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Tom Ferrier and
Oliver Morley took the first ever win in British GT for a Lamborghini with a 0.9
second victory over the CR Scuderia Ferrari of Michael Meadows and James
Sutton. The CiM Ferrari of Allan Simonsen and Hector Lester looked to be
heading for an easy win but the team were handed a 20 second stop-go penalty
after Simonsen missed the pitstop window. Matt Nicoll-Jones and Stewart Linn
won the GT4 Class in their IMS Motorsport Ginetta G50.
The start of the
second race of the 2008 Avon Tyres British GT Championship was a frantic affair
as Allan Simonsen led the pack across the line to begin the 60-minute race.
Behind him Tom Ferrier had Richard Williams in the Trackspeed Porsche
challenging him before they even reached the first corner. Ferrier defended and
Williams had to back off while behind them Michael Bentwood (#42 Aston Martin)
spun after contact with one of the Vipers, the Manchurian driver managing to
keep the car pointing in the right direction and he was soon back in the
race.
Simonsen was over a
second ahead at the end of the opening lap and this increased to over two
seconds as Ferrier, Williams and Adam Wilcox in the VRS Motor Finance Ferrari
squabbled over 2nd place. They were soon joined by the Chad
Peninsula Racing Ferrari of Matt Griffin. Further back the CR Scuderia Ferrari
of Luke Hines (#16 CRS) was an early casualty after a spin at
Knickerbrook.
In GT4 the Ginetta
G50 of Fulvio Mucci (#52 Team RPM) was leading the class but was under immense
pressure from Stewart Linn in the IMS Motorsport Ginetta. On lap 6 the two cars
were side by side into Old Hall and then at the next few corners it looked like
the two cars were going to swap paint but they never did. This battle continued
for the next three laps and they were joined by Joe Osborne in the #51 Team RPM
Ginetta.
Meanwhile at the
front Allan Simonsen continued his domination of the race, opening up a six
second lead by lap 10 as Ferrier and Williams continued to battle for
2ndth place and set
off after James Sutton in the #14 CRS Ferrari. place. Further back Paul O’Neill (#1 Team RPM) passed the CRS
Ferrari of Michael Cullen out of Lodge to move into 6
As the pit window
opened some of the backmarkers came in to change drivers but the leaders all
stayed out as they tried to build as much of a cushion for their co drivers to
finish the race. As the pit window came to a close Tom Ferrier dived into the
pits to hand the Lamborghini over to Oliver Morley but, to the amazement of the
entire pitlane Allan Simonsen stayed out and wouldn’t be able to do another lap
before the pit window closed. The Dane came in on the next lap but it was too
late by about 20-seconds. He handed over to Hector Lester, the Ulsterman
getting back out in the lead but a 20 second stop go penalty was handed down
from race control and Lester had to come in again on the next lap, costing the
team their first win of the season.
Morley was now in the
lead, with David Ashburn in the Trackspeed Porsche right behind. However on lap
28 the Porsche spun at the bottom of Cascades and Ashburn parked the car on the
side of the track. This put Michael Meadows in the #14 CRS Ferrari into second
place, 7 seconds down the road, but the former British F3 racer set off after
the Lamborghini and three laps later he had Morley in his sights. However Guy
Harrington in the lapped Chad Racing Ferrari was sat behind Morley trying to
unlap himself and was effectively a barrier to Meadows attacking Morley for the
lead.
The chequered flag
approached and Meadows was unable to find a way around Harrington and at the
flag it was Morley from Meadows, with Steve Clark in the #1 Team RPM Viper in
3rd, ahead of Paddy Shovlin in the #15 CRS Ferrari. 4th
place for Michael Cullen and Paddy Shovlin was enough to give them the
championship lead going into round 3 at Knockhill and give CRS the lead in the
team championship.
Matt Nicoll-Jones
brought the IMS Motorsport Ginetta home a lap ahead of Charlie Hollings in the
#52 Team RPM Viper and Andrew Howard in the #99 Beechdean Motorsport Aston
Martin after a storming drive by Howard’s teammate Jamie Smyth in the early part
of the race.
Rounds 3 & 4 will
take place at Knockhill in Scotland on 12 and 13 April respectively. TV
highlights will be shown on Channel 4 and Motors TV, with a full TV schedule
available here.
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