BGT, Rockingham – Sunday Morning
Good Vibes In Corby

There wasn’t a huge crowd at Rockingham for the main raceday – and, like at Daytona, the humungous grandstands swallowed them up with ease – but the fabulous weather made for a very enjoyable and relaxed atmosphere.

The ten-minute warm-up session saw the majority of the BGT cars taking part, with only Chad and RPM opting to sit it out – Michael Bentwood later revealing his strategy for the Ford GT in the second race; “I’m going to drive it like I’ve nicked it!” 

Allan Simonsen arrived in the car park behind the Rockingham Building at the end of Saturday’s proceedings with the distinct impression that someone had indeed nicked his car. Fortunately, his brother had seen what really happened – the local jobsworths had noticed that the appropriate carpark pass was not being displayed and so though they towed the car away; taking it out of the circuit and dumping it in a lay-by on a nearby industrial estate.  

The warm-up session was not without its dramas. The Stark Racing Ginetta clearly intended to take part, but was wheeled back into the garage just as the lights went green. The usually jovial Ian Stinton had a very earnest look on his face and certainly wasn’t in the mood to answer questions; which presumably meant that whatever the issue was would not be fixed quickly or easily.

Team WFR, meanwhile, woke up to find that their gearbox had somehow expired overnight and missed most of the session as they replaced it. Nigel Moore eventually left the garage with a minute and a half remaining – to be greeted by red flags; the cause of which was Andrew Howard “looking for the limit…and finding it,” at Tarzan. Moore was released from the pitlane despite the reds and completed a lap of the circuit without drama.

The one GT4 Ginetta that did enjoy a full session was the #54 Rob Austin G50; although it was now sporting a not overly-attractive beigey-grey bonnet after its Saturday travails.

MTECH had a Ferrari out in the session, but not the Scuderia, which had suffered too many issues the previous day. All teams had signed the necessary bit of paper to allow the team to substitute its 430, and Matt Griffin would subsequently be starting from the back of the grid. 

Dan Moore was happy to take the blame for his spin in the Rollcentre Mosler during Saturday’s race; “That’s racing!” he smiled. “The team replaced the steering column, but didn’t have time to fully complete the repair so we didn’t have full opposite lock and it just went round on me.”

Gregor Fisken was very pleased to see fellow-historics racer Philip Walker getting to grips with the Ford GT; “I know Philip very well and his approach is very methodical – he’ll just get better and better.” Fisken will again team up with Brown at Knockhill, but next week heads off to Monza to race a Lightweight Jaguar E-Type.

Andrew Howard and Jamie Smyth are enjoying their racing in 2009, even though the Speedway doesn’t suit the Aston Martin very well; “The second half of the season has the circuits that are best for the car, so we’re looking forward to that,” said Smyth. “The problem is that, while you can push a Porsche or a Ferrari into a first or second gear corner, you can’t in an Aston. You just have to brake, turn and then wait for the car to come round before pushing on again. You can attack in the faster corners, which is where the car comes into its own.”

So why is Andrew Howard driving so well this year? “I see it in terms of learning a new golf-swing. Jamie – because he’s driven all these other cars – is having to unlearn his previous swing while also learning the new one; whereas I just have to listen to what I’m being told in order to learn. The year in the GT4 Aston gave me a great base to build on, and the advice I’m getting from Jamie, Mark (Lemmer) and Vincent (Vosse) is just great.

“But she’s a pig to drive,” he laughed.

Saturday winner Ollie Bryant reported that warm-up for the Barwell Ginetta G50Z involved nothing more than bedding in new brakes and a change to the brake bias; while Phil Burton told Graham Tyler that his podium celebrations were only slightly dampened by the news that his beloved Everton had been beaten in the FA Cup final.

A thumbs-up from Aaron Scott and Craig Wilkins indicated that everything was fine with the ABG Viper; but the major sour note of the morning came when Graham Tyler described DSC snapper David Downes as an “ace photographer” over the tannoys – he’ll be insufferable now!

MH