British GT Championship - Thruxton – Preview
Hard And Fast
© Mark Howson

After an absence of two seasons, the British GT Championship returns to Hampshire and the speed arena that is Thruxton, giving the GT3 cars a real opportunity to stretch their legs. This was the scene two years ago, prior to the start of the Saturday race.

After two hours around Silverstone, the three remaining meetings will all see two one-hour races, and it is over the course of the six races that the GT3 and GTC championships will be decided.

In GT3, the title could end up going in any one of six directions, with no real indication yet of which direction is most likely, such has been the closeness of the fighting of late; will the character of the Thruxton circuit offer any of the main title challengers an advantage over their rivals? How will tyres affect the outcome (see below)?

Barwell Motorsport came away from Silverstone with just one of its trio of Aston Martins scoring points, but all three remain very much in contention. Jonny Cocker will be looking to celebrate his 21st birthday in style by partnering Paul Drayson to maximum points this weekend, but the evidence suggests that that will not be easily achieved.

Guy Harrington had to sit out the Silverstone race, having watched Ben de Zille Butler retire the #3 Aston just two laps into the race after an early (and innocuous-looking) clash (below). This young pairing has matured rapidly over the course of the season and the two have raised their own expectations; no longer are they looking for steady progress and a reasonable points-haul, they want wins.

Likewise, Tom Alexander and Michael Bentwood will be in the hunt for podia, after finishing just outside the points at the last race.

While there are numerous potential race winners this weekend, the main challengers in terms of the championship to the Barwell trio take three forms.

Bradley Ellis and Alex Mortimer still lead the championship after Silverstone, despite the #6 RPM Viper hitting mid-race misfortune, and the big front-engined car should lap up the Hampshire track. The strong card for this car is the speed and consistency of the drivers; arguably the most consistent of all drivers in the field.

No doubt the Jones brothers will take issue with that last statement, as David and Godfrey have put up a compelling case for that accolade applying to them, after some excellent performances in recent races in the Eurotech Preci-Spark Ascari. Had it not been for a qualifying penalty that forced the car to start from the back of the grid, and a stop-go penalty during the race, Silverstone could arguably have seen a different winner. As it is, the threat from the #22 is real and potent.

So it is at Thruxton from the #5 RPM Viper: Tim Harvey makes a welcome return to British GTs, and Vipers, as he partners Henry Fletcher in the #5 RPM entry. Adam Jones drives the Team Modena Lamborghini again, with Matt Owen, and this entry has typically been the fastest of the lot recently.

Hector Lester is the one driver seemingly on a roll at present, with a finishing record in the last three races of third, second, first. Ably assisted by some fine talent, this run has propelled the Christians in Motorsport owner to within six points of the championship lead, and Allen Simonsen will be on hand this weekend to attempt to extend that seam of good form.

Craig and Elliott Cole have managed to accumulate just five points each this season in the Eclipse Mosler, a grossly unfair reward for some very strong performances. Their luck has been cruel at times, with the master-switch problem at Silverstone being merely the latest example. Despite this, they face the prospect of being highly competitive at the fast circuit this weekend, and could well see the podium for the first time. Here's the Eclipse car at Thruxton from an earlier era, when it was a GT2 car.

Having come so close to victory at the last race, Adam Wilcox and Phil Burton will be looking to go one better this weekend. Tyres and gearbox issues late in the game took victory from them, but the one hour races could play into their hands this weekend.

Tom Ferrier and Matt Harris will be looking to capitalise on the increased pace of the upgraded Tech 9 Porsche after a strong run at Silverstone, while Phil Keen and Ollie Bryant will be looking for an even better result in the #11 Damax Ascari.

Hopefully, this weekend will see the competitive return of Lotus as the MackintoshPlansMotorsport Exige (now fully homologated) joins in. George Mackintosh – last glimpsed in the Silverstone paddock sporting a lucky(?) beard – will be sharing driver duties with Alistair MacKinnon while Sam Blogg races in single-seaters elsewhere.

Having traded in their Lotus for another British car, Paul and Barrie Whight will be hoping for a couple of competitive runs in the distinctive Cadena Aston Martin.

Trackspeed is absent for this weekend’s activities, but its place is being taken by the first GT3 entry (under its own name) for RSS Performance. Already running the Team4Car Porsche for Fergus Campbell and Mark Cole, Graeme Mundy will be fielding a second 997 for Colin Willmott and Pete Osborne.

As if that wasn’t enough, Mundy will be also doing his best to maintain and build upon his and Jamie Smyth’s GTC lead on the back of their first victory. After seven finishes from eight races (all resulting in champagne soaked racing suits), the pair have an 11 point cushion over Team Aero and a 12 point cushion over Beechdean Motorsport.

Keith Ahlers and Steve Hyde have suffered the most appalling misfortune at the last two meetings and saw a certain victory ripped from their hands in brutal style at Silverstone. They will be seeking vengeance this weekend. Thruxton has been a happy scene for the Morgan in the past.

Similarly, Andrew Howard and Aaron Scott will be looking to the fast, sweeping expanses of Thruxton to get them well back into the title hunt.

With only Richmond Racing joining this trio in the class this weekend, any slip up by any of them could have significant implications for the title.

All the cars should be running on harder compound tyres this weekend. That means that those running the softer tyres at other circuits (Aston Martin, Porsche, Ferrari and Lamborghini) will be running a harder version, while those running the harder tyres (Viper, Mosler, Ascari) will be running a still harder version. How that will affect things, we will discover shortly. Testing takes place today (Friday). Thruxton has often been shown to be a savage punisher of mistakes, with high speeds and small run offs not making a happy combination. The hope is that this weekend will be remembered for excellent racing and not the repair bills.