Gruppe M - LMES Monza 1000 Km
The Race

The GruppeM garage was a hive of activity when the chequered flag fell at the end of the Monza 1000 kilometers, but the sight of the team clearing away and packing up was not the one that Kenny Chen or his drivers wanted to see. Quite understandably, they had long-since departed the circuit. Monza – or is it the LMES? – had not been kind to GruppeM, and this was one weekend in July 2005 that will probably join the (admittedly short) list of race meetings that the team might prefer to forget. There are other teams, of course, who face this kind of psychological challenge on a regular basis; picking themselves up, dusting off the wounded pride, and looking forward to another day. In the main, they are the same teams that classify a finish as a mountain climbed, and a podium as a dream aspired. When you’re used to winning, and consistently looking as if you’re going to do it again, then a brace of DNFs cuts deep.

There’s no denying that Tim Sugden and Jonathan Cocker could have won GT2 at Monza. They certainly gave every indication of heading that way, having clearly sorted the engine problems that had dogged them through practice and qualifying. Perhaps that is the positive message they have to carry forward to Silverstone next month, because it was an impressive demonstration from last year’s British GT champions as the #88 cut through from a lowly grid position to lead the class. It had, indeed, started very well . . .

As he did at Spa, Jonathan Cocker took the first stint for the #88 car. On that damp and misty morning in April he was starting from pole in GT2. On a much brighter July morning in Italy, he was looking through a dense forest of Porsches, Ferraris and a TVR from the thirteenth row of the grid, eighth in class and 38th overall. Mature head on young shoulders, as they say, but Cocker made a very sensible start to a five-hour race, playing safe on an opening lap that saw a lot of bunching up ahead, and plenty of opportunity for mishap. He made no mistakes, and came through tight on the tail of fellow Carrera Cup Asia competitor, Matthew Marsh in the Noble Group Porsche, starting one step up in 37th.

We’ll follow the fortunes of the “Chinese Car” a little later, but for now we’ll stick with Cocker as he started to move through the field. He’d passed Marsh by lap four, and was soon bearing down on Kutemann in the #68 JMB Ferrari. The 575 offered surprisingly little resistance, and Cocker was through into 34th overall by the end of the next lap. It was amazing to think that, even this early on, the race leaders (Shimoda and Collard) were already lapping the likes of Cocker, and would have passed the entire GT2 field inside eight laps. That would include Rockenfeller, leading the class in 26th overall, and Andrew Kirkaldy, holding second.

The next target in Jonathan’s sights would be Warren Hughes in the LNT TVR, but while the GruppeM Porsche was pulling clear of Kutemann at a rate of knots, catching the fast-moving Hughes would be another matter entirely. It would all prove to be somewhat academic in due course, with LNT’s weekend going from bad to worse with the retirement of their sole surviving TVR on lap twenty-six, but for now both Hughes and Cocker were making up ground together. On lap nineteen they both sailed past Gabrio Rosa in the GPC Ferrari just before the 360 retired (after a big accident on the pit straight), and that brought them into the upper echelons of GT2, effectively fourth and fifth in class, with Lieb ahead of them third. In the overall standings, this equated to 31st and 32nd for Hughes and Cocker.

Matthew Marsh, meanwhile, had been battling on well in the #86 Noble Group Porsche. Having been passed by Cocker so early in the race it might be easy to overlook the fact that Marsh himself had been doing a fair bit of passing too. He’d gone ahead of #89 Sebah Porsche right at the start, and had latched onto the tail of Cocker from about lap four. He’d managed to stay within sight of the GruppeM car for some while, at least until Cocker passed the 575. Getting ahead of the GT1 car proved more of a challenge for the #86, but when the car started to develop a serious vibration he erred on the side of caution and headed for an early pitstop on lap 24. Fresh tyres solved the problem, but much of the ground Marsh had made up was suddenly lost, and while he was back out again pretty swiftly, come lap 37 he was down in 35th place. That became 38th when he pitted again, just inside the first hour, for his first scheduled stop.

Hughes meanwhile, with Cocker in tow, had moved up to 26th, but was on the verge of retirement. His loss was Cocker’s gain. The first round of regular pitstops were also coming into play, and when Kirkaldy headed for fuel on lap 31, the #88 car eased into third place behind Lieb (24th overall) and Rockenfeller (21st). What fuel-efficiency gives with one hand, it takes with the other. Lieb was next to pit, and then Cocker on lap 38. That should have put the Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari – Kinch having replaced Kirkaldy - back into third, or perhaps even second, since the pace had been pretty brisk up until this point, but an unexpected tyre failure sent the red car trundling slowly back into the pits only five laps after it had come out. It would be the first of three punctures for the Ferrari, adding further delay to an earlier vibration problem, also tyre related.

A very swift driver change between Cocker and Tim Sugden had also found the GruppeM car a few extra seconds, and by the time everything came together once more, with all the key players successfully pitted, the #88 Porsche was far better placed than anyone really expected. It was still fourth in GT2, but very much closer to the action. Rockenfeller had handed over the Autorlando Porsche to Franco Groppi, and the Italian had retained the class lead. Pompidou had also done a good job of picking up the running from Marc Lieb in the Sebah car, so looked secure in second. Third, however, was now where the action was. Kinch had managed to get out ahead of Sugden despite his enforced pitstop, but Sugden, now 27th overall, was considerably closer. That was lap 42. Ten laps later, and after some very evenly-matched lappery and tight racing, Sugden finally got ahead when the Ferrari encountered its next problem.

From the middle of the GT2 field, the GruppeM car had arrived on the bottom step of a potential podium. No such good fortune for Matthew Marsh. His various trips into the pitlane had cost the car two whole laps, and the Hong Kong flag was now waving slightly less enthusiastically from 35th position overall.

Sadly, that was as good as it was going to get on this occasion. Having covered a personal total of 45 laps, Marsh was about to join the growing list of retirees. Heading fast into Ascari, the left rear tyre blew, pitching the car into a huge spin from which there was no chance of recovery. Dumped unceremoniously into the gravel, there was no way Marsh could get back to the pitlane, so it was race-over for the debutants.

The arrival of two hours confirmed that Sugden’s pace had been enough to maintain his rise through the ranks, having moved into second place ahead of Marc Lieb after the German’s early pitstop. Normally these guys are team-mates at GruppeM, as is Mike Rockenfeller, so it was one-two-three for the GruppeM FIA crew here at Monza, with their fourth regular, Sugden’s usual partner in the FIA GT Championship, Emmanuel Collard, leading overall. That’s some indication of the driver strength in the team’s FIA assault, and an easy explanation for why they dominate so effectively. That neat observation was about to come unstuck with the next round of pitstops, however, as Rockenfeller handed over to Luigi Moccia and Sugden returned charge of the #88 to Jonathan Cocker. Evidence of another efficient stop by the accomplished GruppeM pitlane crew came to light when all this unraveled, showing Cocker still in second place, although now just half a lap clear of Lieb. “We only changed the left hand set of tyres,” explained Adam Deborre, chief engineer. “That was another cracking pitstop, absolutely amazing, and I think it even caught Jonny out. I don’t think he was quite ready when he was waved off, but he still got out a comfortable 35 seconds ahead of Lieb.”

So, with eighty-eight laps completed by the leaders, car 88 was lying 19th overall, twelve laps behind Collard, two laps behind Moccia and sharing a lap with Leib. Kirkaldy, now back at the wheel of the Scuderia Ecosse 360, was fourth, some two minutes down the road, but lapping three or four seconds quicker than everyone else (at least in GT2). Lieb was also throwing down some fast laps, and reeling in Cocker at a rate of about a second a lap tops, but he wouldn’t catch him until the youngster had, at least for a while, taken on the mantle of GT2 leader. A puncture – surprisingly common this weekend - for Moccia cost the Autorlando car everything Rockenfeller had gained, dropping the erstwhile leader to third and elevating Cocker to the top slot. It was nice while it lasted, but Marc Lieb had other ideas, getting ahead to become class leader on lap 92 (their eightieth).

In truth, they were pretty evenly matched, and Cocker looked well able to hang on to Lieb, and would have handed on to Sugden at the next pitstop with the car in a strong position. He never got that chance. A couple of laps later it was all over. “It was so disappointing,” said Adam, with some understatement. “Jonny had been going so well. There were just a few stray laps, perhaps six-tenths off Marc, but not much more, so a very good stint, and then the top of the strut failed.” It appeared that the MacPherson strut on the left front corner had given way. “It was just starting to get interesting,” he continued. “The car was handling perfectly, and having sorted the engine issues, we had the speed as well. To lose the strut like that was such a blow. It’s one of those things that never happens. But what do you do? You rebuild these things, you put bits on, and you never know when one of them’s going to give way unexpectedly. We’ve certainly never had that sort of failure on a Porsche before. That upright had only done about five hours, and it should last sixty!”

At least it was mildly reassuring to know that this was simply a mechanical failure. “It had nothing to do with the way the guys were driving, or anything like that,” assured their race engineer with conviction. As for the Noble Group entry; “Basically, they had tyres issues throughout the race,” acknowledged Adam. “Their first was a case of pick-up [of debris and loose rubber] that felt like a more serious problem, but thankfully wasn’t. Then Matthew had that left rear tyre fail into Ascari. They had started with a really strong run, and were both looking to do well this weekend. Their pace was good, and they both have the potential to be very good drivers. They just need some more track time at this level.” There was a hint of pride as Adam expanded on his views. “Although Darryl never drove in the race, he’s obviously good and has plenty of potential It’s always difficult mid-season to jump into a car and do well, but I reckon they could have all been on the podium as well.”

And there’s the rub. This should have been GruppeM’s day, so Kenny’s bitter disappointment was easy to understand. “We couldn't have made it at all without Kenny’s help,” said Marsh afterwards. “He made it all possible - and I can understand why he was so upset when both cars retired. That emotion is the result of the dedication that he puts into all his projects - motorsport and business. We all have a responsibility to deliver to the high standards he sets. That's one of the two things about which I feel most disappointed. The other is that Darryl did not get a chance to drive.” Despite the circumstances, Marsh was able to find good amid the disappointment. “Perhaps the most important thing is that we did not disgrace ourselves. We were not the quickest, I know, but were certainly not slow either. Darryl did an excellent job in qualifying and I think we're going to build a strong driving combination as we gain experience - and speed – through the rest of the season. All in all, I think it's all rather good!”

Adam Deborre was also able to find enough about Monza to boost his outlook of the months ahead. “Onwards and upwards!” he said. “That’s the second time we’ve been leading when we go out. I think we had the edge this time, and perhaps we could have won. At least we now know the chassis is perfect. When we came testing Tim said we had some issues, like the gear-cut wasn’t working properly, or the engine wasn’t strong, or the brake pedal felt long, but when we asked about the handling, he said. ‘Oh, that’s fantastic!’, so we just ran it. It’s phenominal how good this car is. Sort everything else out and come Silverstone we’re going to be blindingly quick. It should walk away with it – we just don’t need any more of these setbacks.”

With the truck packed up, the team was heading straight for Spa. Next stop, the 24 Hours. First it was the Spa test day though.
Marcus Potts