Race Report Part Two - GT Championship team race
Kevin, Dexter and Bobby all had to head home at lunchtime, but Oli joined us for the afternoon. With 17 drivers left for the six-car GT team race, we asked Stephen to race a stint for two teams - Johnny's Workshop and WHAM! Racing. This was the line-up, with a couple of last-minute car changes...
The first action was the 2-minute Super Pole shoot-out - the drivers who'd race the first stint competing for pole position, a clear track and an bonus championship point. For the second race running, Ryan put the Sports Carazing SunEnergy1 AMG top of the charts in a fully-wet session...
Those drivers then kicked off the race, which immediately had a very different feel to the frantic cut-and-thrust of the morning. Tyre choices were interesting on a damp, but drying track. Four of the teams went with the sensible option - Intermediates - but if the track did dry quickly, a lengthy pit stop would be required to change them. On that basis, Fundamentally Barley gave Rob a set of Soft tyres and Jeremy went for Hards to give him a tricky opening session, but a gamble that might swing his team's way as the race went on...
The first five minutes were super-smooth and the hall remained hushed with fully-focussed teams and drivers. All six cars circulated on the same lap, Rob doing a magnificent job on the Soft tyres to keep the Fundamentally Barley Mercedes out front. AST One were second with Ash enjoying the Corvette, Duncan had the AST Better McLaren in third, Stephen in fourth for Johnny's Workshop and Jeremy fifth with the WHAM! Bentley. Ryan was recovering from the first of three 10-second stop-go penalties that would make up Sports Carazing's 30-second success penalty - one after the start and one after each of the driver change pit stops. Halfway through that first 15-minute stint and Ryan was up to third, behind Rob and Ash - the entire field now separated by two and half laps.
It took Ryan twelve minutes to get into the lead - and soon after, it was time for the first pit stops. Ryan jumped in early, changing to hard tyres on the still damp, but almost dry track. Ash had also pitted for Soft tyres. Fundamentally Barley were the first to make their driver change stop, fitting Hard tyres and filling up with fuel and Simon taking over. AST Better pitted next, Isaac going out on Hard tyres and a full tank of fuel. Both AST One and Sports Carazing pitted for their driver change and to top off with fuel - Ollie and Matthew their new drivers. Oli took over the Johnny's Workshop AMG, didn't refuel, but did change to Hards. WHAM! Racing just changed driver, Andy going out on the same Hard tyres and the remaining fuel.
The result of those pit stop shenanigans - Fundamentally Barley led Sports Carazing by a lap, with WHAM! leapfrogging AST One and Johnny's Workshop into third, and AST Better three laps a drift in sixth. Of course, Sport Carazing, Fundamentally Barley and AST One all had 10-second penalty stops. By mid-stint, rear wing issues for the Sports Carazing Mercedes dropped them back to third - WHAM! rising to second place. However, the big Bentley would need to stop to change tyres and refuel - that happened with five minutes remaining of the stint, the painfully slow refuelling speed letting the now repaired Sports Carazing car and Johnny's Workshop to get back up into the podium places...
The final 15-minutes began with the order the same - AST One dropping behind AST Better on account of pitting first. That would soon change back, but Alex had work to do... At the front, Mike was just about holding off Oliver and Stephen had the WHAM! Bentley third - three laps behind - after another quick driver-change-only stop. Jean was breathing down the Bentley's neck and Alex was just a lap adrift - Dean was five laps back in the McLaren.
The battle at the front was thrilling. Mike wasn't firing on all cylinders and Oliver got past with eight minutes to go, but the gap remained feet rather than laps. Behind, Jean had got past Stephen, but Alex had faltered slightly after the Corvette made a unplanned trip to the parquet flooring. At the back, the McLaren retired with five minutes to go. However, the mechanical issue that decided the race happened with just three minutes to go - an extreme body rub on a rear tyre forced the Fundamentally Barley car to drop off the pace. Mike wasn't finished, but Oliver had the win in the bag if he could see out the final few seconds. And he did - finishing three laps ahead of Mike, with Johnny's Workshop making it a Mercedes 1-2-3. Alex overhauled Stephen right at the last for fourth place - the five finishers covered by 11 laps...
Congrats to Ryan, Matthew and Oliver on a great win, keeping up the championship momentum in the absence of Sports Carazing's team manager - that's two out of two for poles and wins, with just two races to go...
That's it for now. The Group C and Muscle Car Mondiale reports will follow tomorrow.