Britcar Round-up
Victories for Tim Gray in the VR Motorsport Praga T1 and John Seale and Marcus Clutton in the JMH Automotive Lamborghini
Race 1
Starting from pole, the Lamborghini Huracan of John Seale and Marcus Clutton didn't make the most of that on the rolling start, instead it was the Praga of Gray that was off and away. The lead was short lived as further behind contact was made between the Maximum Motorsport SEAT and Team ABBA BMW as they exited Club corner which ended with the retirement of the BMW as one of the wheels was ripped off.
The Safety Car was immediately dispatched so the marshals could clear the stricken BMW and this gave the prime opportunity for the sole drivers to make their mandatory pit stop.
Once the incident had been cleared up, the Praga was off again. Behind was Ross Wylie in the Ferrari, who was pulling away from Lucky Kehra and his McLaren 650s, who in turn was just ahead of Seale's Lamborghini. Completing the top 10 were Paul Rose in his Saker, Wayne Marrs and his Ferrari, Ben Sharich's Taranis, the Porsche of Marcus Jewell and the ING Sport BMW Z4 of Kevin Clarke. Certainly a rich array of differing machines.
The Lamborghini of Seale was the first to stop and make his pitstop, handing driving duties over to pro-driver Marcus Clutton so he could maximise the amount of time behind the wheel. On the half hour mark, leader Gray stopped in his Praga. This handed the lead of the race to the JPR Motorsport Saker of Paul Rose.
Once all the stops had taken place and Gray was back out in front. This time it wasn't all plain sailing as he was fighting off the challenge of Clutton in the Lamborghini. Clutton was putting in fastest lap after fastest lap in the pursuit of the Praga. The gap between the top two was back and forth due to both of them lapping the slower cars.
At the flag it finished with Gray taking his first Britcar win by only 1.853 seconds ahead of the fast charging Lamborghini of Clutton. Third was the MacG Racing Taranis of Jonny MacGregor.
In Class 2 it was an all Ferrari top 3 with Wayne Marrs and Charlie Hollings coming out on top in their JMH Automotive Ferrari 488. Returning to the championship Paul Bailey and Andy Schultz claimed second while stalwarts David Mason and Ross Wylie completed the Class 2 podium.
Class 3 was all Porsche with Adam Knight and Adam Hatfield in their Valluga Racing 911 claiming top honours. The Track-Group 997 of Marcus Jewell and Lewis Plato finished just under 10 seconds behind and completing the podium was father and son Peter and Mark Cunningham in their Porsche 997.
Class 4 top honours went to the invitation entry Mercedes AMG GT4 of Mark Murfitt and Michael Broadhurst. Top points in class eventually went to Maximum Motorsport as Stewart Lines, driving the final stint in his SEAT Leon TCR, overtook the BMW M3 of Sam Alpass on the very last lap.
Race 2
The second race of the day started off quite frenetically. As the lights went out, the Taranis of Ben Sharich made it three wide as everybody made it towards Abbey. Gray had just edged out in front but the Lamborghini of Seale and the fast starting Taranis made the slightest of touches which resulted in the Taranis spinning and somehow being avoided by the rest of the 33 car grid. Yet more sterling work by the marshals saw the Taranis back on track, but by now was nearly a lap down.
Out front it was turing into a familiar tale with the Praga pulling out a gap to the rest of the field. This time giving chase was the Ferrari 488 of Ross Wylie, who started back on row 6 but with the incident further ahead made the most of it. Seale back in third was having to fight hard to remain there from the challenge of the BMW Z4 driven by Kevin Clarke while Simon Green Motorsport McLaren of Lee Frost also fancied his chances too.
Out front though the Praga was in trouble. It had slowed down and was passed by the Wylie in his Ferrari. The Praga duly pitted with electrical issues and into retirement. This meant that Wylie was enjoying a good lead as behind Seale, Clarke and Frost were battling away with each other. While attention was on this battle, no-one had noticed Sam Neary in the Team ABBA BMW M3 driving his socks off and was now inside the top 10 after missing practice and not completing a full lap in race 1.
Making an early pitstop was Seale in the Lamborghini in order to give Clutton the best chance behind the wheel. He set about setting fastest laps to make sure he wasn't challenged by the charging pack. While everyone was pitting, Sam Neary was now out in the lead. A mis-understanding of the 60/40 two-driver regulations earned the team a stop/go once dad Richard was behind the wheel.
Once all had settled after stops, Clutton was out in front in the Lamborghini. Clutton though wasn't hanging about. Mason who had taken over from Wylie was battling hard with Ryan Lindsay in the BMW Z4 and Lucky Kehra in the McLaren but ultimately was passed by them both.
At the flag Clutton claimed the win in his JMH Automotive Lamborghini. Behind, Lucky Khera managed to overhaul the BMW Z4 of Ryan Lindsay to finish second a lap behind Clutton. Following on from their disaster at the start of the race, the Taranis managed to end the race in ninth place.
Class 2 was a repeat of race 1 with Wayne Marrs and Charlie Hollings again gaining top honours followed by Paul Bailey and Andy Schulz while early race leaders Wylie and Mason had to settle for third in class.
Class 3 honours this time went to the Porsche 997 of Marcus Jewell and Lewis Plato while race 1 winners were this time second. Completing the podium again was the Porsche of Mark and Peter Cunningham.
Over in Class 4 the win went again to the invitation entry of Fox Motorsport in their Mercedes AMG GT4 with Mark Murfitt and Michael Broadhurst. While the Mercedes took top spot, top class points went to father and son duo Richard and Sam Neary in their BMW M3. A sterling drive by Sam and despite a stop-go with Richard at the wheel (courtesy of the mix up over the driver regulations) meant a good end to otherwise a troubled day. Completing the podium was Tim Docker in his VW Golf.
An entry list of 35 cars for the opening weekend of a newly formatted Britcar. Next up is Silverstone again, but the National circuit this time on 27th April.
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