It all looked so simple going into the final day of the 2014 Avon Tyres British GT Championship. Marco Attard led the standings by a country mile and could only lose if the one remaining contender – the #4 Oman Racing Aston Martin of Ahmad Al Harthy and Michael Caine – won the race and he failed to finish higher than seventh. As it was, his #79 Ecurie Ecosse BMW Z4 GT3 was starting on the front row and the ten-minute warm-up session, which had just finished, had been uneventful. It was all over. Job done. Nothing more to see here. Bring out the large lady vocalist.
But then…….BOOM! Suddenly, a metaphorical hand grenade had been tossed into this world of certainties.
Initial reports of puzzled looks on the faces of the Ecosse engineers and much peering into the rear quarters of the Z4 were followed up, and the almost unbelievable news was delivered to DSC from Attard himself; “Engine change! It started to go during warm-up; we still managed to set second-fastest time though. It’s a five-hour job normally, so it adds spice to the proceedings.” He seemed remarkably relaxed in the circumstances, but with only three-and-a-half hours between warm-up and race, this was going to be tight. A cracked cylinder head was later revealed to be the reason for the change.
As the team got to work, the rest of the paddock was buzzing as spectators and guests milled around; and the queue for the pitwalk stretched all the way back to the Pitstop Diner.
United Autosports’ Matt Bell has not had a happy year in the #23 Audi R8 LMS ultra, but he and Mark Patterson won the corresponding race in 2013, so would his season be ending on a high?
“It’s great to have Mark back and I’ve been trying all I can to get him to change his mind about retiring, but I don’t think he’s going to. We want to send him off with a great swansong by winning again, but the floor falling off during my quickest lap in qualifying didn’t help! Mark got us back into it with a great time in his session and we’re going to go for it.”
When the pre-race activities were over and it came time for the British GT field to leave the pits and form up the grid, all eyes were on the front row; and there stood the blue and black BMW! Ecurie Ecosse had done their job and the new engine was in, but there had been no opportunity to test it prior to the race.
The Nissan Juke pace car pulled away to begin the formation lap and all 21 GT3 cars followed. Three minutes later, the Juke was heading down the pitlane and the field was approaching the lights.
It was Ahmad Al Harthy who reached Redgate first in the #4 Oman Racing Aston, while Attard held second in the #79 BMW – a large cloud of blue smoke clearly visible from the car’s rear as surplus oil was burnt off – and Liam Griffin held third in the #5 Aston. Further back, Godfrey Jones’ race in the #22 Preci-Spark McLaren MP4-12C was about to come to an end as the field charged down the Craner Curves. As the grey car arrived at the Old Hairpin, it put the squeeze on Chris Hoy’s #80 Nissan, which was then briefly sandwiched between the McLaren and the #19 FF Corse Ferrari of Ron Johnson; the ensuing contact sending the #22 into the gravel and subsequent retirement. The other two cars were seemingly unaffected and, indeed, Hoy began Lap 2 in 18th having started 21st.
There had been a general shuffling of the order on the opening lap, but without – the McLaren excepted – any dramatic changes. Jon Minshaw had done well to go from eighth to fourth in the first two-and-a-half miles, but contact with Mark Patterson’s Audi near the end of the lap left the #63 Trackspeed Porsche with the tracking slightly skewed. The result was a small handling issue that he and Phil Keen would have for company for almost two hours.
Al Harthy held a lead of 1.335s at the end of Lap 1, but Attard reduced that to 0.841s a lap later and trimmed a further five-thousandths away on the third time around. The gap only began to increase again on Lap 4. Attard’s Z4 was still very smokey, but the car’s pace did not seem to be affected by this. The important thing was that the Aston was still very much in his sights and its driver would need to pull out a lead in excess of 15 seconds before the pit window in order to enable Michael Caine to stay in that vital P1. All Attard had to do was keep in touch and hand the car over to Alexander Sims in good shape.
All seemed to be going to plan in the opening stages, and Al Harthy had only been able to build a gap of 3.470s by the start of Lap 10. However, his advantage almost doubled on the next lap and, crucially, the car in second was now his teammate Griffin. The Ecurie Ecosse BMW was in the pitlane!
The team immediately sprang into action and quickly got the car up on its jacks and into the garage. Not long afterwards, though, the car was retired with gearbox-related failure; a pipe having come adrift for reasons not yet ascertained. We now found ourselves in the most unlikely of scenarios – that which could indeed see Al Harthy and Caine take the title.
By this point in the proceedings, Andrew Howard’s race was also all but run. The Beechdean boss had dropped the #1 Aston Martin Vantage into the gravel at Goddards on Lap 5 and it had taken several minutes to extricate the car. Although now out of contention for both the race and the Blancpain Gentleman Driver Trophy – which would instead go to Marco Attard – the car seemed to be okay, but it returned to the pits on Lap 14 and didn’t emerge again.
All this and we were barely 20 minutes in. The big question now was, could the #4 stay out in front for another 100 minutes?
It was already known that Al Harthy needed a lead in excess of 15 seconds and, with both Oman Racing cars in the top two spots, this was the perfect opportunity for that to happen. The one unknown was whether the second-placed Griffin was up to the job of holding back the tide. The answer emerged gradually over the next few laps, and it was ‘yes’.
After maintaining the gap at around ten seconds for several laps, as Minshaw, Patterson and Derek Johnston in the #888 Triple Eight BMW all jockeyed for position, Griffin started to back them up by dropping his pace, even as Al Harthy maintained his in the high 1:31/low 1:32 bracket; and the 15-second barrier was breached on Lap 25.
By now, Gary Eastwood had joined in the fun in the #18 FF Corse Ferrari and had taken advantage of the fight for fourth ahead to pass both Patterson and Johnston on Lap 19 out of the Melbourne Hairpin and into Goddards. The BMW finally put the Audi behind it on the next lap, and both Pasin Lathouras in the #29 AF Corse Ferrari and Phil Dryburgh in the #6 PGF-Kinfaun Aston would soon be by the R8 after it received a hefty knock from the Strata21 Aston that caused a spin that cost around ten seconds.
Further up the road, though, Minshaw was all over Griffin in his attempts to take second and to close the gap to the leader. Despite getting alongside on more than one occasion, however, the Aston stayed ahead and Al Harthy pulled further way, and it wouldn’t be long before Eastwood was receiving the same treatment from Eastwood, who was desirous of third.
Away from the fight for the top positions, there was plenty going on.
After his opening lap close-encounter, Chris Hoy had been making great progress in the Nissan and had taken the scalps of Steve Tandy in the LNT Ginetta and Lee Mowle in the #88 Triple Eight BMW before ending up in a fight for tenth with the #13 AF Corse Ferrari of John Dhillon. Along the way, he also lost and then regained position to Jody Firth’s #8 Triple Eight BMW Z4, which was itself recovering from an earlier spin; “I made sure I kept out of trouble off the line as it was a bit chaotic at the start,” he said. “I got a tap from a McLaren as it went off but I was okay and I focused on settling into the race as quickly as I could. I worked hard to keep my lap times consistent and slowly managed to reel in the guys in front. I had some really good battles out there. It was my favourite race of the year so far – except maybe for Spa – and I’m pretty sure I had a big smile on my face for most of my stint.”
Dhillon also had probably the best drive of his season, and was able to hand over his car to Aaron Scott in the top ten. Less fortunate was Paul White, who enjoyed a strong stint in the #21 Strata21 Aston before contact with the Audi on Lap 20 while challenging for sixth sent him to the pits for several laps. The car eventually returned to the race in the hands of Tom Onslow-Cole and would finish 21st overall, 13 laps down.
David Ashburn was unusually quiet during his stint, but he managed to hand the #31 Trackspeed Porsche over to Nick Tandy in good shape in ninth, which was also its starting position.
The pit window opened on Lap 32 and Hector Lester was able to take immediate advantage by becoming the first of the GT3 runners to stop; the Irishman handing his #3 Rosso Verde Ferrari 458 over to Benny Simonsen. A lap later, the floodgates opened and the pitlane suddenly became a busy place; Eastwood, Johnston, Patterson, Ashburn, Firth and Steve Tandy all making their final stops of the season.
In Mark Patterson’s case, this was almost certainly the final time he would be seen driving competitively; at least on these shores: “This marked my last race for the foreseeable future and almost definitely my final appearance in the British series,” said the ever-smiling American. “I’m retiring from full reason racing, and a business career spanning 40 years, at the end of this year.
“Looking back since my BGT debut in 2010, it’s been a real kick learning to find speed on some of Britain’s most renowned tracks, making friends with lots of good people up and down the grid, and even taking home some shiny reminders back to the States on occasion. Donington marked my 50th race for United Autosports and my 15th BGT race – it’s been a gratifying five seasons.”
And there was later one final treat, in the form of the Blancpain Gentlemen Trophy.
Sir Chris Hoy ended his inaugural British GT season on Lap 34 when he handed the #80 RJN Nissan GT-R over to Wolfgang Reip in seventh place; “Chris started the championship as a keen rookie and throughout the season he has turned into a competitive racing driver,” said RJN boss Bob Neville. “He saved his best until last, judging by that storming stint today. I have been delighted with his approach, his enthusiasm and his care – every team wants drivers with 100% finishing records! He did everything right and has learnt the craft of professional racing.”
Liam Griffin completed a mightily impressive stint two laps later and was followed down the pitlane by Jon Minshaw, who had pushed him all the way.
Despite his defiance, Rory Butcher would have to serve an extra ten seconds at the stop on account of third at Brands Hatch and could do nothing but watch Phil Keen take the Demon Tweeks Porsche back into the race ahead of him.
But the important thing was that Griffin had allowed Al Harthy to build his lead up to around 22 seconds, meaning Michael Caine would still hold it when he rejoined; albeit with a much-reduced advantage.
Nick Tandy had had to wait an extra 20 seconds at his stop following the #31’s win at Brands and he would now be hoping for a Safety Car period to get him back into contention.
Pasin Lathouras signed off an impressive debut season in BGT by being the last stopper and thus led for two laps. The Thai rookie handed the #29 AF Corse Ferrari over to Richard Lyons on Lap 40, and once the Ulsterman had rejoined, the order was: 4 (Caine), 63 (Keen), 18 (Ollie Hancock), 5 (Butcher), 29 (Lyons), 888 (Joe Osborne), 23 (Matt Bell), 6 (Alex MacDowall), 80 (Reip), 13 (Aaron Scott), 31 (Tandy), 88 (Ryan Ratcliffe), 19 (Piers Johnson), 3 (Simonsen), 8 (Warren Hughes) and 21 (Tom Onslow-Cole).
Warren Hughes’ race was, alas, in its final moments; his #8 Triple Eight BMW Z4 having just been assaulted by the #32 Ginetta G55 GT3 of Mike Simpson. Both cars suffered suspension damage in the incident and the Ginetta was out on the spot. Hughes managed to get back to the pits, but the team soon realised that nothing could be done; an unfortunate end to a luckless season for Hughes and Firth.
But, of course, all eyes were on the fight for the lead. 55 minutes remained and the gap between the #4 Aston and #63 Porsche was just 2.399s. But a lap later (Lap 42) that had increased to 3.144s and would stay above three seconds for the next three laps; Caine was super-motivated, but Keen equally had sights only on P1.
Ollie Hancock was holding station around four seconds back from Keen in third in the #18 Ferrari, and then there was a gap of about six seconds back to Butcher’s Aston. But the young Scot was coming under pressure from behind and his focus was very much on the shapes in his mirrors.
But the timing screens showed clearly that two men were pushing the pedal to the metal and making progress.
The first of these was Nick Tandy in #31, with the Porsche works driver rapidly eliminating a gap of several seconds to take tenth from Reip’s Nissan – who had recently also lost a spot to Scott in the #13 Ferrari – on Lap 47.
The second driver was Matt Bell, and his earlier promise to ‘go for it!’ looked to be being delivered. On Lap 44, the Geordie racer took sixth from Osborne and then hunted down Richard Lyons to take fifth eight laps later with a textbook move at Redgate.
Under 40 minutes now remained and the gap between the top two had reduced to a little over a second. Caine’s efforts had not been helped by contact with the #88 Triple Eight BMW of Ryan Ratcliffe, who was battling a significant brake issue, but the Oman Aston had emerged virtually unscathed and was able to continue its resistance. Perhaps significantly, though, the ongoing fight for the lead had allowed Hancock to close right up in the FF Ferrari and the top three were separated by less than four seconds and getting closer. Might Keen be distracted by the red car in his mirrors and loosen his grip on the Aston?
Bell claimed the scalp of Butcher’s Aston on Lap 55 to assume fourth and was now just 14 seconds behind Hancock and the Audi was able to maintain its pace and momentum. With the top three cars now virtually nose-to-tail, would this allow Bell to close and become a factor in the lead battle? My, this was getting interesting!
As the battle for the lead sliced its way through traffic, the gap from first to second concertinaed – 0.523, 0.545, 0.796, 0.838, 0.523 and 0.828 from laps 54 to 59. It was beginning to look as though Caine might hang on after all. But on Lap 60 the Aston’s advantage was down to just a third of a second and Keen was there. Caine again resisted and eked out a couple more tenths on the next lap, but on Lap 63 – fittingly – the Trackspeed Porsche finally found the gap it had been searching for and made it stick out of the Melbourne Hairpin.
Hancock now saw his chance and was alongside the #4 into Redgate. The two cars ran side-by-side down the Craner Curves and through Schwanz, but the Ferrari was ahead at McLeans and the Aston began to drop away.
Caine had given it his all, but the race was just 20 minutes too long for his car.
But while the Aston was dropping back, the United Autosports Audi was still flying and Bell caught up to the Oman car on Lap 68. Caine made him work for it, but on Lap 72 the final podium spot changed hands.
The Aston’s resistance, however, meant that Hancock’s Ferrari was some six seconds ahead, and with under ten minutes to go, that was too much for even Bell to close.
The race clock expired as Phil Keen rounded Goddards for the 77th time and his team was on the pitwall to cheer home his and Jon Minshaw’s third win of the year.
Phil Keen: “I’m chuffed to bits, but it is a shame that we couldn’t have won Brands and come here with a shot at the title. With a couple of the contenders not finishing, it would’ve been close. It’s been a good year, despite a couple of issues during the season. I had a comfortable gap and was just managing it, and we had a little issue with the car and only just got across the line! We were a bit lucky I guess!”
Jon Minshaw: “I got a great start and went round the outside of two or three cars at Redgate and down the Craners. I tagged along behind the Audi and he left a gap for me at Melbourne, and I don’t think he’d seen me. He turned into the side of my car, then we hadn’t even completed a lap and my steering was bent! The front tyres were past their best very early in the race then. It was a question of managing, holding onto the Aston ahead and making sure anybody behind me stayed behind. We’ve had a great end to the season, and I’m really looking forward to next year!”
Ollie Hancock had proven himself to be a more than able substitute in the #18 FF Corse Ferrari and he crossed the line 2.551s later to repeat the car’s result from the previous year.
“I’m over the moon,” said Gary Eastwood. “Ollie did a fantastic stint considering his lack of time in the Ferrari before this race and he showed his talent in a sterling drive where he held off competition in a tough grid. I enjoyed my stint, there was good fair, aggressive, driving. I nicked a few spots that put us in a good position to compete for the win, which we were close to getting. However, if you’d offered us second at the beginning of the weekend, we’d have definitely taken it.”
“It was great to be back racing in British GT again, even if I had to wait until the final round of the season!” said Ollie Hancock. “I’ve never finished a British GT race outside of the podium places, and to do it in three completely different cars means a lot, too.
“The deal came together reasonably late so I was on the back foot slightly. Qualifying didn’t go to plan, but this is such a competitive championship that you need to be 100% on it, and the change we made prior to the session meant we weren’t quite there. To beat the Porsches and Astons over a single lap was a big ask. Gary did a great job though, both on Saturday and Sunday, which put us right in contention over the final half of the race. I was able to pressure Phil right to the flag and push him over the line. I was really pleased to jump in and grab another podium finish without any testing, so hopefully we can find a deal for next season.
“The FF Corse guys have been fantastic all weekend, and I must thank Gary and team boss Anthony Cheshire for the opportunity. I think we can all be very proud of the result.”
The star drive of the day came from Matt Bell in the United Autosports Audi and he was delighted to have ended what has been a very disappointing season on such a high; “It was great to have a good drive at the end of the year after the season we’ve had,” he said. “It feels like we have all had a big weight lifted off our shoulders. It’s good to sign off racing with Mark with a top result. Mark was the first guy to give me a real break and I am sincerely thankful for everything he has done for me.”
But of course the result also meant that Marco Attard was crowned the 2014 British GT Champion; and even though the final two hours of the season had been agony for him, it was the results delivered across a highly competitive season that counted; “It’s great to be the 2014 GT3 Drivers’ Champion after a rollercoaster weekend,” he said.
“At one point, I didn’t think it was going to happen for us, and I thought I’d be going home with nothing. I’ve won, but it would have been better to have won it on the track. It was hard to watch the Oman Racing Team from the pits. They’re a great set-up under David Bartrum and the two drivers, Ahmad Al Harthy and Michael Caine are great, fair drivers. I don’t feel I’ve got one over them, as it was a close fought battle. I have to thank the team and Alexander, who has been excellent throughout the season. This win would not have happened without him.”
“What an extraordinary weekend, with the whole team riding a rollercoaster of emotions on race day!” said Chris Needell, Barwell Commercial Director. “Although clearly Donington didn’t go according to plan race-wise, we have been the class of the British GT field throughout the season and thoroughly deserve this title. Marco has shown consistently that he is one of the very best Am drivers out there, and Alexander simply did a brilliant job for us both in and out of the car. Also, I should mention Jonny Cocker who stood in superbly for Alexander at Snetterton, and has contributed to this success. We are so proud of our crew; from the engineers through to the tyre guys, they have performed brilliantly all season.”
But while the dream of the Drivers’ Title had ended for Ahmad Al Harthy and Michael Caine, they and team boss David Bartrum were able to celebrate the Teams title after beating Trackspeed by 13.5 points.
“It was a very, very big task,” said Bartrum. “We had to win the race so to get pole, provide a reliable car, to lead the race was very good: we gave it our all. We won the teams’ championship, which I’m over the moon with, as that’s a reflection on the team and the boys have done a really good job this year. The drivers acquitted themselves brilliantly. All four drivers have been first class this weekend and qualifying was a fantastic effort by all. But we gave it our best, won the teams’ championship and were runners-up in the drivers’ championship, so it’s not too shabby a year.
“We’ve been a Porsche team for 10 years and this was our first year with Aston Martin. If there was any doubt that we could run an Aston Martin, I think we’ve got rid of that. I’m very proud of the team and a big thank you goes to everyone involved.”
“It just didn’t happen,” said Al Harthy. “We could see it coming and we knew it was premature to celebrate. It was just not meant to be, but we did an amazing job and we should keep our heads up. We won the teams’ championship and came second in the drivers’ championship, so it has been a very good season. Next time, hopefully!”
“The Aston was brilliant,” added Caine. “No issues with handling or traction. But it was ominous just how late they could brake and it was the weight that was really hurting us under braking. The Porsche got up the inside of me and I was a sitting duck. The Audi came out of Coppice and pulled alongside. I went as late as I possibly could on the brakes into the Esses thinking he’d never make it, and he just braked and went through the corner.”
Rory Butcher finished fifth for Oman Racing team on track, with Alex MacDowall just half a second behind in sixth in the #6 Aston. Seventh was Nick Tandy after a storming drive, with Richard Lyons eighth, Joe Osborne ninth and Aaron Scott tenth. The final finishers were the Nissan of Hoy and Reip, the Rosso Verde Ferrari, the #19 FF Corse Ferrari, the ailing M-Sport Bentley and the distant Strata21 Aston.
It should perhaps be noted that the race ran green for two hours; testament to the skill of Pro and Am alike.
And that concluded the 2014 Avon Tyres British GT Championship. Once again, it had delivered fabulous racing, dramas on and off the track and thrust new drivers into the limelight. Congratulations go to the winners and the champions, and commiserations to those whose season didn’t go as planned.
What will 2015 deliver?
Mark Howson
