Wood Scott Racing – British GT Championship
Rounds Thirteen and Fourteen – Thruxton

It was an early start for Race 1 in Hampshire on August 30, timed for precisely 9.12 am, with Stuart Scott starting the Porsche from the tenth grid slot in the Cup class. The DRM Ferrari managed to get past on the first lap, and by the end of lap two, the Team Jedi Lotus was also past, leaving Stuart in last position. He was struggling – with an injury, it turned out. The more powerful GT cars began lapping the Cup contenders as early as the sixth lap, delaying Stuart as he moved off-line to let the leaders through.

With 25 minutes of the race run, Stuart pitted to allow Steve Wood to take over for a longer second stint. Steve was immediately on the pace, and soon made up a position as he passed Ryan Hooker’s Corvette. The Corvette would not last for much longer, however, but the black CBT/ART Porsche was now beginning to ease towards Jamie Smythe in the DRM Ferrari 360 in front., taking two seconds a lap out of a deficit that started at 16 seconds. Sadly this was chase was curtailed with just 15 minutes of the race left to run. “As I came through the chicane, I felt a bang, the back went loose, and I felt vibration,” explained Steve. “I thought it was a puncture, and since I was at the pit lane entrance, I came in “.

No problems were found, however, tyre pick-up being suspected, and Steve was quickly back out – too quickly, it would appear, since he was awarded a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. The chase of the Ferrari was, of course, now fruitless, and Steve finished eighth in the Cup class. “We were a little bit behind, and I had a lot to do. I was all pumped up, and the result is disappointing,” was his summary of the race.

Stuart Scott, suffering with a pulled back muscle, elected to withdraw from the second race, leaving Steve Wood to drive the whole hour himself. “No problem – I prefer longer races, because you can get into a groove,” was his response.

Starting tenth in class once again, Steve had made two places by the end of the first lap, and improved this next time around, when Whight spun the Lotus at the chicane.
Lap eight saw the safety car deployed, however, when Martin Short lost a wheel rim from the Noble at Church, and the five laps under caution saw the gap to the pack behind close, losing the advantage built. Sadly this caution period was just too early for the mandatory pit stops, but the window opened just as the field went green again, and Steve pitted immediately, remaining in the car for the allotted time.

Further incidents with two more Cup class cars meant that the safety car was needed again just two laps later. Unfortunately, the safety car picked up the Gavan Kershaw Lotus, which was just in front of Steve, and for six frustrating laps, the pair circulated just a few hundred metres in front of the cars that they were supposed to be behind on the track. When the offending vehicles were at last out of harms way, the safety car chose to come in immediately rather than wave cars past to pick up the leader, and the race for Wood-Scott Racing was effectively over. The Kershaw Lotus was off into the distance once the field went green, but its retirement late in the race at least meant a further place was picked up, so a fifth in the dailysportscar.com Cup class for Steve Wood.

“We haven’t had a good weekend,” said Steve after the race. “I thought we could do better round here, but everybody’s on top of their game. I’ve been on the edge every lap.”