Bute Motorsport GT Cup, Brands Hatch Indy – Race One Report
Tomlin’s First

The GT Cup Championship made its second visit to Brands Hatch, with the action this time taking place on the short and rapid Indy Circuit. Despite the absence of several series regulars, a grid of 18 cars was assembled as the Championship welcomed some new faces and cars.

In Group 1, former BTCC racer Simon Blanckley was debuting his ex-Tim Bridgman Porsche 997 GT3 – this also being his first time in a rear-wheel drive car, which he admitted was something of a ‘culture shock’ – and there was a brace of Chevron GR8s, one each for father and son racers David and Jordan Witt.

Group 2 saw the return of the wonderful Venturi 400 GTR of Paul Cope – a car with a long and distinguished history, including an outing in the Le Mans 24 Hours...

...while Group 3 saw the debut of Russell Foster’s BMW M3.    

Qualifying

While the Friday test day was conducted in fine weather, things were very different for free practice and qualifying on Saturday, with torrential rain passing across Kent on a regular basis. All three sessions were affected, but conditions were damp, rather than wet, by the time qualifying began at 15.10.

The only tyre choice at the start of the session was wets, but it transpired that the characteristics of the Porsche and Ferrari wets were very different – the Porsche version being a ‘monsoon’ tyre, but the Ferrari being more akin to an intermediate; however, neither marque seemed able to establish a significant advantage.

As the 20-minute session progressed, the first evidence of a dry-line began to emerge and both Gary Eastwood, in the #8 Ferrari 430 GTC, and Simon Blanckley, in the #30 Porsche 997 GT3, gambled on slicks. Unfortunately for both drivers the track didn’t dry quickly enough and they were unable to find the grip needed to improve their times; “I slithered around for a couple of laps about ten seconds off the pace and then decided to pit and have a cup of tea instead!” laughed Blanckley.

Conditions were at their optimum at the end of the session and the majority of the field set their times in the closing moments of the session. Peter Bamford claimed pole for race 1 in the #60 Ferrari 430 GTC with a 54.658 – a quarter of a second ahead of Tomlin – with his second-fastest time also being quick enough for the Race 2 pole.

Paul Cope took Group 2 pole with a 55.597 in the #11 Venturi, while Russell Foster claimed Group 3 pole on his debut with a 56.577 in the #12 BMW M3.

The top six cars were covered by less than a second on this challenging and technical circuit and two close races were in prospect.

Race

All 18 cars assembled on the grid for the first of the day’s two 25-minute races. A very light and very short shower had passed over not long before, but dry conditions would prevail for the duration of this race at least.

Due to the short length of the circuit, two pace laps would be run before the field was released for the rolling start, but Tomlin had got only as far as Druids for the first time before he hit trouble; a spin at the hairpin dropping him back down the field. Fortunately, he had avoided both the gravel trap and contact with any other cars and was able to almost regain his front-row position in time to see the lights change from red to green; “I was trying to get back, but the cars ahead were weaving all over the road and I had to time things carefully,” he explained. “I think I was up to fourth when the lights changed.”

Poleman Peter Bamford’s lead lasted just a couple of hundred metres before contact and a spin at Paddock Hill Bend caused the #60 Ferrari 430 GTC to drop to the rear of the pack (the damage incurred would soon force the white car into an early retirement). The only other apparent casualty of the incident was Rupert Martin, who dropped to 17th while trying to avoid contact, but it also transpired that the yellow Chevron of Jordan Witt had its rear wing flattened in the melee, which completely changed the aero characteristics of the car.

The biggest winner, however, was Tomlin, and he managed to pull out a lead in excess of two seconds in the Group 1 #66 Ferrari 430 on that opening lap; “Peter went to the outside at Paddock Hill and seemed to brake very early which slowed the cars behind him. I went for the inside and got through, but was amazed to look back at my mirrors after Graham Hill Bend and see an empty track.”

As the leader pulled away, Jordan Witt had managed to keep the #85 Group 1 Chevron GR8 ahead of Andy Ruhan’s #6 Porsche 997 GT3, but the championship leader was applying constant pressure; and Witt’s defence allowed the #31 BMW GTR E46 of Michael Symons and the #30 Porsche 997 GT3 of Simon Blanckley to close up and make it a four-way battle for second. The #99 TVR Cerbera of Michael Saunders had initially held fifth, but a loose radiator-hose caused his race to be curtailed on only the third lap.

Ruhan managed to get his heavily-ballasted Porsche (the 997 carrying 60kg as a result of winning last time out at Snetterton) up to second on Lap 4, but he still had an eight-second deficit to the leader to overcome. He briefly pulled away from Witt, but it wasn’t long before the gap from second to third started to come down again.

Elsewhere, Paul Cope was going very well in the Group 2-leading Venturi 400 GTR – even managing to catch up on the tail of the #30 Porsche to make the fight for second a five-way affair – but the fight for Group 3 honours was the hardest fought, with the blue #12 BMW of Russell Foster leading the orange Beemers of Mark Radcliffe and Adam Hayes; all three covered by under two seconds for most of the race.

Gary Eastwood was fighting back from his lowly qualifying position and was up to seventh from 15th by Lap 11, but had had to overcome a determined Group 2 Porsche 996 GT3 of Francis Galashan en route.

Don Grice followed through to eighth in the Group 1 BMW M3 GTR V8.

Symons managed to find a gap at Paddock Hill bend at the start of Lap 14 and took third from the Chevron, which resulted in the fight for second becoming a spectacular sight a lap later, with a block of five cars seemingly all trying to get through Surtees at the same time. Unfortunately, this proximity led to the poorly-handling Chevron running into the back of the BMW and Symons was left with bodywork rubbing on his rear-right Pirelli. This in turn allowed Blanckley to grab fourth from Witt.

The damage to Symons’ car didn’t initially slow his pace, but as the laps progressed it was clear that things weren’t getting any better for him – smoke pouring from the rear of the car – and the tyre let go just four minutes before the end of the race. His assailant wasn’t able to benefit from the BMW’s retirement, having suffered a spin at Surtees on Lap 19 which dropped the GR8 down to eighth; after which he came under pressure from Galashan’s Porsche which lasted to the end.

“The car just snapped sideways,” said Jordan Witt. “It must have been something to do with the rear wing – the car was handling very strangely after the Ferrari landed on it at the start!”

Symons’ demise had resulted in Simon Blanckley moving up to third and it wasn’t long before he had caught up with Andy Ruhan; a huge wobble for the #30 997 at Graham Hill Bend on Lap 22 indicating just how hard the newcomer was trying; “I had to keep remembering that this was a rear-wheel drive car and that the technique for correcting a slide was very different to my Honda Integra!”

Even though his lead was down to just under four seconds, David Tomlin was driving a very controlled race and dealt with the traffic well; and as he put cars between himself and his pursuers – who were focussed more on each other – his lead began to increase again. Eventually, after 28 perfect laps, the #66 rounded Clark Curve to be greeted by the chequered flag.  

“It feels great to get my first win in the series,” said Tomlin. “The car was perfect and it all just went my way; even if I did try to throw it away at the start!”

Blanckley continued to push Ruhan, but just couldn’t get enough of a run on the short track to get fully alongside the #6 and remained tantalisingly just out of range of second to the flag.

“I think we could have carried on for another 30 minutes and I don’t think I’d have got him,” said Blanckley graciously. “I thought he’d got me near the end,” was Ruhan’s view.

Paul Cope ended the race in an excellent fourth place in the Venturi to take Group 2 honours, just ahead of Gary Eastwood’s Group 1 Ferrari. Francis Galashan took second in Group 2 after a very good race, while Sean Winder came third in the group in the #17 Ferrari 360 GTC after a race-long battle with the Group 3 Porsche 996 GT3 of Robert Koenig.

The battle for Group 3 went down to the final lap, with Russell Foster withstanding the pressure from Mark Radcliffe to take the win by 1.699 seconds. Adam Hayes had been attached to Radcliffe’s rear bumper for 26 laps before mechanical problems caused him to drop away on the penultimate lap. He completed the race in the #9 E46 M3, however, finishing 15 seconds further back to take third.

This had arguably been the best race yet in the 2011 Championship, but rain – heavy at times – began to fall on the circuit soon afterwards and caused all sorts of chaos in the MINI Challenge race before lunch. The second GT Cup race would follow three hours 40 minutes later, with all eyes on the skies in the interim.

MH