British GT Championship - Croft - Saturday Morning Notes
It’s Never Dull
© Mark Howson

An overcast but brightening sky greeted the GT runners as the weekend got underway in Yorkshire, but already more alterations had to be made to the entry list.

One car had been withdrawn – the #33 Berlanga Ascari of Klaas Zwart and Tom Coronel – while elsewhere driver changes had been finalised. Phiroze Bilimoria retuned to Team Trimite alongside Neil Cunningham in the #40 Viper, while David Ashburn had recruited former F3 driver Ronayne O’Mahony to accompany him in the #14 Porsche. Finally, both seats in the #5 RPM Viper are occupied by newcomers; former BTCC driver Paul O’Neill and RPM Carrera Cup driver Steve Clark.

As usual, proceedings kicked off with a 75 minute free practice session, and almost immediately Allan Simonsen went to the top of the timing screens with a 1:23.743 on only his second lap. Six laps later, the Christians in Motorsport Ferrari parked up for the rest of the session, but the Dane’s earlier time would not be beaten.

The reason for the short session was not a problem with the car, but with the driver: “I’m not well,” began the Dane. “I must have picked up a bug on the flight over from Australia; I feel as though I’ve got no energy.” He certainly looked pale, but if that was what he could do with no energy, then his competitors must have been glad that he wasn’t on top form.

The majority of the grid started the session on old rubber, and Alex Mortimer was happy with the #6 Viper’s pace, “Brad set our quickest lap this morning, running on the same set of tyres we were using yesterday, and we were two tenths faster than the Astons until they put new rubber on.” When the championship-leading #1 Barwell DBRS9 took on that new set, Jonny Cocker immediately found a second and a half and moved up to second fastest, 0.026s behind the Ferrari.
Similarly, Michael Bentwood’s progress in the #2 Barwell DBRS9 was accelerated on new Avons, and he finished the session three tenths behind the bio-car.

In GTC, Keith Ahlers was cautiously optimistic about the Team Aero Morgan’s progress, having seen the car post a 1:27.838, four tenths behind the RSS Porsche. “We’re reasonably happy,” said the car’s owner. “We’ve got a slight concern over the engine’s operating temperature, but other than that it feels strong.”

Andrew Howard declared the GTC Beechdean Ferrari to be engine-issue free, but down on power, after the session had seen a fastest time of 1:28.847.

Tom Ferrier and Matt Harris were making progress in the Tech 9 GT3 Porsche, finishing in ninth place in the session, but with more to come. “We weren’t able to get the most out of the new tyres, because a rear wheel kept working loose,” said Ferrier. “That’s easily fixable, and there’s definitely another half a second in the car for qualifying. We’re aiming for a top six start.”

“The car’s getting better, but we haven’t had a proper test session yet; yesterday we were on very old rubber, and when we put new rubber on today we were suddenly 2.4s faster.”

George Mackintosh and Alistair MacKinnon were happy with the progress of the MackintoshPlansMotorsport Lotus Exige, and looking forward to another positive weekend. “The engine feels strong and there are no problems with the car,” began Mackintosh. “Alistair is here to help find the pace in the car.”

“There’s definitely another second in the car around here,” continued MacKinnon. “The question is whether we can find it in amongst the new set up changes we’ve made, and in the time we’ve got available.”

Life is good for Neil Cunningham at present, with the new addition to the household immediately showing some of her father’s genes; “She’s a really laid back kid,” he smiled. “She was really quiet during the birth, but the doctor said that she was just chilling!”

The Kiwi came to Croft after a successful test in the Embassy Radical at Snetterton, and declared that the Team Trimite Viper “feels good.” Cunningham was another to expect to find a further second over the course of the proceedings.

The talk of the paddock during the morning was of an SRO presentation to the teams concerning next year’s Championship that is being held on Sunday morning, and to which DSC has been invited. It is unlikely to be a boring meeting.