Sunday 20th June 2004

British GT Race 1

Chaos at Castle Combe!

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I've struggled to get into the GT series this year. There's been a good variety of cars but all the weight penalties, restrictors and time penalties depending how double barrelled your name left me a bit cynical.  Enjoying all racing is about putting some effort in and I just haven't managed to pay enough attention this year to really care what's going one!

Luckily the events at Castle Combe this weekend have put lead in my pencil again and Saturday's race in particular was one of the finest I've ever seen.

The various weight penalties and restrictions have probably settled in now to a point where the racing has been equalised. Porsches may race Marcoses, VX220s and Elises but they've all be handicapped to a point where the racing is incredibly close. A bit strange in one sense but dramatic to watch.

The drama began on Saturday with the field thundering around Castle Combe up to the traffic lights for the start. The pace car peeled off and the cars convoyed through Camp corner waiting for the green light. Various theories abound about why the green light wasn't there but the end result was chaos!

The back of the grid lunged forward assuming racing had begun whilst the front held station. Luckily no one crashed but heading up towards Quarry it wasn't clear if racing had begun yet. Two cars roared off, the rest ditherered for another few hundred yards and then decided they'd better nail it too!

More confusion was to follow later when the Ferrari of Kinch/Kirkaldy hit the tyre wall. A safety car came hurtling onto the track just in front of a superb battle for second place. The safety car was almost rear ended by the Xero Corvette and a 911 stamping on their brakes as they battled side by side. Mike Jordan had passed just before the safety car went out and eventually caught the convoy at the back.

Before restarting all the cars had to be waved past the safety car except Jordan. They would then line up behind him in rolling formation and then the race would restart. Confused by a mixture of flags some cars overtook and were subsequently penalised.

The race restarted and several superb battles ensued. Jordan led, pursued by Cole and the Jones Porsche. Ricky  Cole eventually managed to pass Jordan but the fight wasn't over. With pit stops completed the battle continued with Mark Sugden in the Porsche right on Peter Le Bas' tail for the remained of the race. Then on the penultimate lap, a battle in GT Cup spilled in front of Le Bas sending him on a detour on the grass as a Cup class 911 careered sideways across the track. Sugden jumped at the chance to pass and stole the lead in the dying minutes. Le Bas then put in the fastest lap of the race trying to regain position but couldn't quite manage it. It ended an hour of very exciting head to head racing.

In Cup class a tight battle was fought between the Marcos, the VX220 and the Porsches - again all very close stuff right up until the end. The Kershaw/Whight Elise maintained station at the front but was followed home in second place by the Team Tiger Marcos and the VX220 in a well deserved third place.

All in all it had developed into a controversial, confusing and very exciting hour of motorsport!

N-GT

1 Sugden/Cocker Porsche 911GT3-RSR 47 laps in 1h01m02.583s

2 Cole/Le Bas Corvette C5R 1h01m03.628s

3 Jordan/Sumpter Porsche 911GT3-RS 1h01m21.848s

4 Stanton/Pearce Mosler MT900R 1h01m30.239s

5 Niarchos/Mullen Ferrari 360 Modena 1h01m49.350s

6 Brady/Bonner Ultima GTR 1h02m13.740s

Dailysportscar.com Cup Class

1 Kershaw/Whight Lotus Sport Elise 46 laps

2 Beighton/Finnemore Marcos Mantis 45 laps

3 Eagling/Blower Vauxhall VX220 45 laps

4 Ahlers/Scott Morgan Aero 8 45 laps

5 Broster/Brown Porsche 911GT3-Cup 45 laps

6 Wilcox/Amorim Ferrari 360 Modena 45 laps

[godmother]

Who could ask for more? We were treated to an exciting line up with loads of drama. There was indeed controversey regarding lights/flags etc. but that didn't detract from what was a superb hour of entertainment. Delighted for Xero who were given the opportunity to really show their teeth. Thrills and spills all round - excellent!

[zebedee]

Not quite correct - Sumpter was no match for Le Bas and Sugden in the second half of the race and drifted out of contention.

A cracking race though all in all.

[PetrolTed]

Ooops. That's my fault. I've got a mental block with Sumpter/Sugden and keep getting their names mixed up!

[DustyC]

When I saw the Xero car through the zoom lense I thought they had lost their third driver this season.

Whilst in the paddock I took a peek in the car and was relieved to see the thrid team member safely straped to the centre consoul

edited: e-or, e-or, e-or ways says that!

>> Edited by DustyC on Monday 21st June 13:49

[V8 Archie]

I'm a little confused at the confusion. I was told in February that the Castle Combe lights were to be reds/out rather than reds/green for the season. Perhaps they've got so used to it that nobody remembered to tell the drivers. Or perhaps the drivers weren't listening .

[zebedee]

ah see where you were coming from now! You just need to change "Mark Sugden" to "Tim Sugden" now Ted!