
4 x BMW Z4 GT3
4 x McLaren MP4-12C GT3
2 x Audi R8 LMS ultra
1 x Audi R8 LMS
2 x Mercedes AMG SLS GT3
3 x Ginetta G55 GT3
5 x Ginetta G50 GT4
1 x Aston Martin GT4
(1 x Lotus Evora GT4 – unconfirmed)
And to this we can add the Avon runners:
2 x BMW M3 GT4
1 x Aston Martin GT4
1 x Ginetta G50
2 x Chevrolet Camaro SS GT4
1 x Porsche Cup GT4
1 x Porsche Cayman GT4
In anyone’s books, that’s an impressive entry.
So far this season Porsche has ruled the roost, with the three Trackspeed GT3 Rs taking a win apiece from the opening three races. Silverstone could well be a very different story, as Rockingham winner Gregor Fisken acknowledges; “Three hours is a long race. We’ve got a huge success penalty of 20 seconds, so we’re going to have to work very hard to overcome that. We’ll adapt a similar strategy to Rockingham; be as fast as we can with a setup that is kind to the tyres over the duration of the race. We’re mindful that Rockingham was a Porsche friendly track and it’s going to be more of a challenge at Silverstone against all the other marques. We’ll work to get the best finish we can and bring the car home over the three-hours, hopefully in the top-five. The series is so competitive and we’ll see a lot of teams improving, so a fourth place would be great, a podium finish would be fantastic.”
The Trackspeed Porsches will undoubtedly be at the pointy end of qualifying and the race, as will the Ahmad Al Harthy/ Michael Caine Motorbase 997, which is looking stronger with every outing, despite the extra 75kg of ballast it is required to carry. A consistent run without errors or problems should see the car making progress, with the potential for both drivers’ maiden wins in the series certainly being there; but they’ve a huge amount of competition to overcome in the process.
There are so many potential winners on Sunday that it’s hard to know where to look. An obvious contender is the #29 AF Corse Ferrari 458 of Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin. The duo claimed an overall win in their first outing for the Italian in the International GT Open a fortnight ago and Griffin followed that up with a win for RAM Racing in the ELMS race at Imola last weekend. A win at Silverstone this weekend would cap a remarkable hat-trick for the Irish racer, and his sky-high motivation – along with his confidence in a team he knows very well – will be a major factor. Cameron also will be boosted by his Portimao victory and this should restore the confidence that he has arguably been lacking so far this season.
On present form, it’s hard to see one of the other Ferraris delivering the win at this stage of the season; mainly on the basis that the majority of the partnerships involved are still relatively new, and/or the overall pace in the car isn’t there yet. However, should the cards fall in the right order, a surprise or two cannot be ruled out.
What isn’t in doubt is that an Aston Martin stands a very good chance of taking the flag first on the GP circuit. Andrew Howard and Jonny Adam stood atop the podium after the two-hour race at Silverstone in 2011 in a Beechdean DBRS9 and have since played a major role in turning the Vantage GT3 into a race-winning machine. Barring misfortune, it will be a major surprise if this duo doesn’t feature high in the results. Both the #6 PGF-Kinfaun and #80 Barwell Astons are also well capable of leaving Northamptonshire with a large haul of the points-and-a-half on offer this weekend.
It was a United Autosports McLaren that took the win in last year’s three-hour race, however, and a repeat performance is certainly possible. The team has suffered appalling luck so far this season and a good run from either or both of its MP4-12Cs this time out will be a huge boost. However, the Preci-Spark car could spoil their plans. The Jones brothers tend to do well in the longer races and, again, a problem-free run could see a silver car at or near the front.
But will Duncan Tappy and Grégoire Demoustier prove to be the most dangerous of the McLaren runners? Their BGT debut was hampered by brake issues, but if Dave Ryan’s team can deliver a more reliable car for Silverstone the pace of this pairing could be significant.
Matt Bell was one of the winning UA drivers last year and his new partnership with Mark Patterson in the team’s Audi R8 LMS ultra is showing great potential. Both drivers know the circuit well and the car is reliable and quick. Chalk this one up as being amongst the favourites. The M-Sport ultra, too, is looking very promising and Rembert Berg was certainly not overawed by his new surroundings last time out at Rockingham. Another solid run from the Dutch driver could leave Warren Hughes in a very promising position, although they will also have to overcome the time-penalty arising from their second place result in Corby.
Jason Minshaw and Benji Hetherington finished just off the podium at the last race and they are another duo with a strong partnership developing. The #14 Fortec Mercedes looked rock-solid at, er, Rockingham and the SLS is arguably at its strongest in the longer races – as demonstrated last week in Germany. Definitely far from an outside bet for top-three honours.
The BMW Z4 is another car that will enjoy the GP circuit, and three of the four examples on display are likely to feature. Olly Bryant and Marco Attard show every sign of gelling in the #79 Ecurie Ecosse car, and are highly likely to feature at the front throughout. Similarly, if 888Optimum can overcome the niggles that have held them back so far this season, either (or both) of the #8 and #888 Z4s could see a huge upswing in fortune.
On present form, the best a Ginetta G55 can hope for is a top-ten finish; but, again, we could be surprised. The Team WFR car was in contention for the win before brake problems intervened last year and a bit of good fortune for any of the three teams could see the car demonstrating its undoubted potential. Whatever happens, it will be great to have Ian Stinton back in the fold for a one-off outing in the Stark G55, where he is joined by Nathan Freke, who makes his GT3 debut.
GT4 is, if anything, even more difficult to call than GT3, despite there being just half-a-dozen cars. Tom Wilson and Steve Chaplin had an excellent win at Rockingham in the Complete Racing Aston, but the Ginetta field has seen an unusually high level of mechanical gremlins so far. Another reliable run from the #53 will put it in with a good chance of a repeat victory, but if the Rick Parfitt Jr/Ryan Ratcliffe Optimum G50 also has a good run then it will definitely rank as favourite for the win. The addition of the Avon field will certainly make the GT4 battle a lot more interesting, with a much more diverse field than we’ve ever had in the class in BGT.
Practice and qualifying take place today (Saturday) with the race following at 1:00 on Sunday afternoon – screened live on Motors TV.
MH
