Following intense criticism from teams and drivers of the decision-making process at the first two rounds of the British GT Championship at Oulton Park and Rockingham, the SRO has drafted in its Sporting Director Jacquie Groom to support Clerk of the Course Bernard Cottrell to ensure consistency in decisions made and to review all procedures. Groom will be a presence in Race Control at all of the remaining 2014 rounds of the series and, on the evidence of the Silverstone 500 – where the Safety Car intervention went off without a hitch – improvements have already been made. The appointment has been received positively by the teams, although some would still like to see an independent current or former racer to assist with assessing race incidents.
With the Nürburgring 24 Hours clashing with the next round of the BGT at Snetterton, Nissan GT Academy Team RJN boss Bob Neville has confirmed to DSC that the team will be making the trip to Norfolk, despite their participation in the German race. The team has three Nissan GT3-Rs in total, one of which is owned by NISMO, only two of which will be on duty at the Ring. However, Sir Chris Hoy will have a new driving partner for the meeting, on account of Alex Buncombe being on duty in the 24 Hours (where he shares a GT-R with Nick Heidfeld, Lucas Ordóñez and Florian Strauss). It has not yet been decided who that driver will be.
Ecurie Ecosse’s Alexander Sims is another absentee from Snetterton; the BMW works-driver being part of the BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert line-up alongside Dirk Werner, Dirk Müller and Lucas Luhr. His absence means that 2004 BGT Champion Jonny Cocker returns to the series for the first time in six years, where he joins Marco Attard in the #79 Z4.
Oman Racing data engineer Jim Hersey will also be on duty at the Nürburgring, where he will be looking after the Mazda Motorsports Team Jota Mazda MX-5 in the V3 class.
CWS-IDL racer (and BRDC Superstar) Tom Sharp will also be racing overseas this month, when he joins Team LNT boss Lawrence Tomlinson and Stephen Simpson in the works Ginetta G55 GT3 for the 3H Dijon; the 22 year old looking forward greatly to driving the car virtually unrestricted.
