GruppeM – Castle Combe - June 19th

A Spectacular Second

In another Castle Combe spectacular, the British GTs put on a thrilling demonstration of exactly what entertaining motorsport is supposed to be all about. A string of different leaders, overtaking into almost every corner, thrills, spills and incidents throughout the field, and a nail-biting finish that wasn’t quite as close as Snetterton’s record-breaker, but still had the capacity crowd on its feet. Torrential rain brought the race to a premature end just three minute’s short of the hour, giving a second championship win of the season to Mike Jordan and Mark Sumpter, but GruppeM’s Tim Sugden and Jonathan Cocker secured an invaluable second place to round off an excellent weekend.

A repeat of Saturday’s impressive victory looked highly unlikely during the early stages of the race after Tim made an uncharacteristically poor start. “It wasn’t good,” he admitted, before offering an explanation. “I was talking to Channel 4 on the radio, and I’ve not done that before, and it distracted me a little. It was entirely my own fault.” From third on the grid he was down to fifth into Quarry. “The route I chose didn’t work,” he said, “and that 60 kilos of ballast really kills you at the start. I got mugged by a couple of cars who could get away so much quicker than I could.” Part way through the second lap he was mugged again, this time by Steven Brady in the Ultima, and the team’s prospects looked somewhat unpromising.

However, things were far from settled, and when David Jones went off big-time at the Esses, ripping the side out of his #44 JWR Porsche and rearranging the tyre wall, Sugden seemed to find extra pace. Inheriting a slot from Jones’ demise, he and Brady then swept past the #34 Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari when Tim Mullen slowed suddenly on the exit of Quarry early into the fourth lap. It appeared to be a gearbox issue, since the red car was back up to speed again soon afterwards, but not before Mark Sumpter had moved ahead to claim fifth.

The safety car was deployed soon afterwards so that the recovery vehicles could remove the #44 Porsche and repair the barriers. The procession circulated for the next five laps, with Greensall’s TVR leading from Pearce in the Rollcentre Mosler, Brady’s Ultima and then Sugden. When racing resumed it became very intense at the front, with nose-to-tail dicing throughout these first four. Pearce threatened Greensall into Quarry on eleven, and then faced a similar challenge himself from Brady next time around, but Tim Sugden seemed to be hanging back just a little, an air of anticipation in his stance.

“I was quicker in some areas, but couldn’t see any obvious openings, so decided to wait and see if the others made any mistakes. I was just biding my time and trying not to do anything silly,” he said. This leading pack was able to ease out a clear advantage over Sumpter in fifth, while Mullen’s challenge from sixth was evidently fading.

Slow laps under the safety car meant the pitstop window opened with just eighteen laps completed, and Mark Sumpter was among the first to make the swap, handing over the #33 JWR Porsche to team boss Mike Jordan two laps later. The veteran campaigner was evidently set fair for one of his classic charges through the pack, but it would be several minutes before we’d know exactly what magnitude of task he faced. As the cars around him started to dive into the pitlane, space opened up around Tim Sugden, and his pace increased. “Once I was clear I could go quicker, and I started to pull away.”

Tim Sugden had the GruppeM Porsche up into second and had narrowed the gap to Greensall, still leading in the #40 TVR, from nearly six seconds to a mere 2.3 by the time he peeled off into the narrow pitlane at the end of lap 27. “If I’d made a better start, perhaps I could have given Jonathan a better chance, but my in-lap was really pleasing. I made up a massive amount (on Greensall) coming into the pitlane, and I think that’s what got us out in front.” Indeed, by the time the driver-change confusion had cleared, Jonathan Cocker found himself leading the Brady Ultima, now being driven by Alan Bonner, by a generous 4.7 seconds, but the youngster was finding the Porsche less to his liking this day.

“I was trying to go as quickly as I could,” he suggested, “but the car felt completely different today. It was really understeery to begin with, but after a few laps it became much better.” Critically, the gap back to Jordan, already up to fourth, was nearly eleven seconds, but would it be enough?

Although struggling to find the balance he’d so enjoyed the previous day, Jonathan’s lap times were still among the quickest. Only three other cars offered any challenge at all, but two of those were breathing down his neck. Bonner was taking up the Ultima’s baton where Brady had left it, but was no match for Jordan, who closed down on him inexorably. When the Ultima hit a gremlin out of Camp Corner at the end of lap 31, Bonner slowed alarmingly and very nearly collected Jordan into the bargain, but a neat weave saw the Porsche clear and into second place, now a mere eight seconds adrift of the lead.

Cocker was doing his best. The Porsche was skipping over the bumps, its low front splitter kissing the tarmac with a noise like an angry cicada, and he appeared to be holding his own. The gap certainly wasn’t disappearing in huge chunks, as some suggested it might, and the best Jordan could extract was a few tenths each turn. Then, on lap 33, Cocker came into traffic, and not any old group of backmarkers either. Perhaps it was fate that made Pete Chambers in the #66 Porsche the next tail-ender he had to pass, followed by Stuart Scott in the #77 a lap later, but perhaps not. The net result, however, was that Mike Jordan started lap 35 less than four seconds in arrears. Then, coming down into Bobbies at the end of lap 37, Cocker was clearly baulked attempting to lap another backmarker. It was his last margin for error, and by the time they crossed the line to start lap 38 any cushion he’d enjoyed had gone. With Jordan all over the back of the GruppeM Porsche like the proverbial rash it was now just a matter of when and how. The answer came at the exit of Quarry, where Jordan carried his speeding Porsche out of the corner and into the lead.

Jonathan Cocker may have been passed but he wasn’t defeated, and he came back strongly almost straight away. Try as he might, Jordan couldn’t shake the red and blue car clear of his mirrors, and an initial breathing space of almost a second began to narrow again. “On the same lap that Mike passed me it all started to come together, and I could go quicker again,” explained Cocker afterwards, who suddenly found the car more manageable. “Perhaps the track temperature was having an affect, maybe it was psychological, I don’t know, but I was definitely gaining on him again.” The race was nearing its climax, but Mother Nature had a final spanner to throw in the works. It started to drizzle; lightly at first, but then with increasing intensity. With five minutes to go it became a torrent, at least on the paddock side of the circuit, and the slick-shod cars were finding it increasingly difficult to maintain their composure. Cocker himself was one of several to be seen slewed alarmingly broadside through Camp Corner, and anyone could be forgiven for easing back a fraction under those conditions. Wisely, with three minutes remaining on the clock, the red flags came out to announce that the race was being stopped with 43 laps completed. Mike Jordan took the win by seven tenths from Cocker, with the Rollcentre Mosler of Stanton and Pearce a deserving third.

“What a good weekend!” exclaimed a well-satisfied Jonathan Cocker, wringing wet from an aromatic mix of champagne, rainwater and perspiration. “A first and a second isn’t bad, is it? You always want to win, of course you do, all the time, so it’s a disappointment when you don’t, but I have to think of the bigger picture. It’s only a couple of points’ difference, and while every point is important, this weekend does mean we’ve pulled well clear of the Ferrari.”

Tim Sugden readily agreed. “The bottom line is, we took a win and a second when the Ferrari didn’t score a single point, which has to be fantastic for our championship chances,” he said. “It was a difficult race for Jonny,” he added. “He’s still young and there’s so much pressure on him, but he did a brilliant job.”

The GruppeM Racing Porsche now heads the series by a clear margin, but we’re still only half way through the season, so anything may yet happen. What is apparent, however, is that Jonathan Cocker has the better chance of clinching the title, if it’s on offer, because Tim Sugden is scheduled to miss the next round of races at Oulton Park on the 17th and 18th of July. He’ll be in America that weekend competing in the ALMS, and a replacement co-driver hasn’t yet been confirmed for the GruppeM Porsche. Under the circumstances, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find a worthy substitute.