British GT, Oulton Park – Preview
Wide Open At The Start As was ever so, the new season brings with it many changes – new cars, new drivers, new format – and while it is way too early to judge the success of those changes, the signs of recovery after a pretty bleak year are generally positive. The 20-strong field (up from 16 at the corresponding fixture in ’09) breaks down as 12 GT3, seven GT4 and a solitary GTC entrant, with 16 of those confirmed as full-season contestants. Organisationally, the changes are significant. GT3 is largely unaltered, but is this year subject to a ‘domestic’ balance-of-performance process – as took place at Silverstone last week with Kurt Mollekens on SRO driving duty – rather than the contentious European measures imposed on the Avon-clad runners in past seasons. The second class, meanwhile, has morphed into G4 – an amalgam of GT4 and Supersports runners, all running on slicks – while a new class is (re)introduced for 2010; GTC. The major changes to the format of the meetings, meanwhile, are a ban on testing at the circuit for two weeks prior to the races (i.e. no Friday test day); practice and qualifying only on the Saturday; and warm-up and racing on the Sunday; or Monday, in the case of Oulton Park. The GT timetable looks like this:
Saturday
09:30-10:30 – Practice 1
12:40-13:40 – Practice 2
16:40-16:55 – Qualifying 1
17:05-17:20 – Qualifying 2 Monday 09:00-09:10 – Warm Up
11:25-12:25 – Race 1
16:35-17:35 – Race 2 These are the rules as regards driver pairings: “Drivers are categorized into groups A, B, C or D according to their experience and successes. Grade A drivers may partner only with drivers from categories D or C (with a 45-second penalty added to the mandatory pit stop time). Grade B drivers may partner only with drivers from categories D or C (with a 30-second penalty added to the mandatory pit stop time). All other pairing combinations are permitted.” Your scribe has had a quick look at the driver gradings, and it’s fair to say that some of them will doubtless be subject to vigorous debate. But on to the 20 runners and riders: GT3 Sitting atop the entry list are defending champions David and Godfrey Jones; the Preci-Spark Ascari KZ1R now proudly bearing the coveted number 1. Remarkably, this is the first time in eight seasons that the champions have returned to defend their title, with David Warnock and Mike Jordan being the last pair to do so in 2002. The twins were never far from – and often at –the front all season and Team Pyro had an excellent first year in GT racing; the question now is how much the car will be affected by the balancing measures imposed after the test. Also returning with an unchanged driver line-up and car is the KJ&TG sponsored Viper, although the car is now in the hands of Craig Wilkins’ self-run team GT3 Racing. Wilkins has proven himself to be a very rapid driver in his own right and his and Aaron Scott’s brace of wins last season were fully deserved. A lack of pre-season testing won’t help their chances at Oulton, however. No lack of testing in the Ferrari field, however, with numerous miles clocked up across Europe in the pre-season. MTECH returns with its upgraded Scuderia, although Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin find themselves on a more level playing field in 2010. But although they had the fastest car last year, their season was hampered by the necessity to do much of the car’s development on the racetrack. By the end of the season they had the strongest Scuderia anywhere in the world, but will that still give them an advantage this time around? Chad Racing is mounting a significant assault on the title, with three GT3 Ferraris in the hunt for honours. Chris Hyman and Paul Warren have split their partnership for the new season and now have a Scuderia apiece to play with. Hyman’s new partner is 2009 star Dan Brown, while Warren teams up with former Tech 9 race-winner Tom Ferrier; both partnerships certainly capable of challenging for wins. The team’s third car, meanwhile, is likely to make headlines during the season. The only 430 not upgraded to Scuderia spec, Jose Balbiani and Juan Garriz are nevertheless determined to challenge for podia at every round. With only four hours between races, however, might this work to their advantage if the Scuds turn out still to be fragile? Phil Burton and Adam Wilcox return with renewed optimism and a new team name – the rather sinister sounding Predator CCTV Racing complementing their black Scud well. This duo has been on the verge of a win on so many occasions that a top-step finish seems inevitable this year. Perhaps the biggest unknown this year is how Hector Lester and Allan Simonsen will perform in the Rosso Verde Ferrari. The entry list says that it is also now a Scuderia, but news has been virtually non-existent over the winter. The final four GT3 cars at Oulton Park will be only occasional visitors to the series in 2010, but those visits are liable to be significant ones. The Cheshire crowd will be the first to witness United Autosports’ brace of Audi R8 LMS and there seems little doubt that these cars will be at the sharp end throughout the weekend. Team owners Zak Brown and Richard Dean team up (temporarily) in the #23, while Mark Patterson and Mike Guasch share #22. Don’t let these gentlemen drivers’ age fool you – there is a lot of talent and experience in those Audis. The irrepressible David Ashburn returns to the BGT with yet another new Porsche – the brand new GT3 R – and he has drafted in Supercup hotshoe Siso Cunill to share seat time with him. The late arrival of the car from Weissach hasn’t helped with pre-season preparations, but you write off this car and team at your peril. Finally, Paul Whight and Michael Bentwood also return to the series with the Barwell-Cadena Aston Martin DBRS9, the only Aston in the field. Barwell’s history is well known and so the car is sure to be competitive, but Bentwood must consider himself unlucky to be rated as an A driver, while other recent race-winners have received B or even C gradings. G4 At first glance, very little has changed in this end of the grid, but a closer look reveals that not a single one of the drivers in the seven cars was on the Oulton grid last year; and while four Ginetta G50s will line up on Monday’s grid, neither Team WFR nor Stark Racing – the backbone of GT4 in 2009 – will be among them. But the four Ginetta teams should put on a heck of a show, with some excellent drivers in the car; including the reigning Ginetta G50 Cup and European GT4 Cup champions. Nathan Freke brings his Century Motorsport team to the championship for a full season and he will be partnered by the young Dane Vibe Smed, fresh from Britcar. Up against them will be Joe Osborne in his own car, alongside newcomer Osman Yusuf; Tom Dunstan and John Ingram in the Team GCR G50; and Christian Dick and Jamie Stanley in the Speedworksmotorsport Ginetta. We’ll have to wait until almost 5.30 on Saturday evening before we’ll have much idea of who’s quicker than who. Making a welcome return to the series is the Nissan 350Z of Promotorsport; Derek Palmer Jr again being partnered by Rick Pearson. It will be interesting to see how this car has developed during its year-long absence from the series. But while the Ginetta has been the source of GT4 controversy over the past two seasons, that mantle now looks like shifting to the KTM X-Bow of the ABG-run Prestige Car Leasing.co.uk team. Benjamin Harvey and Rory Butcher’s machine managed to clock a laptime two seconds faster than the other G4 runners at Silverstone and if that is repeated this weekend, ructions can be expected. That said, a lot can happen in a race. Simon Mason and Chris Bialan return with their upgraded Lotus 2-Eleven for a full-season challenge, and this small car should also be up amongst the class frontrunners. Mason, however, won’t even get to Oulton until Monday morning, as he will be at Thruxton with Piranha’s G40 team on Saturday. Missing qualifying will mean starting from the back of the grid for one of the races. GTC Finally, and for now the only GTC runner, we have the Kinfaun Racing Porsche of John Gaw and Phil Dryburgh. With no class opposition this weekend, their aim is to get amongst the GT3 runners during the gentlemen’s phase of the race. Going forwards, it is to be hoped that they are soon joined by more of the many eligible cars out there.
And so to battle. The Oulton races should provide the usual level of excitement and action normally seen at the circuit, but, at this earliest of stages, picking a winner is going to be very tricky.
MH | 
