Wet qualifying conditions threw new challenges at many teams and drivers at Snetterton, but while this meant frustration for some it delivered an interesting grid for both races and some fine and opportunistic driving as crews set about making the most of their qualifying results in the more familiar two one-hour race format.
From the beginning of this meeting the paddock talk was increasingly of the Balance of Performance as the championship approached its mid-way point and a long summer break; the opportunity for improvement starting to narrow for some teams amid the organiser’s seemingly controversial success penalties. More controversy was to follow as the Race 1 result was re-considered by the stewards, meaning a lengthy delay to Race Two while the podium and points scores were adjusted.
The withdrawal of the Vita4One entry brought disappointment for Ferrari fans, while Mark Blundell’s honourable stand-down from racing duties for United Autosports also lent a sense of loss to the series this weekend. A no-show in GT3 was also the Dom Evans / Tom Roche Audi R8 LMS.
A further casualty was soon to be the Rosso Verde entry, Allan Simonsen not even making it into qualifying after Hector Lester lost the Ferrari 458 onto wet grass and backed it rather too heavily into the barrier just a single lap into the first session. With significant rear end damage the car was quickly inspected and trailered home, race engineer (name?) shrugging “We just don’t have the parts.”
Though that denied spectators Simonsen and Lester’s usual spirited fight for position, the battle at the front was no less entertaining over the two rounds as Porsche maintained an edge despite improving and hard-charging competition.
The Trackspeed entries again grabbed the headlines, though not always for the best reasons. An incident-filled weekend for the three car team saw Jon Minshaw in the Demon Tweeks liveried machine making a good start from sixth on the grid into third in Race 1, pushing Andrew Howard’s Beechdean Aston Martin hard while defending from Ahmad Al Harthy’s Motorbase Porsche in the early laps. This was to be his undoing, though, as waved yellows under a first lap incident were judged to have been ignored as the #33 car improved its position. A lead of just under ten seconds by Phil Keen at the chequered flag was later overturned as a thirty second penalty was handed out, losing them the win and a significant loss of championship points for Minshaw. A new regulation that was rushed through this weekend means any driver who receives a penalty point on their license now sees that number tripled in relation to the championship points docked from their tally. Minshaw had three penalty points on his license, which therefore lost him nine points for this event. As his net seventh place gained him six points in Race 1, he actually scored minus three points.
The severity of the penalty is explained by the fact that the Race Director had deemed that this was a very serious issue as the yellow flags had been out for two laps before the incident and that it was a disregard of the flag system. This rather overshadowed Phil Keen’s early departure from Race 2 after going off at Riches after just six laps.
Despite one paddock comment that Trackspeed had “an endless supply of Porsches”, Gregor Fisken was nevertheless spotted hammering his own exhaust into shape as part of a big list of repairs arising from his early Race 1 departure. Mark Poole lost his #80 Aston Martin at Montreal on the opening lap and the Scot had nowhere to go other than into the spinning Barwell car. The extended delay while the stewards sorted out their Trackspeed colleague’s misjudgement as a result of this accident did at least afford the #32 Tartan Terror the chance to be ready for Race Two. With Stephen Jelley taking the place of Richard Westbrook (who was on Grand-Am duty) a rocket start from row six of the grid put the car up to second, but it dropped back to fifth before the pit lane opened. Gregor Fisken took over but pitted the Porsche for retirement with a cracked exhaust. Perhaps it was the wrong hammer?
David Ashburn and Nick Tandy had very mixed fortunes in the third Trackspeed entry. The distinctive multi-spotted 997 GT3 R qualified fourteenth for Race 1 and had its work cut out. Nick Tandy took over at the pit stops and charged hard, gaining places rapidly before finally taking Glynn Geddie’s United Autosports McLaren for fifth place, despite the #31 Porsche taking to the grass at one point. The excitement came to an end, however, as a visibly-disappointed Tandy pitted the car in a cloud of smoke soon after, a holed radiator assumed to be the result of contact made during this pursuit.
Race 2, though, was a different story. A repaired car and fifth on the grid was good enough to improve upon consistently by Nick Tandy to assume second place by lap four, closing the gap on the leading #8 888 Optimum Racing BMW Z4 of Joe Osborne. A spin for Osborne at Brundle gave the lead to Tandy after an apparent tap, but the Porsche allowed the BMW to re-pass in order to avoid a penalty. Soon after, Tandy made it through cleanly at Agostini and held on until late in the pitstop window before handing over to David Ashburn, who clung on to a lead that was confidently eroded from eight seconds to well under two by Steve Tandy’s #888 BMW in a tense finish.
David Ashburn: “I have to say that it wasn’t really that hard to hang on for the win. Nick did a great stint, which gave me an eight-second advantage that I managed to hold for a while. It all felt okay and with ten minutes to go I asked on the radio who was behind me. They told me it was Steve; I know how he drives so I managed to keep it under control. It’s a good result of course after the retirement in the first race and the team did well to pull things together after the damage.”
So what of the Race 1 winner? Eighth on the grid for Ahmad Al Harthy in the Oman Air Motorbase Porsche was turned into a strong and consistent run, a great battle with Jon Minshaw’s Trackspeed car for third running for several laps before his pit call intervened; an extended run for the #1 car gaining extra time in clear air.
Michael Caine resumed in second once things settled down, pegging Warren Hughes a second back despite some aggressive charges from the M-Sport Audi R8, and a hefty balance of performance disadvantage being a rather controversial state for the Motorbase team as Michael Caine explained after qualifying; “It’s frustrating really – we’re as quick as the quickest out there but we are a hundred and ten kilos heavier than last year, plus thirteen millimetres of ride height because of the performance of the Porsches at Silverstone. We finished ninth and the others didn’t finish so it’s hard to understand – on top of which, Ahmad is classed as a silver driver when he’s really a bronze. It’s hard going.”
Though the penalty handed out to Jon Minshaw elevated them to the win and would have brought some satisfaction, it may not help their cause for objection. Eighth place would net a few more points from race two despite their additional fifteen-second pit penalty.
A confident and consistent performance from the #888 888Optimum Racing BMW was one of the weekend’s great achievements. A strong performance in wet qualifying brought second on the grid for both rounds and the car’s race performance demonstrated how much progress has been made by the team and its well-matched driver pairing.
Dan Brown, after the morning warm-up; “The car is really nicely sorted and we did well yesterday in quali’, considering we’d not done any wet running. I asked the team where I was and they told me twentieth and that I had to find three and a half seconds! I just had to get on with it, so I got my head down and drove like crazy: not great in those conditions but it all came good. The car feels nice and consistent for both of us so we’ll make the most of today with the Balance of Performance before it works against us.”
Race 1 proved a challenge, though, as Steve Tandy’s early battle to hang on to second was lost in a wheel-to-wheel fight with Andrew Howard’s Beechdean Aston Martin, the Z4 dropping to fifth by the time it led the first wave of cars into the pits. Dan Brown resumed but was soon dropping down the order, eventually coming home fourteenth after a tangle with another car at Agostini.
Things were rather better in Race 2 despite a disappointing start where the car dropped to fifth on Lap 1 but improved to fourth, taking Matt Bell’s #25 United Autosports Audi R8 LMS having trailed him for several laps. Steve Tandy took over after a late pit stop for the #888 machine that had extended its track position – this built on in a solid push to a close second place for the Gloucestershire driver that could have seen him challenge for the win had the hour not elapsed.
Dan Brown again; “A great afternoon, though I’m not so sure about the morning… but Ecurie Ecosse had a bad one so it must put us in contention now, so I’m happy. In Race 1 I turned in at Turn 4 and I had a car in my door, which pushed me out; and the next thing I knew I was in the barrier on the outside. Race 2 was better of course, even though our start wasn’t too good. Second on the grid is not the best place to be as you’re always looking over at the car next to you and before you know it someone’s had you and it’s all over. Jelley just went – I think he crossed the line in about fourth gear! I‘m pleased with our weekend’s work though.”
Other weekend performances of note included the M-Sport Audi R8’s strong pole position and net second place in Race 1 (see separate story), and the #9 Von Ryan Racing entry finally making the podium in Race 1 after a notable charge from row eight on the grid for Frenchman Grégoire Demoustier, who was clearly finding his feet in the McLaren MP412C. This was underpinned by a strong run from teammate Duncan Tappy, holding off Jonny Adam’s #007 Beechdean Aston Martin Vantage for fourth on the road, although the car looked to have a problem as it slowed visibly halfway through its second stint.
This would be the best finish for a McLaren all weekend. Though improvement is beginning to show with this popular and fabulously presented machine, there is still some way to go, as United Autosports boss Richard Dean explained after the races on Sunday, which delivered a podium and good points for the #25 Audi R8 LMS Ultra of Mark Patterson and Matt Bell; “A third and a fifth has been a good result for us. We lost out at Silverstone by going a lap down under the safety car, which was a waste of an opportunity for a good result. We’re happy that it’s been consistent though, certainly for the R8 at least. The McLarens are coming along but, again, the Balance of Performance is just not right: the Porsches and BMW’s are still quicker in a straight line but we can reel them in at the corners; on pure lap time we have the edge. It really needs sorting out properly, so there is a chance for teams like us to compete at the front.”
But perhaps GT4 delivered the best feel-good moment of the weekend, as Rick Parfitt Jnr. and Ryan Ratcliffe delivered long-awaited wins back-to-back for the Optimum Motorsport team. While the Race 1 victory looked comfortable – Parfitt Jnr pulling steadily away from Steve Chaplin’s GT4 Aston Martin in the first half, Ratcliffe extending a 20 second lead to 42 seconds at the chequered flag – the second race delivered a tougher challenge for the #44 entry.
Dan Eagling led briefly from the green flag in the #50 Redgate Lifetime Racing Ginetta before being passed for the lead by the pole sitting #43 Century Motorsport G50 of Declan Jones by the end of Lap 1. While this nose-to-tail battle continued, Ryan Ratcliff was running dead last in the #44 car. Jones handed over to Zoe Wenham at the pit-stops, but a second pit call was required to secure a loose bonnet dropping the car to the back of the field.
An epic charge then ensued from the Optimum Motorsport car, Rick Parfitt Jnr. getting the hammer down to close in on an equally-feisty challenge by James May’s #69 APO Sport G50 on class leader Matt Smith. As Smith dropped to third, May now had to fend off Parfitt Jnr, who had by now made up a huge amount of ground. With just four minutes to go the #44 had the lead and went on to take the win.
Rick Parfitt Jnr: “That has to be the drive of my life. I was twenty seconds back from second and forty seconds back from the leader, so it was not an easy win by any means. I drove like mad to pull back the deficit; every lap was like a qualifying lap. I had them on the radio shouting and pushing me on, telling me I could do it. I was driving every corner flat out, standing on the brakes – loads of fun, but really nerve wracking. There were so many marbles out there and I was pushing the car so hard I nearly lost it at Hamilton, but just managed to hang on to it. I’m absolutely ecstatic – a great weekend and I am so pleased for the team. I was rocking out at a gig in London last night and got back up here after only four hours sleep. If that’s a winning combination I’ll make sure I do it every time in future! It’s been a great weekend – our season definitely starts here. I’m just sorry there’s such a big gap to the next round.”
And with two months break until the next outing at Brands Hatch, so are we.
Martin Little
