Britcar GT, Brands Hatch – Race Report
MJC – Straight Out of the Box

The litany of pre-season disappointments and dramas that had befallen the MJC team were swept away on Saturday in the 150-minute Britcar GT race. With just a handful of laps in Friday’s test session, and after electing to miss the 15-minute race-morning warm-up, Witt Gamski and Keith Robinson scored a convincing win in the ex-AF Corse Ferrari 430.

It certainly didn’t look that way for a great deal of the morning qualifying session though; languishing at the bottom of the timing screen whilst Aaron Scott in the JMH Ferrari 430, Sean McInerney’s Eclipse Mosler, and the Master Motorsport Ultima tussled for pole, it was only in the final ten minutes that Keith Robinson deposed Scott from the top, punching in a 47.177 before adding a banker at 47.015. It wouldn’t be good enough for pole, though – Sean McInerney hit the track with just minutes to go, leaving 46.623 in the wake of his final flying lap.

So, the top three were Eclipse, MJC and JMH, with the guesting MTECH Ferrari 430 of Duncan Cameron and Mike Edmonds completing the second row.  Fifth was the Ultima, with Steve Brady and Michael Millard sharing the driving. This would be the first race run for the car since its BGT outings in 2006, though it has been run occasionally at track days since. Lining up sixth, and perhaps a bit of a dark horse, was the Class 3 Lotus Elise of Chris Headlam and Jamie Stanley; Stanley is a Lotus expert, and a star instructor for both the marque and for Brands Hatch, so the car’s position maybe was not so surprising. Next up should have been the Class 2 Topcats Marcos Mantis of Neil Huggins and Raphael Fiorentino, but a yellow flag infringement saw them demoted to the back of the grid, leaving the place to be taken by the team’s Class 3 Mantis, in the hands of former Caterham racers Henry Fletcher and Owen O’Neill. 

Just two Ginettas in the race, and they lined up eighth and ninth; Craig Wilkins’ GT3 Racing machine, shared with Grand Am star Adam Christodoulou, and the Eurotech car of Mike and Andrew Jordan. 

GT Cup aspirants Jon Dhillon and Nima Khandan-Nia shared the second MTECH Ferrari 430, followed by the Azteca Motorsport Porsche 996 of Javier Morcillo and Manuel Cintrano – there’s some exciting news from this pair, which will be broken soon.  The two Torquespeed-built BMWs were next, the Keith Gent/Steve Clark E46 in front of the stunning new Intersport E92 of Kevin Clarke and Wayne Gibson, atypically further away from the green light than they are accustomed, and Kevin was far from happy: “We had engine problems in our first test at Silverstone, so didn’t get much running. This car is heavier than our old one, and it all seems to be in the suspension components. We just don’t seem to have the speed”. Initial thoughts of prepping the tried and trusted E46 for the race were dismissed, though, and they persevered with the new car. Lining up on the final row was the ABG Motorsport KTM X-Bow of Colin and Sam Mowle, father Colin returning to racing after an 18-year lay off, and son Sam having his very first race.

The two and a half hour format led to speculation regarding the number of fuel stops  that would be needed – certainly, with only 50-litre fills allowed, the Eclipse Mosler  would need three stops, as no doubt would the Ultima. Three would also be the order for the MTECH Ferraris, based on their history over this distance, and Aaron Scott would be taking no chances, planning to jump back into the JMH Ferrari after a stint each from Andy Ruhan and Arwyn Williams. With MJC, though, it was difficult to predict.

It was bad news for KG Motorsport/Torquespeed BMW M3, Steve Clark heading for the pits as the field took the green lights after two pace laps. The BMW posted the first retirement as the field streamed through Paddock and up into Druids, much in grid order, other than the flying Javier Morcillo, who had picked up some places in the Porsche 996 as they shuffled through the hairpin.

Steve Brady was the man on the move in the opening laps – Cameron’s Ferrari was his first target, then, third time around, he had taken Aaron Scott’s similar car and was on Gamski’s tail; quickly passing the red and white machine at Druids. 

The little yellow Lotus of Headlam was under pressure, too, an impatient Henry Fletcher eventually muscling the Marcos through at Druids. Fellow Topcats pilot Raphael Fiorentino was carving through the field after his last-row start, and, having dispensed with Morcillo, was also finding it difficult to pass the little Lotus, eventually making it stick at Druids. Headlam was now having to give best to the faster cars, and perhaps the more experienced Britcar regulars, as Morcillo, Dhillon, and Andrew Jordan’s Ginetta all made up places on consecutive laps.

Brady seemed to be heading backwards in the Ultima now; Witt Gamski had already found his way back into second place, after which Aaron Scott, then Cameron, reclaim their positions as well. It wasn’t long before the Ultima was pitbound, apparently with an accelerator pedal concern, and, after some further exploratory laps, the car was withdrawn from the race. Also gone by this point was the Intersport BMW E92, Wayne Gibson compounding the team’s disappointing weekend with a smoky engine blow-up after just 18 laps.  Headlam’s Lotus had got back past the Eurotech Ginetta, but suffered a puncture just as the first half hour ticked over, causing an earlier-than-planned pit stop.

Witt Gamski, still getting used to his new car, had a spin coming down the hill from Druids on lap 28, and dropped to fourth, which placed him on the track just in front of Sean McInerney; himself anxious to get a lap on the Ferrari as a banker for that third fuel stop that the Eclipse Mosler was going to need.   The slightest of touches as the pair rounded Graham Hill Bend sent the Ferrari spinning onto the grass along Cooper Straight; thankfully, Witt was soon on his way again, with no damage to the car. McInerney now had a 37-second lead over Aaron Scott, but Duncan Cameron’s Ferrari had attracted the attention of the officials, and had to pit to fix a flapping undertray, dropping down to tenth place in the process and allowing the Topcats Marcos pair, as often at Brands Hatch, running in tandem, into third and fourth places.

It was an early first stop for the MJC Ferrari - Gamski bringing the car in after just 50 minutes - whilst McInerney stayed out on track, picking his way expertly through the traffic; mindful of the Mosler’s ability to run around 65-70 minutes on the initial fill.

With Henry Fletcher controlling the Class 3 lead in the Mantis, interest was focused on the intense battle for second place in the class between Morcillo’s Porsche and Andrew Jordan’s Ginetta, which continued for the best part of 35 laps; mostly nose to tail, often side by side, both along the straights, and through the corners, this was the cleanest and keenest of tussles. The Porsche was able to slingshot along the straights, occasionally claiming the advantage into a corner, though it was never long before Jordan found a way back past again. Ironically, Javier Morcillo is Ginetta’s Spanish agent, and runs all of the Ginettas racing there; “I know what they are capable of, I knew where the Porsche would be stronger,” he said later.

Another puncture, this time for the #26 Marcos, saw them take a lengthy pit stop, and then it was the Mosler’s turn to pit, dead on 65 minutes; Sean having got far enough ahead for Michael McInerney to rejoin still in the lead. The boot now, though, was on the other foot – Keith Robinson, having taken over the MJC Ferrari, had  posted some personal best laps for the car before settling into  a consistent rhythm; but now found the Mosler ahead of him on the track, and was desperate to unlap himself. It took eight laps and, once unleashed, coming out of Clearways Robinson was away, bagging the fastest lap of the race so far.

In the meantime, Andy Ruhan had relieved Aaron Scott in the JMH Ferrari, and taken a quick spin on cold tyres coming out of Druids.

Morcillo had dropped back from his battle with Andrew Jordan, and handed the Azteca Porsche to Cadiz eye surgeon Manuel Cintrano – this would be the only stop for the Spaniards. The Eurotech Ginetta, though, was still circulating, and would be the last  car to take a mandatory stop, Mike Jordan eventually climbing into the car with less than an hour of the race to run, after a very quick - but not less than the mandatory 60 seconds - pit stop. So did they take on both fuel and new tyres? It didn’t seem a long enough stop. “Just two scrubbed slicks on the nearside,” confirmed Dunlop’s Michael Butler, adding “the same as we’re advising for the MJC  Ferrari.”

The Press Room amateur strategists now put their thoughts on the table – would MJC need two more pit stops, would they keep Robinson in the car till the end, would the Eclipse Mosler need tyres during one of its two stops? A wry smile from MJC’s Peter Livesey when quizzed more or less confirmed that Robinson was now installed for the duration, and he had a forecast about the Eclipse situation; “We reckon they’ll need four new tyres before the end, and Sean will take the final stint”.  

The win was now about just these two cars – the Mosler came in on lap 124, Sean jumped in after refuelling, and rejoined second. The Ferrari pitted just six laps later, took on fuel and those predicted nearside tyres and rejoined second, though a lap adrift of the leading Eclipse machine; and once again Robinson, who had got back in the Ferrari after pacing impatiently on the pit apron, was desperately trying to unlap himself. It was on lap 141 he did it, and posted the fastest lap of the race next time round – a 46.252 – showing no signs of fuel conservation.

It was only a short while before the Mosler was in for its third and final stop, carefully in advance of the fuelling curfew (the final 15 minutes of the race) – a splash of fuel, no tyres, and Michael McInerney jumped in for the final 20 minute stint, thus dismissing the MJC prediction.

With both lead cars consistently lapping around the 48.1 mark and a lap apart, it was now apparent that, barring disasters, the MJC team would draw first blood of the new season; but Michael McInerney put on a final spurt, claiming the car’s fastest lap just minutes from the end and unlapping himself round Clearways - crossing the line just yards in front of the winning Ferrari, and sighting the unfurled chequered flag; “I couldn’t hear the radio, I was shouting and screaming in the car, I thought I’d won,” said Michael, with a hint of humour rather than disappointment.  

The somewhat subdued winners were in pensive mood, still trying to take in the fact that they had won in an untried and untested car that had been difficult to acquire and that had run perfectly after a rebuild by Michelotto and their own small team of specialists. They had won it on merit, after two off-track excursions, but sealed it with just the two fuel stops; “We always knew we’d make it with just the two stops” confirmed Witt.

A stunning recovery drive by Duncan Cameron and Mike Edmonds, after their earlier undertray issue, saw the three-stopping MTECH Ferrari 430 Invitation entry take third overall, five laps down on the winner, and there was a flurry of activity further back, with four cars finishing on the same lap. Chief amongst these was the Class 3 victors, Andrew and Mike Jordan, who finished 15 seconds ahead of race-long competitors Morcillo and Cintrano.

“We hardly had room to breathe,” grinned Javier Morcillo as he exchanged a warm handshake with Andrew Jordan in the queue for the podium. Behind them, The MJH Ferrari 430, in which Arwyn Williams had taken a stint before Aaron Scott rejoined after the third fuel stop, took Class 2 honours, finishing less than a second ahead of the Owen O’Neill/Henry Fletcher Marcos, which completed the Class 3 podium. 

Neil Huggins and Raphael Fiorentino were Class 2 runners-up, their progress stymied by that early long pit stop, and the Jon Dhillon/Nima Khandan-Nia Ferrari was next up, though running as an invitation entry.

The Mowles’ KTM X-Bow suffered brake problems that led to a lengthy pit stop towards the end of the race. They finished tenth, ahead of the Craig Wilkins/Adam Christodoulou Ginetta, which lost time when it overheated. Classified 12th was the Chris Headlam/ Jamie Stanley Elise, the early puncture just the start of several issues which saw its qualifying performance not replicated in the race.

So, is this the story of the season to come, or was the twisty Brands Hatch Indy circuit more suited to the Ferrari than the Mosler? “I don’t think so, this is the way it’s going to be” summarised Michael McInerney.

Steve Wood