JMB At Silverstone: FIA GT 2005 Round 3
And Chris Buncombe – Supersports To Supercar

No blaze of glory, no banner headlines, but Chris Buncombe has firmly established himself in the global GT racing arena, this year driving JMB's #16 Maserati MC12. It’s about time we caught up with the young man (again, after a brief chat in London last week, opposite Buckingham Palace) – a driver who has a rich family heritage in motorsport, and some high-profile friends.

The FIA GT race at Silverstone, for the prestigious Tourist Trophy, was an historic event not only because of the race’s centenary, but for Chris personally too, since he would be the third generation of his family to compete in the race, both his grandfather John, and father Jonathan, being regulars in the past.

“My granddad did it – I don’t know how many times – when it was held at Dundrod, and on the Isle of Man, and my father competed in 13 races, coming second twice, in a Camaro, and a Capri,” he proudly alluded.

Chris himself used the time-honoured starting point of karting to get his career off the ground in 1993, with a kart supplied by long-time family friend John Button, who was running a kart for his own son, Jensen. Chris and Jensen became friends as well as rivals, and the “resting” F1 ace was Chris’s guest at Silverstone.

A career in single seaters followed for C. Buncombe, interspersed with some Renault Spider outings, and some works-backed drives for Nissan (with RJN Motorsport) in the Belgian touring car championship. It got more serious in 2002, when Chris joined the RJN/Nissan team in the ETCC, and also selected rounds of the National Supersports series, where he took four poles and three dominant victories in the works Chiron.

2003 saw more work with the Chiron, but in 2004, he was called up by RJN once more, to race the team’s Nissan 350Z in the Spa 24 hours, alongside Neil Cunningham, Vincent Radermecker and Carl Rosenblad. Sadly, the car only lasted 49 laps of the race, as a broken front hub and damaged brake disc caused the car to be retired, but what Chris describes as his “very short GT debut” proved to be a pivotal moment in his career, for, short as it may have been, it caught the attention of a major player in the FIA GT Championship.

“That’s when JMB started talking,” said Chris. “I knew it would be a big step, but I wanted consistency, and a platform in which to perform.”

Three rounds, in the team’s Ferrari 575, followed, Chris partnering Bert Longin and Sergey Zlobin at Imola and Oschersleben, and highlighting at Dubai, where Chris outqualified his team-mate, ex F1 pilot Karl Wendlinger, by 0.25 seconds.

Chris has stayed on at JMB, to handle one of their pair of Red Bull-backed Maserati MC12s in 2005. “It’s an excellent car to drive,” he said, “very different from the Ferrari, more like a prototype, or even a single seater. I need to understand the carbon brakes more, and it has less feel. I’ve been collecting masses of information.”

Talk of single seaters leads Chris to declare that he still harbours intentions in that area, should the opportunity arise, but has grown to like longer-distance races. “Single seaters, prototypes, there’s not much difference, so my ultimate goal is Le Mans.”

The driver line-up in the #16 JMB Maserati has had some stability so far this season, Chris being partnered by Le Mans veteran Philipp Peter, and up-and-coming Russian Roman Rusinov, who is also the current Midland (Jordan) F1 test driver. The trio have set out their stall with a fourth at the Monza opener, and seventh place at Magny-Cours, and, with Aston Martin locking-out the front row for Silverstone’s Tourist Trophy, Philipp Peter managed ninth on the grid during Saturday’s qualifying session, just 0.14 seconds shy of the sister Karl Wendlinger / Andrea Bertolini car immediately in front of them.

The race on Sunday saw Peter taking the opening stint and maintaining his position, until an incident with another car in the stadium section saw him make an impromptu pit stop two laps earlier than expected. “We had no tyres ready, and I had to rush around and get my helmet on,” said Chris. The downtime was further compounded by Peter’s alleged pit-lane speed infringement. “He took two hits at the limiter to get it to work as he came in, and we got a drive-through penalty, which I had to take in my stint,” Chris explained.

Once in his stride, Chris was punching consistent laps in the 1:19s, hauling in the Ferrari of Piccini, and up to seventh place, before the second round of pit stops took effect.

Roman Rusinov suffered the misfortune of a minor incident on his out lap for the final stint, but the blue Maserati still came home in eighth place – for three points in the FIA GT Championship (with the Aston Martins not scoring).

Meanwhile, in the #15 JMB Maserati, Karl Wendlinger had pursued Timo Scheider for seventh place from the start, but after several attempts and an equal number of contacts, prudence led him to bide his time until the end of his stint.

Sixth after the Corvette’s withdrawal, Andrea Bertolini first muscled his way past Bartels’ Maserati, after a door to door duel....

..... then reached fourth place after another bold overtaking move on Gardel’s Monza-winning Ferrari. Maintaining the same times as the leaders during his second stint, Karl Wendlinger kept his fourth place until the finish line. This pair thus scored eight points for second place and joined Maserati Vitaphone’s two teams at the head of the drivers’ category, all with 22 points.

“On a personal level, my best race so far,” Chris Buncombe summarised. “The traffic was tough, as we knew it would be here, but the Pirelli tyres were consistently excellent.”

Chris, and his younger brother Alex, who has had some Britsports outings, are continuing a strong family tradition, and indeed, father Jonathan is still winning races in the European Historic Touring Car championship.

More will surely come.

The next FIA GT meeting is on May 29 at Imola, a hectic week-end for JMB Racing, which will also be present at Vallelunga, for the third leg of the Italian GT Championship.
Steve Wood / Susy Viola