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GT Racing
GT: Aston Martin, Ferrari Take British GT Wins At Nurburgring
Beechdean Racing’s Andrew Howard and Jonny Adam took race one on Friday, and MTECH’s Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin won in Saturday's Avon Tyres British GT Championship race at the Nurburgring...
Beechdean Racing scored top honors in Race 1 at the Nurburgring, giving the new Aston Martin V12 Vantage its first victory. (Photo: John Dagys)
Beechdean Racing’s Andrew Howard and Jonny Adam took race one on Friday, and MTECH’s Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin beat a throng of Porsche’s on Saturday, as the Aston Martin and Ferrari crews took their first victories of the year.
Race 1
A light shower peppered the track just before the start and the formation lap saw off track excursions for two drivers, but all made it to the grid.
Pole sitter Jann Mardenborough (RJN Nissan GT-R GT3) led the pack into turn one, but making a flying start from fourth on the grid was Daniele Perfetti in his Motorbase Porsche 997 GT3 R. The Swiss driver sailed around the outside of the pack and looked to have completed a clean pass on Jody Firth’s Ginetta G55 (Team WFR), but under braking Firth carried on into the Porsche, tapping Perfetti into a spin; Perfetti would re-join, albeit last.
As positions settled, Mardenborough was flying out in front. Howard, unable to match the pace of the Cardiff youngster was preoccupied by the pacey Luke Hines (Optimum Motorsport), who had made the most of the Firth/Perfetti first corner chaos and was up from sixth to third.
Now on a charge through the field, Firth was back into the groove, overtaking David Ashburn (Trackspeed Porsche 997 GT3 R) and filling the mirrors of Ashburn’s team-mate, Jon Minshaw, who was on a fight back of his own.
Fannin was now leading the GT4 class, but the young Brit had a slender lead; the chasing pack of Ticehurst, and Foglio, were hot on his heels. Bolisetti was struggling in the Lotus and drifted away from the pack.
With the majority of the field now pitting, Mardenborough and Hines were putting in quick laps, and Mardenborough’s last lap before pitting, a 1:45.783, was almost two seconds quicker than the Ginetta driver, giving the current GT Academy Champion a 10.2 second lead.
Hines pitted from the lead; two engine stalls from George Murrells marred his slick changeover. This dropped the pair down to sixth on their return to the track.
Beechdean’s Adam was now reeling in race leader, Buncombe at an average of a second per lap. Also on a march were Michael Caine (Motorbase Porsche 997 GT3 R) and Matt Griffin (MTECH Ferrari 458). The pair made short work of those in front, and Caine’s progress, following a superb stint by team-mate Perfetti, saw the Porsche driver push past the Ecurie Ecosse Z4 as the race drew to a close.
Championship leader in GT4, Team WFR’s Hughes was now over 20 seconds ahead of the Nova Race Ginetta of Marco Cassera, and Welsh Sportscar Champion, Dominic Evans (Century Motorsport) had the beating of Owen Mildenhall’s Mazda under braking with ten minutes to go.
Buncombe was still being caught by Adam, but then came the news RJN were dreading, their mandatory pitstop was too short by half a second and the team were given a drive through penalty. Buncombe duly obliged and returned to the track in third. Adam now took over the lead ahead of Caine's Porsche.
The final laps of the race were filled with overtaking; Griffin took Murrell’s Ginetta before its demise with suspension damage, and then passed Bryant for fourth. Marcel Leipert (Rhino’s Leipert Lamborghini LP600+) breezed past the Trackspeed trio of Westbrook, Osborne and Harvey to finish seventh, a few seconds behind Godfrey Jones’ SLS.
Buncombe pushed on, finishing three seconds behind Caine, but a podium finish was small reward for their efforts in the race. Adam crossed the line to the jubilation of the Beechdean pit crew, which also provided Aston Martin with a maiden win for the V12 Vantage GT3 car.
Race 1 Results:
GT3
1. Andrew Howard/Jonny Adam Beechdean Motorsport Aston Martin V12 Vantage 34 laps 1:01:40.468 / 153.411 km/h
2. Danielle Perfetti/Michael Caine Motorbase Porsche 997 GT3 R +16.305
3. Jann Mardenborough/Alex Buncombe RJN Motorsports Nissan GT-R +3.459
4. Duncan Cameron/Matt Griffin MTECH Ferrari 458 +4.180
5. Alasdair McCaig/Oliver Bryant Ecurie Ecosse BMW Z4 +0.986
GT4
1. Jody Fannin/Warren Hughes Team WFR Ginetta G50 1:02:41.674
2. Marco Cassera/Piero Foglio Nova Race Ginetta G50 +55.102
3. Zoe Wenham/Dominic Evans Century Motorsport Ginetta G50 +1 lap
PHOTOS: British GT at Nurburgring
Race 1
A light shower peppered the track just before the start and the formation lap saw off track excursions for two drivers, but all made it to the grid.
Pole sitter Jann Mardenborough (RJN Nissan GT-R GT3) led the pack into turn one, but making a flying start from fourth on the grid was Daniele Perfetti in his Motorbase Porsche 997 GT3 R. The Swiss driver sailed around the outside of the pack and looked to have completed a clean pass on Jody Firth’s Ginetta G55 (Team WFR), but under braking Firth carried on into the Porsche, tapping Perfetti into a spin; Perfetti would re-join, albeit last.
As positions settled, Mardenborough was flying out in front. Howard, unable to match the pace of the Cardiff youngster was preoccupied by the pacey Luke Hines (Optimum Motorsport), who had made the most of the Firth/Perfetti first corner chaos and was up from sixth to third.
Now on a charge through the field, Firth was back into the groove, overtaking David Ashburn (Trackspeed Porsche 997 GT3 R) and filling the mirrors of Ashburn’s team-mate, Jon Minshaw, who was on a fight back of his own.
Fannin was now leading the GT4 class, but the young Brit had a slender lead; the chasing pack of Ticehurst, and Foglio, were hot on his heels. Bolisetti was struggling in the Lotus and drifted away from the pack.
With the majority of the field now pitting, Mardenborough and Hines were putting in quick laps, and Mardenborough’s last lap before pitting, a 1:45.783, was almost two seconds quicker than the Ginetta driver, giving the current GT Academy Champion a 10.2 second lead.
Hines pitted from the lead; two engine stalls from George Murrells marred his slick changeover. This dropped the pair down to sixth on their return to the track.
Beechdean’s Adam was now reeling in race leader, Buncombe at an average of a second per lap. Also on a march were Michael Caine (Motorbase Porsche 997 GT3 R) and Matt Griffin (MTECH Ferrari 458). The pair made short work of those in front, and Caine’s progress, following a superb stint by team-mate Perfetti, saw the Porsche driver push past the Ecurie Ecosse Z4 as the race drew to a close.
Championship leader in GT4, Team WFR’s Hughes was now over 20 seconds ahead of the Nova Race Ginetta of Marco Cassera, and Welsh Sportscar Champion, Dominic Evans (Century Motorsport) had the beating of Owen Mildenhall’s Mazda under braking with ten minutes to go.
Buncombe was still being caught by Adam, but then came the news RJN were dreading, their mandatory pitstop was too short by half a second and the team were given a drive through penalty. Buncombe duly obliged and returned to the track in third. Adam now took over the lead ahead of Caine's Porsche.
The final laps of the race were filled with overtaking; Griffin took Murrell’s Ginetta before its demise with suspension damage, and then passed Bryant for fourth. Marcel Leipert (Rhino’s Leipert Lamborghini LP600+) breezed past the Trackspeed trio of Westbrook, Osborne and Harvey to finish seventh, a few seconds behind Godfrey Jones’ SLS.
Buncombe pushed on, finishing three seconds behind Caine, but a podium finish was small reward for their efforts in the race. Adam crossed the line to the jubilation of the Beechdean pit crew, which also provided Aston Martin with a maiden win for the V12 Vantage GT3 car.
Race 1 Results:
GT3
1. Andrew Howard/Jonny Adam Beechdean Motorsport Aston Martin V12 Vantage 34 laps 1:01:40.468 / 153.411 km/h
2. Danielle Perfetti/Michael Caine Motorbase Porsche 997 GT3 R +16.305
3. Jann Mardenborough/Alex Buncombe RJN Motorsports Nissan GT-R +3.459
4. Duncan Cameron/Matt Griffin MTECH Ferrari 458 +4.180
5. Alasdair McCaig/Oliver Bryant Ecurie Ecosse BMW Z4 +0.986
GT4
1. Jody Fannin/Warren Hughes Team WFR Ginetta G50 1:02:41.674
2. Marco Cassera/Piero Foglio Nova Race Ginetta G50 +55.102
3. Zoe Wenham/Dominic Evans Century Motorsport Ginetta G50 +1 lap
PHOTOS: British GT at Nurburgring
FIA GT Nogaro
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