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British GT,
Donington – Preview The streets have cleared of playing children, silence has fallen, bars have closed and people peer out nervously from behind their curtains as the main characters make their way to the scene of the final showdown – yes, the Dustup at Donny (© Darren Cox) has arrived! Actually, the prospect of what’s in store at Donington this weekend should be bringing people out in droves; a two hour-race that promises to determine the title, but with so many possible permutations that it will probably only become clear who’s won in parc fermé. These cars and drivers are still in contention for the title: Duncan Cameron/Matt Griffin
– #21 MTECH Ferrari – 113 points In reality, the bottom two will need some pretty extraordinary results in order to win the title (and will at least have to win the race outright), but the fact is that a win for any of the other five cars will see the title going to the relevant drivers; and in each case there would be a great story to go with it. If MTECH take the title, it would be just reward for a decade of British GT competition for Griffin and testament to Cameron’s determination since his late entry into the sport; If McCaig wins, it would see another title for the historic Ecurie Ecosse name; If the Nissan takes it, Mardenborough would become the first GT Academy winner to take a title in his first full season of racing; If it’s Ashburn, he would be the first double-champion in BGT history; and if it’s #11 then it would be a title for Motorbase and Caine on their return to the series after many years away. On the other hand, if the race winner is one of the other 15 GT3s, things could well start to get very complicated, very quickly; and David Addison will no doubt have a very large mathematical table pinned to the wall of the commentary booth! Needless to say, we will not be exploring the options here. Duncan Cameron: “Motor racing has a habit of last round deciders. There are ten rounds making up the Championship but it is almost as if only one round actually counts and the nine before it don’t matter. Of course winning the title would mean the world to me but I’m putting all thoughts about that well to the back of my mind. I know that we can get the job done on Sunday and all I’m thinking about in the meantime is how I can maximize my own performance.” Matt Griffin: “I am really looking forward to the final race on Sunday. We know what caused the car to falter last time out at Silverstone and I’m confident that there won’t be a repeat. I know too that Donington Park will suit the Ferrari very well.” Jann Mardenborough: “You can never be sure how these things will play out. I know that Alex and I are capable of winning in the Nissan GT-R and it’s going to come down to who makes best use of the hand they've been given when it counts. “You have to approach a
two-hour race differently to the way you approach the one-hour sprints.
You have to manage tyre wear a lot more, like we did in the Brands Hatch
two-hour race. You can’t just go flat out for an hour at a time as the rears
just won’t take it. You have to be smart in your approach, and think of the long
game.” “Of course I’ve thought about winning this championship but I hadn’t really thought I'd be in a position to do it! We were originally only meant to do the first two rounds of the championship, just to get some data for the car so we are all very pleased we carried on; here I am fighting for a championship in my first season!” Dave Bartrum, Team Manager Motorbase: "We've got to go for maximum attack at Donington and go out with the intention of winning the race and then see what else happens. There are five cars in it and we've got nothing to lose and everything to gain. If we get the set-up right I think the Donington circuit will look after a Porsche. "Michael and Daniele are in with a good chance of the championship. They have put in a sterling effort over the last couple of rounds and took a very important podium last time out at Silverstone to get back into contention. They've pulled themselves up from 40 points down to only 10 points behind the leaders, so it is very do-able. "The team has worked very hard and it's great to be in the hunt in our first season back in British GT. It's been a brilliant championship this year with a tremendous quality in depth and whoever wins the title will be a worthy champion." So who else could win the race? Well, aside from the #32 Porsche and #24 McLaren – both looking for their third wins of the season – the threats are real and numerous. An obvious candidate is the Beechdean Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of Andrew Howard and Jonny Adam. Still smarting from the first corner assault from the Team WFR Ginetta (not racing this weekend) at Silverstone which took them out of the title chase, both drivers will be looking to end their car’s development year on a high, and they are certainly capable of achieving that. Similarly, the Cyber Racing Vantage of John Gaw and Phil Dryburgh had a steady run at Silverstone, and with some of the kinks ironed out could well feature strongly this weekend. Zak Brown returns to the BGT with his 2013 partner Alvaro Parente in the #27 McLaren MP4-12C as the two size up their competition for next season. The two will form a potent pairing in the improving car, with Parente getting in extra experience round the Leicestershire circuit in the #2 Hexis Racing McLaren in the FIA GT1 races. Happily, this weekend sees the return of Rosso Verde and The Great Dane – Allan Simonsen no doubt eager to claim his and Hector Lester’s first win for two seasons in the #3 Ferrari 458; the last time they stood atop the podium being at Donington in 2010 in the season-ending two-hour race (with David Ashburn second and Cameron/Griffin third)! A possible dark horse is the #5 Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari of John Dhillon and Aaron Scott (who has just become a dad for the second time). This car has been improving all year and could well be in amongst the front-runners. “I think that we’re in good shape ahead of the weekend and I’m feeling very confident,” said Scott. “I think that the field will be very tight during the course of the 2hr race, I’m certainly up for giving our championship counterparts a run for their money.” "We showed that we were the quickest Ferrari out there at Snetterton 300 and Brands Hatch, so there’s no reason why we can’t fight at the front at Donington. To have same day coverage on Motors TV will also make it extra special.” “We can’t wait to get into the car at Donington Park this weekend,” added Dhillon. “Having tested at Donington Park of late it has allowed us to gain some really useful track knowledge, which should give us a boost as we look to fight for our best finish of the season after a disappointing round at Silverstone.” “I’ve been working very hard to improve on certain techniques, so hopefully I can put that new found knowledge to good use in the race and have a mega finish to the season.” The GT4 title has already been decided, with Jody Fannin and Warren Hughes claiming the trophy for Team WFR at Silverstone; but even with just three cars in the class we could still see a good race, as Zoe Wenham seeks to end the season on a high in the #42 Century Motorsport Ginetta. “This weekend I would love to come away with a win,” said the youngster. “Dom and I have been there or thereabouts all season but whenever we seem to have been close to taking the class win, it's fallen from our grasp. So, a win would be the most perfect end to 2012.” Also seeking a first win are Mark Ticehurst and Owen Mildenhall in the ever-improving Jota Mazda MX5. The weather forecast is for light rain on Sunday afternoon – nothing dramatic, but in the absence of intermediate rubber in the championship possibly the worst conditions for a team manager when it comes to tyre choice. In such conditions, even the smallest mistake (and there’s an awful lot of potentially slippery grass around Donington) could be magnified into something catastrophic for the title chasers. It’s going to be very tense for the teams on Sunday, but should be extremely entertaining for onlookers. The schedule (including the FIA GT1 World Championship finalé) looks like this: Saturday 29th 09:30-10:30 GT1
Qualifying Sunday 30th 09:35-09:45 British
GT Warm-Up For the first time, the BGT will see same-day coverage of the race, with a 90-minute show airing on Motors TV at 18:00 on Sunday. This promises to be an excellent weekend of racing – come along (and bring a friend)! MH |