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Matt Griffin’s debut appearance in the Porsche
Carrera Cup GB races was thwarted when his clutch broke after seven laps of the
final round of the series at Thruxton on Sunday. The Team RPM British GT driver
was chasing third place in the day’s second race when his clutch went
leaving the Cork-born racer struggling to change gear.
“It was such a struggle trying to change
gear,” he stated. “I had to completely change my driving style and
it took a while to get that sorted and then just as I’d managed to find a
way round the problem, I ran off onto the grass and damaged the splitter and
then the back of the car got damaged and it ended up working like a
parachute!”
“It was fun though, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole
experience and I’d like to say a massive thank you to Peter Bamford and
Robin Mortimer for putting the deal together.”
Taking to the track for the first time in Saturday’s
30 minute qualifying session, Cambridge-domiciled Griffin adapted well to the
new car and new Michelin tyres to post the eighth quickest time ahead of race
one. “Qualifying was the first time I even got to sit in the car so I
was quite happy to post a respectable time straight off. The tyres are
fantastic, they’re very forgiving although you need to really push hard
to get the most out them. But once you’ve done that, you can really push
on and they let you get away with all sorts!”
Come race one, the 2003 British GT Cup Champion, making
his first standing start since 2002, was able to get off the line cleanly
gaining a place off the line. By lap seven he’d moved into sixth ahead of
Nigel Rice and four laps later passed Jonny Kane for fifth which he held to the
flag. “Race one was good, finishing fifth meant I would start fifth for
race two and I was confident of being able to take a podium, which I’d
have been very happy with. The car was great to drive, I love the Porsche
anyway and around Thruxton it was just such a great experience.”
Another good getaway at the start of race two looked set
to make the podium dream a reality, but before the cars even entered the first
corner, the clutch slipped costing Matt valuable seconds and losing him several
places. A storming charge though saw him soon make his was through the field,
up into fourth and pushing third placed and eventual champion James Sutton.
However his charge came to nothing on lap seven when the
clutch eventually let go dropping Matt down the order, although he held on
gamely to cross the line sixth. There was some consolation in twice posting
the race’s fourth quickest lap.
“I really thought I had a good chance of a podium
finish in the second race. I’d managed to get up onto the tail of James
Sutton and was looking to make a move to pass him when the clutch just went
flat to the floor. I think I could have got him, he only needed to finish
fourth to clinch the title so I don’t think he’d have made it
difficult to keep me behind and I was very obviously quicker than him up to
that point as I’d closed the gap.”
Despite his problem in race two, Matt was delighted with
the experience of racing again on the TOCA package, his first time since racing
in Formula Renault four years ago, and would relish a return to the Porsche
Carrera Cup GB in the future. “It really was a great experience. The
car is good, the driving standards were very high and the racing was hard, but
very clean. The whole atmosphere in the paddock is fantastic and to be racing
in front of 40,000 people is a real joy and adds to the whole excitement of the
event.”
Matt will be soon be announcing his exciting plans for
racing International GT’s in 2008, but has not ruled out the option of
driving more races in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB next season.
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