British GT Oulton Park – Monday Morning Notes
Back On Course
© Mark Howson

If anything, the temperature at an overcast Oulton Park was colder this morning than it had been two days earlier (but without the howling gales), as the GT survivors rallied themselves for the early warm-up session.

There was some early good news when the Jones brothers confirmed that the Preci-Spark Ascari had overcome its suspension problems and would be racing. Elsewhere, several drivers were reflecting on an interesting Saturday.

Peter Snowdon was in the car clipped by Hunter Abbott on his was to his now-famous crash at Dentons, the Aston Martin driver opining that the move that led to the crash was without malice, but instead just unnecessary. “He already had the corner, so I don’t know why he moved across. If he was trying to squeeze me, then 800kg of Ginetta versus 1350kg of N24 would not have been an even contest!”

(See below for Hunter Abbott’s version of events)

The Chad GT4 Vantage has had a difficult first few months of life, only just returning from a major rebuild following a testing crash at Mallory Park, which resulted in a £40,000 repair bill. “We’ve got to say a big thank you to AMR and Chartwells of Derby for the massive help in getting the car back so quickly,” said Snowdon. “They managed a three month repair in three weeks.

[“We got the car back last Wednesday, and then Mark (Thomas) had an off after eight laps on Friday that pranged the left hand side.”]

Correction: Mark Thomas didn't actually get in the Chad Aston Martin until free practice on Saturday. It was another driver who dinged it on the previous Friday, March 14, at Oulton Park. Apologies for misunderstanding what Peter Snowdon said.

The story behind the #63’s number plate (the car being the only road-going N24 in the world, apparently) is that the car’s owner is determined to show that a car can be driven to the circuit, raced seriously, and then driven home again, as in days of old.

Hunter Abbott and Rob Austin, meanwhile, were making strenuous efforts to convert the team’s G50 Cup car to GT4 spec in order to race later today.

Potentially, then, the race could see 24 cars taking place - 23 of which took part in an utterly inconclusive warm-up session that started and finished in snow. 2:08 for the Trimite Viper was the fastest lap, as most cars tippy-toed round, and that says it all really.

Ian Stinton was using the warm-up to try some new settings, after admitting to thoroughly disliking the car on Saturday. “It’s not confidence inspiring at the moment, to be honest,” said the Stark Racing co-owner. “I’m having to relearn rear-wheel driving and it’s bouncing all over the place; basically, it’s not very similar to a Spice.”

The problem essentially was that the car was brand new, having only been delivered last Monday, and the team and drivers had much to learn about settings.

“We’re basically using the first two rounds as a test session. Still, we finished fifth first time out and I passed an Aston and a Ginetta; so there were some positives.”

This is Stinton’s tenth racing season, and his partnership with Neil Clark goes back to Westfield racing and through the British Hillclimb Championship (class winners) and Group C.

Aaron Scott related that the issue that led to the ABG Viper starting from the pitlane for the restarted race on Saturday was a simple one; “The dipstick popped out at the first start and was spraying oil all over the windscreen. The team popped it back in, cleaned the screen, and away we went.

“The biggest issue at the moment is our pace in relation to the others. If you’d said a month ago that we’d get a 1:41 here, I’d have been delighted. But having seen the pace of the fastest cars, it’s clear that we’ve got work to do.”

Martin Braybrook was grateful to Robin Mortimer for the loan of a new Viper engine, a deal that would allow the Team Trimite Viper to take part in the day’s race after “James blipped the engine on the rise over Druids. The boys fitted it last night and it was fine in warm-up.”

The team owner was delighted both with the pace of the car on Saturday, and also by his new driver pairing; but not so with the oversight that led to the car infringing the ride height regs in qualifying.

Ollie Bryant explained that he was still getting used to the RPM Viper, and suggested that the circuit didn’t suit the big car; neither did the format of the first race. “The Viper’s strength is in the second part of the race; but with it only being 30 minutes on Saturday, that didn’t develop.”

There was cheer for Guy Harrington and Ben de Zille Butler after warm-up confirmed that the #3 Chad Ferrari was running on eight cylinders. “We think we’ve fixed it,” said Piers Masarati.

A surprisingly healthy-looking Hunter Abbott popped in to the media centre, and confirmed that the Rob Austin Ginetta had been successfully transformed to GT4 spec; but that the car’s participation needed the signature of all team owners, and one was refusing to sign. Negotiations continued.

In the meantime, he told the harrowing story of his crash.

“I felt a tap, and then a bigger tap from the Aston and then the car went sideways, dug in and went over.

“It went over again and again, and I kept thinking ‘It’s got stop soon!’ I had no idea that I’d cleared the barrier.

“Eventually, it did stop but I saw fire and just had time to get my visor down before it turned into a fireball; that’s why I’ve only got two small burns on my face. The flames were so intense that I couldn’t see anything other than orange and the fire took all the oxygen away, so I couldn’t breathe.

“I knew that I had to get out quick, and reached for the driver’s door but it wouldn’t budge. I reached above me and realised I was upside down; and at this point I was thinking ‘this is it!’

“Finally I tried for the passenger side (the door had been ripped off), and scrambled out through the frame. I was so ecstatic at getting out that I didn’t care that my legs and arms were on fire. My overalls were crispy, but they did their job and the only burns I got were to my hands when the cuffs started to give out.

“I phoned Richard Dean on Sunday to thank him for building such a strong car, and he told me that the rollhoop was 12 times stronger than required for FIA GT2 purposes.”

The G50 race this morning, the first ever, was a good one, details later.