GT Cup, Snetterton – Race 2 Full Report
Ruhan Takes A Thriller

In Sunday’s second GT Cup race, grid order was determined by the second-quickest time set by each driver in Saturday’s qualifying session. This placed Gary Eastwood on pole, with David Tomlin alongside; the two creating an all-Ferrari front row.

Race 1 winner Andy Ruhan took up his position on the second row with Peter Bamford, while  Leon Price (back on track after coming to grief on lap one of the day’s first race) sat on row three beside Tom Andrew, pole-setting in Group 2. Andy Yool would also take the start from his rightful position this time, Group 3 pole on row 4.

The crowds were due another gripping 25-minute sprint around the 2.97 mile Snetterton track, now complete with public viewing embankments and new infield section between the Montreal Hairpin and Bentley Straight. Conditions were, if anything, even better than Race 1 as the pace car set off at just after five, although the drivers were complaining about the high cockpit temperatures on what proved to be one of the hottest days of the year so far.

After the first corner clash in Race 1, you might have expected a circumspect rolling start to the second, and Gary Eastwood held back until the very last moment before releasing the pack. While he’d controlled the pace to perfection, he’d drifted slightly wide, and opened up a barn door between himself and David Tomlin. It was an invitation Andy Ruhan couldn’t resist and, as they neared the line, he moved across towards the middle and then floored the pedal in the Porsche.

The #6 leaped forwards and, carrying good pace across the line, Ruhan snuck through into the lead as the trio ran almost three-abreast through Riches. Thundering down towards the first hairpin, he was already clear. “I was surprised to get through,” he admitted. “There’s probably red paint down one side of the car, and black paint down the other!” David Tomlin had to admire the move; “Andy was very brave at the start,” he said. “He timed his run well, but I could see it was potential carnage if anything went wrong, so I played safe and let him through.”

Eastwood came back at Ruhan into Agostini corner, with Tomlin a close third, then Bamford fourth, and Andrews fifth. They snaked their way through the next series of bends and then swept out onto Bentley Straight, where Ruhan eased out a narrow lead.

By the time they completed the opening lap Ruhan and Eastwood had already pulled out several lengths on Tomlin, leaving Bamford hanging tight onto Tomlin’s Ferrari, but with clear air back to Andrew. The leading group negotiated the final chicane and hared off to begin the next lap. Behind them, all was not running so smoothly.

Braking heavily out of the long sweeping right-hander at Coram, down the gears into Murrays, Andy Yool’s Chevron appeared to clip the kerbs as he and Dougall jostled through the narrows. Behind them, Michael Symonds braked heavily, and team-mate Mark Radcliffe ploughed into the back of the first orange BMW. “I just caught the rumble strip on the outside, and spun off,” said a disappointed Yool, who recovered the track, but well down the order. Symonds pressed on too, despite various sections of rear bodywork missing from the #31 BMW, but Mark Radcliffe wasn’t so fortunate and he’d not complete the lap.

The Group 2 leader, Andrew in the Morgan, was well clear of the trouble, and had Leon Price between him and second-placed Colin Broster. That battle would move a step closer next lap around as Price took Andrew, and Broster closed on the Morgan. The Group 3 lead had been handed to Adam Hayes by Yool’s departure, and he was 1.5 seconds clear of Barclay Dougall – ruffled by the contretemps with Yool, but still in contention.

By the end of Lap 3, the two leaders were streets clear of Tomlin in third. “I just kept slipping further behind,” he said. “I was carrying the extra 40 kilos of ballast this time, and I simply couldn’t keep up with them.” For a time, Andrew reclaimed some of the ground lost to Price, and both these two narrowed the gap to Bamford in fourth. Symonds, caught up in the first lap incident, was back up to speed, but running last.

Three laps in and the leaders already had five seconds over Tomlin, who had another two on Bamford. Having been caught on the hop by Ruhan’s opening gambit, Eastwood was not giving up, and had actually started to close on the leader as they ran through to begin lap four.

Leon Price had also closed onto the rear bumper of Peter Bamford and, as they headed down Senna Straight towards Riches for the fifth time, he set himself up for a move along the inside. There was just two-tenths between them as they crossed the line, and even less as they entered the corner, but at the last moment Price braked hard and ducked out, leaving Bamford to regain the racing line and hold fourth for another lap.

Andy Ruhan, carrying the extra 60 kilos of success ballast from his earlier win, was starting to struggle under the increasing pressure from Eastwood. “I had the benefit of a new set of tyres this time – no repeat of the problems from this morning,” said Eastwood. “I could keep pushing hard, and with all the extra weight he was carrying, I felt sure his tyres would start to suffer before too long.” 

A few seconds back down the road, David Tomlin was putting down a personal best lap to move away marginally from Bamford, gaining a 2.1 second advantage as they completed the fifth lap.

Just behind them, Tom Andrew was coming under considerable pressure from Colin Broster’s yellow Porsche for sixth overall and the Group 2 lead, and Barclay Dougall was only just holding on to the Group 3 lead, with a mere half a second over Adam Hayes. Paul Winter in the #90 (taking over the car from Race 1 winner Peter Morris) held third in Group 2, but from a fairly distant eighth overall.

Six laps gone and the race had reached roughly half distance. Although there was no change for the lead, Ruhan’s advantage had shrunk to just one second.

Tomlin was running a solitary third, 7.6 seconds behind Eastwood, but 1.6 seconds clear of Bamford. The closest battle raged between Dougall, leading Group 3, and Adam Hayes in the #9 BMW, smoke billowing from the rear of the orange car, especially under braking. Judging by the way he continued to harry the rear of Dougall’s white BMW, he seemed totally unconcerned. Another BMW on the move was Symonds’ #31, working through the tail-end as he recovered from his first-lap tangle at Murrays.

Although Broster had moved closer towards Andrew, there was a lengthening gap developing back to Paul Winter in eighth.

 The duel for the Group 3 lead just behind them had suddenly intensified as Hayes briefly moved ahead of Dougall along Bentley Straight, only for the Scot to regain the place once again through Nelson and out round the Bombhole. These two would remain almost inseparable for the rest of the race.

As the race moved on into its ninth lap, it was noticeable just how much closer Eastwood was to race-leader Andy Ruhan, and the gap has closed to just 0.8 seconds. Ruhan still looked to have the situation under control, but for how much longer? Not so David Tomlin. He’d been ten seconds behind Eastwood when he and Bamford came into the sweeping left-hander at Hamilton, nose to tail, but then it became closer still – too close. “He just clipped my back bumper, and maybe caught the wheel, I don’t know,” said Tomlin, “but it just spun me round.” The red Ferrari was sent wide across the grass, allowing both Bamford and Price to sail through, before regaining the track just before Oggies. “I can’t complain,” shrugged Tomlin. “I still ended up having a reasonable weekend, and I was in there with the mix all the way.”

Out front, Eastwood continued to nibble away at Ruhan’s lead – a tenth here, a tenth there – but the gap back to Bamford, now third, and then Price in fourth, was around 15 seconds. Andrew; leading Group 2 from fifth overall, was only narrowly ahead of Tomlin, who’d rejoined between the Morgan’s and its nearest challenger, Broster’s Porsche. His presence there eased the pressure on Andrew, for the time being at least, but there was no such luxury for Barclay Dougall, who still lead Group 3 by the narrowest of margins over Adam Hayes. The gap was less than half a second.

Andy Ruhan would have been counting down the minutes, willing the race to end, and when he started Lap 10 he must have been aware of the chance that this might be his last lap, or perhaps the penultimate in the 25 minute race. There was nothing between them as he and Eastwood crossed the line. Behind them, Tomlin had moved clear of Broster and was starting to close on the group-leading Morgan of Tom Andrew.

Rounding Riches, Ruhan must have sensed that something wasn’t quite right, and as he swept along towards the Montreal Hairpin, the handling of the Porsche confirmed that he’d sustained a puncture. Eastwood swept through into the lead, but he hadn’t gone much further before he spotted the first of the red flags.

It was 17:25, and just four minutes remained on the clock. Way behind them in the race, but somewhere ahead on track, Paul Winter in the #90 Porsche and Francis Galashan in the #57 had been contesting eighth when they clashed.

Both went off at Palmer Corner, sustaining serious damage. The #90 appeared to lose both front wheels, and the #57 wasn’t much better off.

With so much of the race completed, it was declared a result, but the count-back would see the finish determined by the order at the end of lap nine. Ruhan would, after all, get his second win of the day, with Eastwood second and Bamford third. In Group 2, Andrew held on this time to his race-long lead to win from Broster, with Sean Winder third. Dougall took the Group 3 win, narrowly fending off Hayes after several laps of tooth and claw, and then Andy Yool picked up third.

The unexpected finish gave a second win of the day for both Andy Ruhan and Barclay Dougall, and a second third-place podium to Peter Bamford. Ruhan’s win was his fifth of the year, and extended his lead in the championship.

“That was a great race!” said a glowing Andy Ruhan. “Gary kept me honest all the way, and I had to drag everything I could out of the car this time just to keep ahead of him. I’m really pleased with another win, and that one especially. I wasn’t expecting to make such a good start, but they left me just enough of a gap when the lights went out, and I was in the right place to go through the middle. After that, Gary was pushing, pushing, pushing, all the time. With the extra ballast, the tyres were degrading rapidly, and after another few minutes he’d have had me, even without the puncture, that’s certain. I wasn’t aware of the red flag at the time Gary passed me, so when he went by I thought it was race over, but on the count-back, I took the win. I’m delighted with that, and very happy to have had such a fabulous weekend.”

“That was a fantastic race,” grinned Gary Eastwood. “I thought I’d get him in the end. I just kept on pushing him, and I knew that, with the extra 60 kilos of ballast, his tyres would go off before mine. I was closing, and I could see he was struggling, and then he got a puncture. I passed him on the last lap, but he held the win on the roll-back. Andy coped really well with that ballast, and all credit where it’s due, he drove a great race, and I enjoyed every minute. It would be nice to take the win next time, perhaps, but the way things are going I think I may need a helping hand from lady luck.”

“I was watching my mirrors, and just managing the gap back to Adam,” said Barclay Dougall. “I was sure his brakes and tyres were going off, and while I was in a similar situation, and couldn’t push too hard either, I was confident I could hold him off to the finish. I enjoyed the first race more than this one. This was just a case of seeing who could endure the longest.”

Sean Winder “took third place by default, but I’m happy to take it just the same!”

The GT Cup returns to Brands Hatch for the next round, on July 17th, when they’ll be racing the Indy circuit, and the all-important ballast will be determined by the results from this race at Snetterton.

Marcus Potts