International GT Open, Brands Hatch – Race Reports
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Dailysportscar doesn’t often get to see the International GT Open first hand, mainly due to scheduling issues, so the series’ visit to Brands Hatch last weekend was the perfect opportunity to check it out. The DSC Ed was at the circuit on the Saturday to talk to Jesus Pareja – an interview we’ll be bringing you soon – while the Deputy Ed and former Ed were there on the Sunday to watch the racing.

Before we bring you the race reports, however, it’s worth mentioning the sheer number of positive comments to us from teams concerning the organisation of the series and the willingness of the organisers to listen to – and react to – their concerns, issues and suggestions.

Trackspeed's Ricky Marino (endorsed by David Ashburn, "I just do as he says!"):  "I've never been asked so often by a championship if we're happy; but the Spanish to English regs could be a bit clearer.

"There's a much greater chance of Trackspeed doing the GT Open next year than British GTs - an 80% chance of doing this."

Martin Short (in between races): "The organisers are very keen to equalise us on Dunlops and will be assessing how we can be supported to allow the Mosler to perform. Did you see how competitive Craig's Viper is here? It works on the Dunlops in the cold, because it's hard on its tyres. Equalisation has to be carried out on the tyres used in each series - not on one brand across several series."

It would appear that a little basic customer service can go a long way… 

Race One

The UK meeting had attracted a smaller than usual entry of 20 cars, with four of those – the Trackspeed Porsche, MTECH Ferrari, KJ&TG Viper and the Rollcentre Mosler – being local ‘guests’.

While welcomed into the series, the organisers had decided that it was only fair that their season-long entrants – i.e. the cars and teams fighting for the championships – should face as little disruption to their campaigns as possible from the newcomers (the British cars being eligible for championship points), and so the quartet were told that they would have to serve an additional 15 seconds at the driver change. To their great credit, all four teams accepted this without protest.  

Tim Mullen had taken pole for the 70-minute first race the previous afternoon in the #91 CRS Ferrari 430, by a couple of tenths from Raymond Narac in the #16 IMSA Performance Porsche RSR; but as the lights turned green and the field barrelled towards the ever-challenging Paddock Hill Bend, it was Pierre Kaffer’s #8 AF Corse Ferrari that emerged as the Ulsterman’s leading challenger.

By the end of lap two Mullen had a 1.6s lead over Kaffer, but it was becoming increasingly apparent that the second-placed Ferrari was struggling to get heat into its tyres and a four car train was already forming.

Alexander Talkanitsa Jr became the first car to sample the Brands gravel on lap three when he had a long, slow trip through the immense trap on Paddock Hill, dropping to the rear of the field in the process; while further back (soon to become just ahead) Craig Wilkins was beginning to make progress in his GTS-class Viper, at the expense of Peter Bamford’s RPM Ford GT.

Narac was too anxious to retake third on lap four and ran wide at Stirling’s. This dropped him to fifth behind Philipp Peter’s #11 Kessel Ferrari, but it was clear that the Porsche was quick and the Frenchman soon gained a place with a move at Druids. 

Jean Philippe Dayraut was leading GTS in the #72 Ferrari from Marco Frezza’s #66 Kessel Scuderia and in the early stages of the race both of these cars were causing the #12 SGT Villois Aston of Max Wiser a lot of grief. The #52 GTS Villois Aston was third, but the #53 car hadn’t even made it to the end of the formation lap; Gianandrea Crespi pulling off the circuit with a mechanical problem.

By lap nine Narac had caught and passed the #9 Edil Cris Ferrari of Raffaele Giammaria for third and was closing in on Kaffer, who had himself narrowed the gap to Mullen to less than a second.

Elsewhere on the track, the Rollcentre Mosler was heading for the pits after contact with the #90 CRS Ferrari of Klaas Hummel.

"We're running wider rubber than I would have chosen, and the Mosler is so light on its tyres, in the cold temperatures here we can't get any heat into them,” said Martin Short later. “But these tyres would be great in the heat of Jerez.

"So anyway, approaching Stirling’s, I moved over to let Craig Wilkins and Klaus Hummel, in the CRS Ferrari, through. I stayed wide, leaving the apex for Hummel to pass me - and he hit me, breaking the rear upright. But we changed it so that Steve (Quick) could get the signature on his licence.

"I went off to give Hummel a piece of my mind - but he apologised profusely. He hadn't realised what I was doing, and he lost the back end and hit me.

"He asked what he could do to say sorry, and tongue in cheek I suggested he could buy me a new upright, at £1,500. To my amazement, he instructed one of his team to go and find a cash machine and get out £2,500 (!) for me! I was staggered - what a gentleman - no one has ever offered to pay for repairs in 24 years of racing. Klaus and I are going to sort it out by BACS transfer this week.”

But a much more significant collision was about to take place further up in the field.

Thomas Gruber had fought his way up to third in GTS (from sixth) in the #65 Autorlando Porsche and was actually challenging his SGT teammate, Gianluca Roda, for track position. As the two cars approached Paddock Hill Bend on lap 11, however, Gruber launched a woefully misjudged passing attempt that resulted in the #2 RSR being shunted forcibly into the gravel trap and out of the race; in the process also putting a big dent into Roda’s and Richard Lietz’ title hopes.

Unconcerned by this turn of events, Kaffer was making full use of his now fully-working tyres and on lap 12 tried to take the lead from Mullen at Clearways. The Ferrari slammed the door shut and the AF Corse 430 lost momentum, falling into the clutches of Narac. There was no opportunity for the Porsche to pass, but the leading three cars closed right up and just a quarter of a second covered them across the line. At Paddock Hill Bend, however, Mullen seemed to slow and both his pursuers went by – there was a suspicion that they had passed under yellow, but no penalty was forthcoming.

The CRS car was clearly in trouble and would lose two more places at the same corner four laps later; and then would be tapped into a spin by the #12 Aston at Graham Hill Bend.

A slow puncture was suspected, but Mullen stayed out.

The fight for the lead was getting ever closer, with Narac all over Kaffer. The Swiss driver was using all his skill to stay ahead, but it was clear that the Porsche was the quicker car. On lap 18 the gap across the line was just 0.082s, but still Kaffer prevailed.

But any further passing attempts would have to be put on ice, as the safety car was out on track. The #66 Ferrari had burst into flames out on track, causing Frezza to make a rapid, but successful, exit from the burning car.

With 40 minutes of the race remaining, and 20 laps having been completed, Mullen pitted to change the tyre. No puncture was found, but it was heavily grained. The Ferrari resumed, and was followed down the pitlane by the Mosler, now ten laps down and with Steve Quick behind the wheel for his race debut.

On lap 21, the timing screens indicated that the safety car would be in at the end of the lap, but events dictated that it would be staying out a while longer yet. First, Massimiliano Busnelli performed a bizarre manoeuvre - pulling the #52 Aston off the track at Surtees, executing a slow loop, and then driving across the track straight into the gravel trap – but then, much more significantly, the cameras showed Narac’s Porsche limping back to the pits with heavy front-end damage.

The damage could only have come from his running into the back of Kaffer’s Ferrari, but his wordless dismissal of DSC’s later attempts to elicit an explanation suggested strongly that this had been entirely his own work. The radiator was clearly badly damaged and the Porsche’s race was run.

The safety car did eventually pit at the end of lap 23, by which time the #74 Trackspeed Porsche and the #75 Viper had both completed their driver changes.

But the drama was not yet complete. Gruber spun his Porsche at the restart and a following Tim Mullen was left with nowhere to go; the CRS Ferrari being forced into retirement as a result of the damage suffered. "On the restart, Gruber spun at Clearways: he floored it and lost it,” said Mullen. “I tried to go round him but he then swung across me. But the series is brilliant, the races usually go down to the last lap."

Having defended his lead from Narac for so long, Kaffer found himself unable to fend off Giammaria’s challenge at the restart and the lead changed hands at Graham Hill Bend on the first green flag lap. A lap later, Peter took second from Kaffer at Druids.

The pit window had opened officially shortly after the safety car pitted – thus spelling trouble for the two cars that had already changed drivers – and Stéphane Ortelli took over the leading GTS car from Dayraut. Kaffer pitted from third two minutes later, with the leader stopping one lap later.

Philipp Peter was the last to stop, handing over the #11 to Michal Broniszewski with 21 minutes remaining. With all stops completed, the order was 74, 75, 12, 11, 9, 65, 51, 77, 62, 7, 8, 72 and 76.     

Roland Asch led the race by almost 40 seconds in the Trackspeed Porsche from Aaron Scott’s Viper, but both had pitted under the safety car and it was a case of waiting to see what penalty would be applied. Lucas Guerrero, meanwhile, now found himself leading as a result of the time penalties for other leading cars, and was rapidly closing on Scott in the #12 Villois Vantage.

Elsewhere in GTS the closing up of the field had cost the Dayraut Ferrari dear, with its time penalty dropping Ortelli to the rear of the class. Dimitris Deverikos in the #65 Porsche was third, just ahead of Stefano Livio in the #51 Kessel Ferrari, with Matt Griffin closing quickly in the #77 MTECH Scuderia, having taken over from Duncan Cameron.

But the indiscretions of Deverikos’ teammate would cost him dear, as the Porsche was assessed a drive-through penalty for one of its previous incidents. The Greek driver took the penalty on lap 34 and dropped down the field. Soon after, Griffin took third from Livio and was sixth overall.

With ten minutes to go, the message came through that the Team Managers of cars 74 and 75 had been summoned to race control and it was now a case of waiting for a penalty to be applied; so while Asch still led, the assumption was that the real leader of the race was Guerrero in the Aston, while GTS was led by Griffin in the Ferrari.

But both ‘leaders’ seemed to be in trouble. The engine note on the Aston was sounding very agricultural and the car’s undertray was visibly flapping. The Vantage’s laptimes started to increase and Broniszewski began to close. Livio and Alex Mortimer (in the RPM Ford), meanwhile, had closed back up on the rear of Griffin’s Ferrari and it was three-way fight for the lead.

Livio was really pushing Griffin, but on lap 40 pushed too hard and spun off the track unaided on the run down from Druid’s and dropped behind Mortimer. This left the black and yellow Ford a clear run at the red Ferrari, but the Irish driver continued to resist.

As the race approached its final couple of minutes, the news came through that 74 and 75 would be penalised a lap for their premature driver changes – an appropriate penalty in the circumstances - and when Asch approached the line after the hour was up the chequered flag was not waved. Instead, it was Lucas Guerrero who was the first to see it in motion, much to his and the Villois team’s delight.

But it was a close-run thing, with Broniszewski less than two seconds behind the Vantage – which stopped almost immediately – at the end.

“I’m absolutely delighted to take Villois Racing’s first win,” said Guerrero. “I don’t know what the problem was at the end, but we think it was the front splitter that was the problem.”

“The car was just brilliant,” said Philipp Peter of his Kessel Racing 430 GT2. “It wasn’t too good for qualifying, but we knew we had a good set up for the race.”

“It’s my first time here and I’m really happy with the result,” added his Polish teammate.

Enrico Toccacelo claimed third for Edil Cris, while Matt Griffin held off Alex Mortimer by just 0.226s to take the GTS win. “We had a slow puncture right after I took the lead,” said Griffin. “Thankfully, the tyre held out long enough and we’re over the moon with the win.”

Ortelli drove a great recovery drive in the #72 Ferrari to take third and keep Dayraut’s title hopes on track.

The Trackspeed Porsche was classified fourth in class and the Viper seventh. Malcolm Cracknell was in the Trackspeed garage towards the end of the race:

David Ashburn (with five minutes to go and the Trackspeed Porsche leading overall by 40+ seconds and growing): "I don't mind if we get a penalty - Ricky is arguing our case now. He called me in when the SC board said SC IN - but two seconds after I entered pitlane, they changed the board because of another incident on the track. "

(With one lap to go and having just learned that they have a one lap penalty): "Shame, shame, shame. That would have been a funny win."

Craig Wilkins: "As far as we knew there isn't a rule saying you can't make a pit stop under the safety car - but apparently there is!"

Steve Quick was the last of the classified finishers in the Mosler, having gained much useful experience in the big car.

Race Two

The 50-minute second race, unusually held on the same day as the first, began less than two and a half hours after the previous one had ended, meaning that repair time was very limited and that several teams would have to forego lunch. Just 18 cars made the grid – the #52 Aston was nowhere to be seen, but frantic efforts were underway in the Kessel garage to get the fire-damaged #66 into the race.

Despite the engine burbling away on the Ferrari, it remained in the pits as the formation lap began and was still in the garage when the lights went green for the second time.

Unfortunately, we were only to see one racing lap before the safety car was leading the race. Patrick Pilet had hung on to his pole position at the start, but a first lap melee at Druids had left two cars in the gravel and out of the race; "I made up about five places at the start, but a Porsche hit a Ferrari, broke a radiator, and although I braked all right on the liquid, Broniszewski, behind me in #11 didn't and knocked me off the track - at 45 degrees so I was beached in the gravel at Druids," explained Chris Niarchos.  

The Porsche in question was the #65 that had caused so much chaos in race one, and it was perhaps Karma that it should end its second race so early.

The intervention of the safety car spurred the Kessel team on to finish the job on the #66 and there was great applause from around the garage when Pedro Couceiro drove the car – complete with melted engine cover – out on the third lap. The Ferrari was back in a lap later with a wisp of smoke emanating from the engine, but the application of a piece of white tape appeared to be all that was required and Couceiro rejoined.

In the interim, Ortelli’s #72 Ferrari had ground to a halt out on track and was out of the race.

The timing screen showed that the safety car would be in at the end of lap five, but once again circumstances forced it to stay out; it being Couceiro’s turn to rapidly vacate the once-again burning #66. Thankfully, he had the presence of mind to turn the steering wheel to ensure that the car rolled back on to the grass and not the track, but damage was extensive.

The caution period eventually ended on lap eight, with 16 minutes having elapsed, and already we were down to 15 cars. Pilet put his foot down and was almost two seconds ahead of Alvaro Barba a lap later.

As the IMSA Porsche pulled away, Richard Lietz was fighting for fourth in the Autorlando RSR with Toccacelo’s Ferrari.

The pit-window was soon open and Broniszewski was the first to stop, closely followed by Talkanitsa Snr.

As the stops continued, we had a ‘British GT’ 1,2,3 in GTS, with Asch leading Griffin and Mortimer. The German was the first of these three to stop on lap 14.

The fight for second overall was a close one, with Guerrero less than two tenths behind Barba as the pitstops approached. Both the Ferrari and the Aston pitted together, and it was Pierre Kaffer who emerged first.

Pilet pitted from the lead at the end of lap 16, with the remaining stoppers all pitting on the same lap. When the fog cleared, the order was 16, 8, 9, 2, 12, 90, 74, 11, 51, 7, 62, 75, 77, 53 and 76. Once again, the pitstop penalties had done their job and shaken up the order.

Narac led overall from Kaffer and Giammaria, while in GTS a (rare in 2010) spin from David Ashburn saw Lorenzo Bontempelli take the #51 Kessel Ferrari into the lead. Peter Bamford was third in the RPM Ford, but he soon had Craig Wilkins’ Viper for company.

Klaas Hummel was going well in the #90 CRS Ferrari on his 50th birthday, but was unable to prevent Peter and Bontempelli going past on lap 21. He would go on to finish in ninth place, however; his best result of the season so far.

The Ford/Viper battle continued for several laps, but sadly ended in tears when a collision led to the retirement of the silver car on lap 24 and also delayed the Ford long enough to allow Duncan Cameron to take third in class in the MTECH Ferrari; the #77 having had to serve an extra 15 seconds at the stop after its race one win.

Max Wiser was similarly fighting back from his time penalty in the #12 Aston and was alongside Giammaria at the end of lap 27. This battle ended when the Italian ran wide two laps later and dropped behind the Villois car.

And that was about it; the race saw out its final few minutes without further incident, with Narac completing a straightforward lights-to-flag victory for IMSA Performance. Kaffer came home third, a tad under four seconds later, while Wiser took his second podium of the weekend.

Bontempelli’s victory in GTS enjoyed a much more comfortable margin, with Ashburn also finishing some way ahead of Cameron to take second.

The second race was something of an anticlimax after the first, but the meeting as a whole was a great success and we hope the series visits these shores again in 2011.

MH/MC