Britcar Preview – Oulton Park, Monday May 28

Oulton Park’s compromise of not racing on Bank Holiday Sunday means a packed Great and British programme on Monday, with the Britcar contingent qualifying first-thing, at 08.30, and racing for two hours at the very end of the day, if all goes well, at 16.15.

The Topcats team are on a roll at the moment. The win at Snetterton for Mick Mercer, Richard Fores and Luc Paillard in the Corvette-engined Marcos Mantis “Evo 2” was something special, the trio stealthily easing the car into the lead just minutes from the end of the three hour race, after dropping to last place, three laps down, with sticking brakes, on the very first lap.

Ex-banger racer and MG champion Mercer, and Hyperion co-owner Fores will be looking to repeat the win on Monday, but will have to contend with, amongst others, the formidable pairing of John Gaw and Richard Gomes in the Kinfaun Porsche 996 RS. Gomes joined Gaw and regular partner Jean-Marc Rotsaert at Snetterton, and, in this weekend’s shorter race, the equally-matched duo should end up well placed.

IN2Racing will be fielding its pair of Porsche 997s – no logistic problems for Cheshire resident Darren Knutton this time round – and American domiciled ex-F3 man Mike Donovan has hand-picked Oulton for his comeback tour of Europe; “I’ll only race at the circuits that go up and down, not just round and round,” he told dsc at Brands Hatch last month.

Richard Chamberlain’s rotten luck must change soon. His bright orange Porsche 935 Replica is undoubtedly the fastest car in the championship, but has been dogged by drive shaft and puncture issues, and mechanical problems have also sidelined the Peter Cook/Frank Pelle Porsche 996RS when it has been showing well this season. George Haynes has posted some reasonable results in the ASM Ford Falcon, though, and is joined this weekend by returning team boss Adam Sharpe, ahead of a Le Mans run next month for the tall young man.

With Team Nero’s black Ferrari 360s giving this round a miss, the way should be clear for the ebullient Craig Wilkins and Pete Morris, in the ABG Motorsport, ex-Tech 9 Porsche 996 for the GT Cup class win. They’re two of a kind, this pair, and both ironically, coached by Nero’s Aaron Scott, but their party might be spoilt by the appearance of LMS racers Michael and Sean McInerney, in the Chad Racing Porsche 996.

Dominic Lesniewski has displayed a rare talent in the past, and not enough is seen of him these days, but he will no doubt shine in the Cup Class Topcats Marcos, sharing with Jon Harrison. Ex-England cricketer David Smith once more partners Witt Gamski in the MJC Ferrari 360, and Ian Donaldson shares Kevin Clarke’s GTR-bodied, but straight-six engined BMW E46.

Michael Symons and Andre D’Cruze, in the Geoff Steel BMW M3 have been lonely Class 1 winners in the last couple of races, but perhaps will have some competition at Oulton in the shape of Tony Brown and Sarah Bennett-Baggs, in the Butler Motorsport GTR-lookalike. Anna Walewska, sharing a second Geoff Steel BMW with Steve Bell, will be looking for a better result than of late, and Mark Smith’s older E30 BMW should continue a run of class podium finishes.

Class 2 has been the most closely contested division up to now. Relative newcomers Mark and Peter Cunningham, in the Forge Motorsport Seat Leon Cupra, are actually overall leaders of the Britcar championship as we speak, despite being pipped for the class win at Snetterton in the closing minutes by the similar MGA Motorsport machine of Mark Clynes and Nick Beaumont. MGA boss Mike Gorton – an ex-Fiesta racer and allegedly one of the architects of what would become Britcar – has struggled valiantly with some recalcitrant machinery over the years, and it’s good to see the team taste success. This being their home race, they will be even more determined, though the Forge driver pairings can match the MGA boys exactly, so strategy and second-guessing will be important. Add the Gary Smith/Stuart Plotnek MG ZR, which has barely had a chance to show its true colours thus far, into the mix, and we could be in for another epic contest.
STEVE WOOD