Darren Turner, Jody Fannin and the TF Sport Aston Martin team stamped their authority on the first of the weekend’s two International GT Open races at Silverstone on a Saturday. Not even a late-race safety car could derail their lights-to-flag victory drive in almost completely dry conditions.
Aston works driver Turner laid the groundwork for the win with a very strong start from pole position that saw him five seconds ahead of Andrea Montermini in the #1 Villorba Corse Ferrari after just two laps. Montermini had qualified third, while second-place qualifier Cesar Campanico lost out in the first-corner scramble and was down to seventh before very long.
Behind Montermini was a determined Roman Mavlanov in the #60 SMP Racing Ferrari, who’d already gained substantially on his eigth-place grid slot. His passing attempt into the Vale left- hander was a little too determined, however, sending Montermini off the track and to the back of the field.
Fourth and fifth were held initially by Jose-Maria Perez-Aicart (#61 SMP Ferrari) and Dennis Retera (#99 V8 Racing Corvette), but Retera’s V8 Racing team-mate Maxime Soulet had got the sister #4 car through into fifth by the end of lap one. Archie Hamilton in the SRT Corvette was running eighth at this point behind Campanico.
Soulet’s next target was Aicart, and the pair engaged in some heavy door-to-door bashing and bumping through Village. Soulet eventually got past exiting Stowe on the next lap, but Aicart almost immediately counter-attacked, nerfing Soulet off at Vale in similar fashion to how Mavlanov dealt with Montermini.
Five laps in, Turner had built up almost a 10-second gap at the front of the field, while both Montermini and Soulet were recovering from their spins. Montermini moved up five places to 10th overall within six laps, and the pair made light contact when they met on track, Soulet coming out on top. Later, a puncture for Montermini’s co-driver Niccolo Schirro on the last lap would put and end to a tough race for the Villorba squad.
It seemed no quarter was being asked or given throughout the field today, but the robust driving wouldn’t go unpunished – Aicart was given a drive-through penalty for his assault on Soulet’s car. Meanwhile, sixth-place Archie Hamilton found himself at the head of a tight train of cars that stretched all the way back to Montermini in 11th.
Soulet wasted no time carving his way through this gaggle and by lap 13 was attacking Campanico – who’d recovered from his poor start – for third overall. He swept past on the outside through Stowe shortly before the pit window opened with 40 minutes of the race remaining on lap 14. Turner by now had a 21-second cushion on second-place Mavlanov.
Mavlanov stopped early to hand over to Zampieri, but the #60 Ferrari’s second stint would not be a happy one. Zampieri first had to serve a drive-through penalty imposed for Mavlanov’s earlier move on Montermini, then towards the end of the race suffered a puncture that dropped the car to 14th at the flag.
Turner pitted to hand over to Fannin towards the end of the pit window, and despite the duo having to serve and extra 15 seconds in the pits due to being a one-off entry, the 2013 British GT4 champion still emerged with a 37-second lead once the order had settled down.
“I didn’t really know the guys behind me so I though I’d just better get my head down and get away from them at the start, as I didn’t want to get involved in any paint-swapping,” Turner told us after the race. “My Silverstone experience really helped in pushing hard on those first few laps. I just kept pushing to give Jody good gap for his stint. The team made a good call on the tyres and just changed them on one side.”
A battling Campanico and Paolo Ruberti in the #56 AF Corse Ferrari also left it late to stop, handing their cars over to Aditya Patel and Giorgio Roda respectively. Patel was slightly delayed getting away from his pit and rejoined in what would become seventh position overall when the order shook out.
So with the mandatory pit stops completed, Fannin led from Franceso Pastorelli, who’d taken over the #4 Corvette from Soulet. Archie Hamilton’s team-mate Isaac Tutumlu was five seconds behind in third and six-tenths ahead of Zampieri, who had yet to serve the aforementioned drive-through. Roda, Matteo Beretta in the #13 Autorlando Porsche and Patel were fifth, sixth and seventh respectively, and all would gain a place with Zampieri’s demise.
With just over 20 minutes of the race remaining, Fannin was lapping within a second of the fastest man on track and looked comfortable for the win. Tutumlu looked a serious threat to second-place Francesco Pastorelli, though, as he was two seconds a lap faster. He was in a position to to attack by lap 23, but around the same time Alvaro Barba’s #63 Ombra Ferrari ground to a halt on the outside of Club and the Safety Car had to be deployed to allow it to be recovered safely.
At the restart, the lapped #73 Ebimotors Porsche of Adriano Pan was second on the road, and this played into Fannin’s hands nicely, allowing him to put several car lengths between himself and the pursuing pack once the green flag flew.
“The safety car made it a bit more interesting than I would have liked,” said a relieved Fannin after the race. “I saw it coming out and was trying to keep track of how many laps I’d have to do when it came in. I knew there was a lapped car between me and the guy in second, so I was hoping they’d have a bit of trouble getting past, which I think is what happened in the first few corners after the restart. That gave me a nice gap and I could just keep it consistent as I knew there were only three laps to go.”
Roda managed to get into third ahead of Tutumlu, who also lost a place to Beretta in the chaos as the Ebimotors car continued to be a hindrance. An impatient Nicky Pastorelli was right behind Tutumlu in the #2 Corvette started by Miguel Ramos.
With just 90 seconds of racing to go, Roda and Beretta were locked in combat for third overall and first in the GTS class, while Fannin was seven seconds to the good over Francesco Pastorelli. Beretta emerged triumphant in GTS after a frantic last lap that saw Nicky Pastorelli move up to fourth overall and third in Super GT, Tutumlu fall to fifth overall and Roda slip to seventh overall and second in GTS. Federico Leo in the #55 Ferrari nabbed the final GTS podium place.
“Around the time of the pit stops, we though it would be possible to win,” a delighted GTS-class winner Beretta (co-driving with Joel Camathias) said afterwards. “I pushed as hard as I could and the pace was really good. In the end the safety car helped us a bit, but I still think the class win was possible without it.”
Roda was clearly disappointed to have been squeezed out right at the end: “Overall it was good but I’d hoped for better, as I did a good restart after the safety car and was leading the class,” he said. “Beretta was faster in the Porsche and he got past – we’ve been given 30kg more in the Ferrari this year and it shows.”
Second overall and second in Super GT, Francesco Pastorelli said. “It was a very tough race – I only found out I’d be driving yesterday when Diederik fell ill, so Maxime [Soulet] and I are very happy with this.” His brother Nicky Pastorelli and co-driver Ramos finished third in class, but fourth overall, so lose some of their pit handicap for tomorrow’s race. “In a way it was the perfect result for us,” said Pastorelli.
SE & EF
Images: FOTOSPEEDY
