British GT, Silverstone – Race Report
A Fitting Finalé (With sincere apologies for the ludicrously late posting of this report) With qualifying panning out the way it did, the ultimate destination for the title of 2011 British GT Champion was as clear as mud. With numerous potential scenarios and with a Beechdean Aston on pole (who saw that coming?) – not to mention the sudden appearance of a third United Autosports Audi – there were just too many variables to take in. If a forecast had to be made, based on the available information at four o’clock on Saturday afternoon, then it looked like Matt Bell & Mike Guasch perhaps had the upper hand. Curiously, this was the second successive season where the championship had ended on a Saturday; but while 2010 had fizzled out at Donington – with many people wondering just what 2011 would hold – things couldn’t have been more different a year later. A two hour race on the Silverstone GP circuit with a grid of 30 cars and everything to play for was something that couldn’t have been dreamt about the previous season. In fact, the only thing that was similar to the 2010 finalé was the cold, dreary weather – hard to believe that just a week earlier the circuit was drenched in sunshine and enjoying temperatures in the 80s. The GT3 Race The list of starting drivers revealed that the majority of the ‘Am’ drivers would be starting the race, which made Joe Osborne’s name stand out somewhat. The United Autosports driver – a late call-up to partner Zak Brown in the #29 Audi – has raced many times in the championship before (even winning in the Invitation class Ginetta G50Z in 2009) but this would arguably give him his best opportunity yet to display his racing talent in the UK. Andrew Howard led the field round the almost six-kilometre circuit behind the pace car, but, with his Aston DBRS9 needing some time to get heat into its tyres, could do nothing as first David Ashburn and then Joe Osborne and Charles Bateman went past on the opening lap. Ashburn led by a quarter of a second as Lap 2 started , but Osborne was soon into the lead and pulling out a gap over the #5 Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari 458 of Charles Bateman, who had also found a way past the #1 Trackspeed Porsche. Soon the leading duo were pulling away from the rest of the field. Gregor Fisken would soon close the gap to his teammate in the #2 Porsche, but not before Andrew Howard had come through to reclaim third. The Aston’s Avons were now up to temperature and the Beechdean boss wasted no time in making the most of them. Osborne and Bateman were already 16 seconds clear at this point and the lead Audi was beginning to get the better of the Ferrari. In this early stage of the race, the title was heading the way of Bateman and Michael Lyons, assuming the positions remained unchanged – but, of course, there was no way that was going to happen with more than three-quarters of the race remaining. Three of the remaining championship hopefuls were locked in combat, fighting over sixth place, with Duncan Cameron having probably the best stint of his season as the #21 MTECH Ferrari harried Mike Guasch’s #23 Audi. Jim Geddie was close behind in eighth. Cameron managed to claim the position at Copse on the twelfth lap, but the fight remained as intense as ever; especially so when first David Jones – in the #22 Preci-Spark SLS – and the seconds MTECH 458 of Julien Draper joined in. Jones passed all the aforementioned cars, en route to third before the stops, while Draper made slower progress. Ashburn was also still in contention to retain his title and so was understandably reluctant to let go of his by-now sixth place, and Cameron was frustrated in his efforts to get past for some seven laps before eventually finding the inside of the Porsche on Lap 19. A spin for Guasch had cost him a couple of places and a fair bit of time, while Draper had also been delayed by an unforced spin which so very nearly took out the CRS 458 of Jim Geddie. Despite these spins – neither of which had resulted from contact – the racing had been, and continued to be, of top quality and thoroughly clean; and so it continued. An early spin for Hector Lester in the #3 Rosso Verde Ferrari had ended his slim title chances for another year, but not his race. Cameron overcame Fisken’s robust defence of fifth on Lap 23, by which time 50 minutes had elapsed and the fuel window – no driver window this time around – had opened up for the less thirsty cars and Ashburn had already handed his car over to the ever-dangerous Richard Westbrook. Peter Bamford and Andrew Tate had also pitted by this point and handed their cars over to the 2007 champions – Bradley Ellis and Alex Mortimer respectively. Both Bamford and Tate had driven well in their stints, but Bamford had been assessed a drive-through for exceeding the track limits (surely the most inconsistently applied penalty in the history of racing) and so this was his second visit to the pits. The next time Tate starts a British GT race, it will be behind the wheel of a McLaren MP4-12C GT3. As Westbrook waited to take the Porsche out on track, Paul Whight’s race in the #15 GT3B Aston DBRS9 was coming to an end with a hefty shunt at Vale – a great shame as he had fought back from a poor opening lap by passing 15 cars and was surely just moments from handing the car over to Andy Ruhan. For some reason it was five minutes before the safety car was scrambled and the assembled media wondered how the race officials could mishandle this caution period. But wait, it looked as though we were wrong – the safety car tallied in the pitlane until Joe Osborne – now a long way clear of Bateman and at least a minute clear of second, after Bateman and Howard had pitted – came on to the National Pits Straight and emerged right in front of him.....AND THEN WAVED HIM PAST! [Hindhaugh mode ON] The next 20 minutes were nothing short of farce and came very close to not only devaluing the race but also the title chase. Osborne cruised round to his stop and handed over to Zak Brown with an even-greater lead than had there been no safety car. Michael Lyons was still second in the Scuderia Vittoria 458, but had lost all of Charles Bateman’s advantage behind the SC and now had no chance of challenging for the all-important 37.5 points that a win would bring. More importantly, he had several championship challengers breathing down his neck; including Glynn Geddie.  |
It soon became clear that the safety car would be staying out until the field had had the chance to return to some kind of normality and the wave-bys began with 54 minutes remaining – although the safety car would again cause a huge delay for most cars by picking up the wrong Audi as the leader. Alas for Richard Westbrook and the majority of the field, the #97 Chevron GR8 was hugely slower than the Porsche and it took all of his skills and patience to stay in position and not overtake the yellow car; and it would not be until Lap 33 – with 46 minutes to go – before the field had caught up and the race could go green. [Hindhaugh mode OFF] The race resumed with the top-ten order as follows: 29, 5, 22, 7, 1, 10, 21, 2, 23 and 20 Jonny Adam soon had the Beechdean Aston up to second (Godfrey Jones losing several places on the restart lap) and Lyons also lost out to Westbrook and Geddie; effectively ending the Scuderia Vittoria championship bid. Matt Griffin was also about to drop out of contention as his car was immediately given a 12-second stop/go for a too quick stop. The team had earlier realised the error and yelled at him over the radio to stop – he did, but had already crossed the line and all this did was lose the #21 15 more seconds. This had been a massive error by MTECH and one they will need to learn from. Although his car no longer enjoyed the advantage that Joe Osborne had built, Zak Brown at least had the cushion of several cars between himself and his pursuers at the restart. Inevitably, though, these were soon passed by the pros and the #29 was soon being challenged for the lead by the #7 Aston. The change came on Lap 38. Brown drove and defended with determination as Richard Westbrook now put in his claim for second, but the Porsche was soon through. But things weren’t so straightforward for Glynn Geddie. The #10 Ferrari found the space to go through to third at Vale on Lap 39, but Brown immediately retook the place down the inside at Club and hung on. It would take another two laps – and a drag-race down the Wellington Straight – before Geddie would finally get a grip on third. All the young Scot had to do now was hold station and the title would be heading to Aberdeen. So did he? Did he heckers like! Since making his debut in the BGT, it’s quickly become apparent to those who didn’t already know that Jonny Adam is a damned good driver; and at Silverstone he was simply mighty – bashing off lap after lap at a consistent pace in the 2:06/2:07s. Richard Westbrook was one driver who can normally be counted on to take the fight to the leader, but on this occasion the #1 Porsche’s front tyres were shot and he could do nothing about closing the gap. Tim Bridgman was having the same problem in the #2 Porsche further back in the field. Seeing the Porsche ahead, Geddie just couldn’t resist the challenge and got closer and closer to its rear-end; the two cars eventually nose-to-tail with just three minutes remaining. This was all too much for Jim Geddie. He had already spent several minutes trying to shake off the inevitable attention from the TV cameras and saw out the final moments alone in the Reiter awning on the pitwall. On track Glynn was making serious attempts to get by into second and the watching media pack held its breath as it looked on in amazement at what was going on. If Geddie ended up in the gravel, the title would be going to David Ashburn! The Ferrari tried on several occasions to find a way past, but Westbrook had just enough in the Porsche to hold him off. Jonny Adam completed his 54th lap to take the chequered flag first for the second time this season, as the Beechdean and Barwell crews cheered from the pitwall. 22 seconds later, it was CRS who were cheering as they saw Glynn Geddie come home third (two tenths of a second after Richard Westbrook) having done enough to claim the title for himself and his father. "Fantastic," said Jonny Adam. "Andrew did a great stint and then the car just ran perfectly. The tyres were superb - whatever I asked of them they responded. “These type of circuits suit the Aston perfectly,” said Andrew Howard. “It was fantastic. We’ve had a good run, staying dry was important to us, but the old girl has really shown what she can do. She’s pensioned off now, we’ve just soaked her in champagne, but she’s not being sold. She’s going to be put away in a nice warm place, it’s what she deserves. "And I have to say that three hours in Darren Turner's race simulator really gave us an edge - I'm serious about that!" "Dad drove really, really well and handed the car over to me in a strong position which allowed me to attack the field," said Glynn. "In an ideal world we would have loved to have gone out and won our final race of the season but third was enough for us to take it. “I think it was more nerve-wracking for the guys in the garage than it was for me. I had a little bit of contact towards the end so I backed out of it as they team told me I was high enough to win the title - If it hadn't been Richard in second, I wouldn't have gone for the position. It feels mega to win it, especially as I came here to win after being second last year. This is the first year of racing at this level for my Dad and he has improved with every race so it feels amazing to share this with him.” “It was a great race,” said Jim. “I enjoyed my stint and then I could hardly watch Glynn’s - I was sick at the end! It has been a hard season and it feels really good to win the title. It hasn’t actually sunk in yet but it feels good already.” "Glynn did what Glynn does best when he got behind the wheel and I am very proud of our achievement. "Now we need to consider what we are going to do in the future although we can savour and enjoy this victory." "I think Glynn could have taken second if he hadn't had half a mind on the title," said Richard Westbrook. "That was a good race, but the tyres went off real early and it was a real handful. But David's finished second in the championship, so he's happy. "People sometimes ask me why I'm racing in this series; they think it's beneath me. But I love it - there's a really good atmosphere in the paddock; the Pro/Am split is almost completely respected; and the racing is close and clean. I hope to do more." Tim Bridgman finished fourth in the second Trackspeed Porsche, while Godfrey Jones fought back to take fifth in the Mercedes shortly before the end. Zak Brown finished sixth in the #29 Audi having driven very well, despite losing several places. Michael Lyons came home seventh in the Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari – a drive-through having driven home the final nail in his and Charles Bateman’s title hopes – while the two MTECH Ferraris finished eighth and ninth; the Matt Draper-driven #20 heading home a no-doubt dispirited Matt Griffin in the #21. Alex Mortimer rounded out the top ten in the #11 CRS Ferrari. The Speedworks Corvette had enjoyed a good race – climbing into the top six with just a few minutes remaining – but a problem shortly before the end caused Piers Johnson to drop to 13th. Two of the three Ginetta G55s failed to finish the race, including the ‘2012’ car which was forced out after a collision shortly after the restart, but Ian Stinton and Mike Simpson made it to the end in the #25 Stark Racing car after overcoming an issue that caused the car to slow in the final half-hour. Matt Bell ended the race in 22nd in the #23 Audi after losing four laps in the pits with collision damage. The GT4 Race There was also a title to be decided in GT4, but in reality Marcus Clutton and Peter Belshaw just had to finish in order to claim it. Phil Glew had taken pole in the #48 Lotus Evora and started the race, holding off a determined challenge from Dan Denis in the #50 Scuderia Vittoria Ginetta G50 in the early stages before pulling out a lead as the first hour progressed. Denis was the first of the GT4 cars to stop for a driver change, handing over to David McDonald, but it would be another ten minutes before Glew stopped to give the Evora to Chris Holmes for his Lotus race debut. The Magic Racing Ginetta of Stewart Linn hit early trouble with an unscheduled stop after half-an-hour, while Peter Belshaw kept the #44 KTM X-Bow on the black stuff all through his stint, only to see Marcus Clutton spin the ABG car on virtually his outlap. Fortunately, no damage was incurred and Clutton continued. As Holmes pushed on at the front – on his way to a debut win – Clutton remained in fifth; but late problems for the three cars ahead conspired to promote the champion-elect to second with just a few minutes remaining on the clock. The #49 Lotus of Freddy Nordstrom and Leyton Clarke retired, while the Vittoria Ginetta was served a drive-through for track limits violations. Chris Holmes and Phil Glew celebrated the #48 Lotus’ third win of the season, while Peter Belshaw and Marcus Clutton celebrated the title. Dan Denis and David McDonald came home third in class and took the runner up spot in the championship. "Brilliant stuff, I Really enjoyed the race," said Chris Holmes. "Phil drove the wheels off it to enable me to have a comfortable stint and I really got to learn the car." "What a great end to the season," said Phil Glew. "The team is awesome, the car has been brilliant and all my various team mates this year have done a great job." "We've had a really good season, despite all the penalties we've had to suffer," said Marcus Clutton. "Peter did brilliantly in his first season. We've finished on the podium at every meeting and we've only had one DNF, at Oulton - but I don't want to talk about that," he smiled."It's all been about finishing." GT3B & GTC Aaron Scott and John Dhillon had already taken the title in GT3B, but ended up watching from the sidelines after driveshaft failure ended their race after 33 laps. With the Barwell Aston also retiring, the only classified finished in the class was the Backdraft Lambo of Simon Atkinson and James Pickford; and that could hardly have been said to have enjoyed a trouble-free run – finishing nine laps off the lead after several lengthy stops. GT3B will be back next year, and it is to be hoped that a reasonable field can be assembled for the 2012 season. The GT Cup class title went, unsurprisingly, to Jordan Witt and Anthony Reid, but their season had been all about developing the Chevron GR8. The small yellow car finished 15th at Silverstone, with the second GR8 of David Witt and Ray Grimes coming home in 21st, but expect to see the GR8 running as a fully homologated GT3 next year. And that was the 2011 British GT Championship. To everyone’s astonishment it had burst back into rude health after several lean years, and had provided excellent racing and bundles of entertainment along the way. Next year promises more of the same and DSC will again be there to cover it every step of the way. Congratulations to the champions, and roll on 2012! MH | 
