BGT, Rockingham - Saturday Notes
A Mixed Morning For MTECH Another glorious day on the Northants/Leicestershire border saw the Rockingham Speedway blessed with a very relaxed air as the meeting-proper got underway with the customary 75-minute free-practice session. The MTECH mechanics had grafted until two in the morning to repair the Ferrari Scuderia, and their hard work was immediately rewarded with the fastest lap of the session on the sixth of Matt Griffin’s 14 laps. “It’s the first time I’ve driven the car,” said the Irish driver, who wasn’t present for its debut at Spa, “and I have to say it’s quick. Admittedly, we had new tyres on, but it felt very nice.” Not for very long, however. “Matt radioed to say that he was stuck in fifth,” explained Team Principal Mike Edmonds, “so we just told him to come back in; but a bleed nipple on the hydraulic system had broken off and sprayed fluid onto hot components,” he continued, holding up a tiny piece of metal, “and as he was coming into the pitlane, a fire broke out.” “The boys did a great job putting the fire out,” said Griffin. “It was out so quickly that the fire did no damage, it was putting it out that did the damage. I’m just glad that I decided to pit – had I just pulled off the track, it would have burnt out completely.” As the MTECH crew got on with the clean-up operation, and Mike Edmonds set about manufacturing a replacement part, Griffin and Duncan Cameron could do nothing except enjoy the sun and cross their fingers that they would be able to take part in qualifying. In the Barwell garage, Joe Osborne was enjoying his one-off drive in the Ginetta G50Z alongside Ollie Bryant. “The car’s fantastic,” he began. “Even though it’s got aero and a lot more power than my normal G50, it handles just the same; only quicker. Ginetta have done a really good job with this one.” Having recorded two wins and two podiums in the first four GT4 European Cup races this year, Osborne is having a very good year – but he doesn’t like Adria; “It’s a horrible circuit – 13 bends and all of them have to be taken in first or second gear. There’s no corner where you can say “nailed it!” – they’re all just slow and awkward!” Robin Mortimer was relieved that RPM’s run of bad luck appeared to be over; “We had a Viper written off in the GT Cup meeting at Brands, and then a week later Phil crashed the Ford at Spa – that wasn’t a very pleasant time. Fortunately, the tub was undamaged. “Phil (Walker) and Michael (Bentwood) haven’t been pushing it yet, but our Bosch telemetry system gives us 20 split points around the track and so we know what the potential time is; and it’s a lot better than we’ve shown so far. The other thing is that the Ford is much better on its tyres than the other cars.” Next up – qualifying. MH | 
