British GT Championship - Oulton Park Preview
Expect The Unexpected, At Least In GT3
© Mark Howson For the second season running, the make up of the British GT field sees some radical changes from the end of the preceding season. The start of 2007 saw the arrival in force of the GT3 cars and the beginning of the end of the GTC category, while 2008 brings a raising of the bar for the GT3 class, plus the new GT4s. 28 cars are scheduled to take the start at what is likely to be a very chilly Oulton Park this coming Saturday, and the chances are that the racing will be every bit as good as that delivered in last year’s excellent season. Race 2 is on Monday. 20 GT3 cars are again entered at Oulton, but the make up of the field is very different, with many new cars and faces and several familiar faces in new teams. Almost half of the GT3 drivers are newcomers. Robin Mortimer brings an astonishing six cars with him in 2008 as he seeks to both retain the GT3 title, and also to take the inaugural GT4 crown, for RPM. Eight of the dozen drivers are new to the BGT, although the driver pairings in the numbers 1 and 2 Vipers are looking to be very strong. Paul O’Neill and Steve Clark renew the partnership that proved to be so effective at Croft last year (they race #1), while ‘team-elder’ Nick Foster has 22 year old GT veteran and race winner Oliver Bryant for company. Robin Mortimer is very astute in his driver pairings, so the progress of Clint Bardwell and Jason Templeman in the third Viper will be interesting to watch. The big news of the close-season was undoubtedly the arrival of two very serious title challengers, in the shape of CR Scuderia and Chad Peninsula Racing, both running Ferrari 430s. Chris Niarchos brings three Ferraris to the series, along with three strong driver pairings, which represent a wealth of experience combined with future potential. James Sutton arrives fresh from victory in the Porsche Cup GB to partner former F3 driver Michael Meadows (both BRDC ‘Rising Stars’) in #14; Luke Hines returns to the series alongside Formula Renault driver Jeremy Metcalfe, in #16; while Ferrari veterans Paddy Shovlin and Michael Cullen team up in the ‘Irish car’, #15. Facing them will be a brace of 430s from Chad, with the stern gaze of Piers Masarati overseeing procedures. The four drivers are well known to followers of the BGT, but are racing the Ferrari for the first time in the series. Guy Harrington and Ben de Zille Butler made a significant impact on the 2007 season in their Barwell DBRS9, exceeding their own expectations early on and staying in real contention for the title almost to the bitter end. With a year’s experience under their belts, this partnership should again be a real contender, particularly in the light of their positive comments from recent testing. Alongside them will be former RPM Porsche pairing Matt Griffin and Peter Bamford. The young Irish driver, always rapid himself (and a British GT Champion of course), was very positive about Bamford’s progress over last season in the uncompetitive 997, and now the older driver finds himself alongside Griffin in a brand new Ferrari for only his second full season of racing (having only started in 2006). They had a very good test at Knockhill recently, as did Harrington / Butler: Griffin is going to fly in that Ferrari. “Peter (Bamford) was a revelation and will surprise some people this year with his pace,” says team manager Piers Masarati. Here's the Butler / Harrington car, and drivers, at Albacete earlier this month.  |
A-Tech Racing will not be present with its Ferrari at Oulton Park, owing to a late delivery, so the newcomers will be pitting themselves against the two veteran BGT Ferraris teams of Christians in Motorsport and VRS Motor Finance. Both teams retain the same driver pairings as last year, so Phil Burton and Adam Wilcox renew their rivalry with Hector Lester and Allan Simonsen, with the white car aiming to come out on top despite the red car being a 2008 model. The very quick 2007 machine has been despatched to Australia. Numbers 12 and 23 led at Oulton Park a year ago..... ... Hector Lester and Tim Mullen taking one of the wins, above. Joining the RPM Vipers on the grid will be the ABG Dodge of Craig Wilkins and Aaron Scott, and the Team Trimite car of James Gornall and Jon Barnes. Martin Braybrook is confident that his Viper will be very competitive this year, while Wilkins and Scott have tested extensively over the winter in their new car. Tech 9’s decision to run a pair of Lamborghini Gallardos was unexpected, to say the least after many seasons of running Porsches; but after last year’s disappointments with the 997, it is probably not too much of a surprise that they have looked elsewhere for 2008. The team has only recently received the cars and hasn’t had the opportunity to execute their usual meticulous preparation / testing for the season. However, Phil Hindley and his men will do their utmost to give the drivers competitive cars from the outset; while Tom Ferrier, Oliver Morley, Dave Pinkney and Leo Machitski will use their experience to reciprocate. The big question remains, though – will one of the cars be pink? Until recently, there was the very real prospect of the season starting with not a single Porsche in the field; a scenario that would have been scarcely believable a year ago. However, David Ashburn was sufficiently convinced by what Porsche showed him over the winter to cancel his Ferrari plans and buy two of the 2008 spec 997 GT3 Ss. The team owner will again share the car with Richard Williams, while the second car may appear in the hands of Phil Keen and Tom Haines. Like Tech 9, the very late delivery of the cars may restrict competitiveness at this first meeting of the season. Despite Barwell Motorsport’s departure, we will still see two Aston Martin DBRS9s on the grid, and one of them will be bio-fuelled. Tom Alexander returns with Michael Bentwood in his race-winning car, this time running under the 22GTRacing banner; while Cadena Motorsport has converted its car to bio-fuel, having witnessed the competitiveness of the Drayson/Cocker DBRS9 last year. It is to be hoped that Barrie Whight and Gavan Kershaw are spared the torments that blighted their 2007 season (fuel pressure maladies), and that they can have a fair crack of the whip this year. The Ascari marque has but one representative this year, but it is a significant one, with David and Godfrey Jones back for another season in the Preci Spark KZ1R. The racing is never dull when these two are involved, and perhaps this year they will claim the race win that was denied to them on more than one occasion last season. Jones and Jones are one of the few 2008 pairings to hark back to earlier eras of the British GT Championship: their longevity and enthusiasm are admirable. For many of the drivers, the Cheshire track will be a first opportunity to race a GT car – and if it’s cold and wet (sleet?), car control will be at a premium on the Avon wets. Two good finishes might be a sensible target at this stage. Driver ratings and pairings have been a source of contention in recent weeks: just an A and a B category is a rather crude system – but we’ll find out soon enough if particular pairings have an advantage: if they do, the rows will start imminently. The GT4 class debuts in the British series with eight cars for the first race, appropriately enough all representing two British marques. Six Ginetta G50s will take on two Aston Martin N24s, and it has all the makings of a battle-royal as this is no ‘filler’ category. Andrew Howard was one of the first to reveal his 2008 intentions, buying a new N24 and signing 2007 rival, and GTC champion, Jamie Smyth to drive alongside him under the Beechdean Motorsport banner. Despite his jovial exterior, Howard is deadly serious about his racing and has only one goal – the title. Chad Peninsula fields the second N24 in the field, with Peter Snowdon and Mark Thomas at the wheel. Snowdon experienced a frustrating 2007 in the Tech 9 Porsche in FIA GT3 and will be looking for much more from 2008. The Ginetta has already proven to be a huge success, despite existing for just a few months. Immediately competitive in its first races in FIA GT4 last year, that, and the Donington Park test last year, was enough to prompt several team owners to open their cheque books. Such was the demand that it is to the great credit of Lawrence Tomlinson and Richard Dean that they have managed to supply the six cars for the first meeting, on top of the huge task of supplying cars to the Ginetta G50 Championship that runs on the F3 / GT package. As already mentioned, RPM fields three cars, for Steve Tandy / Phil Bailey (#50), Joe Osborne / Michael Broadhurst, and Charlie Hollings / Fulvio Mucci; with Robin Mortimer delighted by both the car and his driver selection. Up against this trio will be three single-car teams. Ian Stinton returns to the series in what for him is a conventional car, after earlier, and controversial, outings in his Prosport. Neil Clark joins him in the Stark Racing G50. The final two cars come with much Ginetta experience. Rob Austin is still seeking a second driver to join him for the season, but will still be a potent force as a sole-driver, while IMS Motorsport combines the multiple title-winning skills of Matt Nicholl-Jones and Stewart Linn with the technical expertise of Richard Hollebon’s Richmond Racing. It is clear that the GT4 race will be worthy of as much attention as GT3. It is to be hoped that the 2008 season can progress without the equalisation controversy that dogged the series throughout 2007. Barring any last minute adjustments to the cars post-Monza, the consensus appears to be that the adjustments applied are reasonable. The pace of the Ginetta G50s is a concern to other entrants, SRO indicating that it will look at the relative performance in this class after the first two meetings. So a debut win for a G50? – but GT3’s form guide is littered with unknowns. This could be very good indeed. Please do make the effort to attend at the weekend, despite the weather forecast. There will doubtless be more than enough action on track to allow onlookers to forget about the not too balmy conditions. | 
