British GT - Donington Park - Qualifying Report
Resurrection Shuffle
© Mark Howson The biggest story of the two qualifying sessions was the resurrection of the VRS Motor Finance Ferrari 430. The team had worked feverishly on the damage and, with Hector Lester’s help (a full front corner, apart from the wishbone), had the car ready to go out for the second session, where Adam Wilcox plonked it on pole. Earlier, Alex Mortimer had shown just how much better the RPM Viper was going at its new ride height by claiming the team’s first pole of the season (and the first Viper pole), followed by a rapid Ben de Zille Butler in the #3 Barwell Aston and Craig Cole in the newly repaired Eclipse Mosler.  Paul Drayson was an impressive fourth in the #1 car, while Matt Harris was in fifth after, earlier topping the times. Both he and Ollie Bryant would find that the car went slower on new tyres than on old rubber, much to Tech 9’s bewilderment.
The second session was categorised by a constant trading of the top positions, with Jonny Cocker, Ian Flux, Elliott Cole, and Tim Sugden all staking a claim on pole position. Adam Wilcox eventually wrestled that prize away from the competition, in the process becoming the first driver to dip below 1:10 this weekend. The constant shuffling of the timing screen indicated just how closely bunched the top times were, which augured well for Sunday’s race. Qualifying was not without its casualties and, sadly, Lotus Sport Cadena was the most badly affected, Barrie Whight pulling off the circuit at the end of the Dunlop Straight with a blown engine - that caused a small fire. The car’s further participation in the weekend’s proceedings was unclear at the time of writing. Tim Sugden had only very recently set the fastest time, and was on an even faster lap, when the gearbox broke at the end of the lap. He managed to pit but a new gearbox was the only remedy. Graeme Mundy ended his session (after Jamie Smyth had earlier taken GTC pole for race one) with a very smoky Porsche, but this turned out to be nothing more sinister than a failed power steering pipe. Aaron Scott’s qualifying only lasted one lap before he parked the Beechdean Ferrari at the exit of Old Hairpin. Andrew Howard had earlier been baulked by the Preci-Spark Ascari and had a cross-country excursion as a result. This caused some damage to the suspension and Scott feared that he was about to lose a wheel. Happily, it appeared that the suspension would be repaired in time for the first race. Steve Hyde had a trouble-free run to GTC pole for the second race in the Team Aero Morgan. The final news from Hector Lester is that the #23 had probably suffered chassis damage that will require the car to go back to Michelotto for repair. | 
