British GT Championship – TOCA Versus British GT – A Non-Contest
An Initiation For TOCA Boy
James (The Kid) Goodwin had the task of converting a pal of his from Touring Cars to GT racing - in one weekend.

Brands Hatch for the final round of the 2003 British GT championship, and a great task was passed onto my shoulders. I had to convert one of my friends, Andrew, from his naïve and ill-informed penchant for TOCA’s boxy-looking Touring Cars to the delights of GT racing.

As you can probably appreciate, at first I wanted to keep a bit of distance between myself and “TOCA Boy” (as the dsc reporters had dubbed him) as we walked through the paddock. I mean, it doesn’t do much for your reputation around a GT paddock with someone explaining how great the MG ZS we just walked past looked.

However, after a while, Andrew came to learn that under the awnings were TVRs, Ferraris and Lotuses: real cars rather than domestic appliances. Soon he was asking me to take pictures of him in front of cars (above) and of course I was happy to oblige! There was also a fantastic surprise when I realised that the Xero Corvette, Rollcentre Mosler and Richard Thorne Morgan were all carrying stickers wishing me a Happy 16th Birthday – Wow!!

At lunchtime it was time to hook up with the intrepid team of dsc race reporters [Dad (Graham Goodwin) and Mark “Renkadima” Howson] to sample the culinary delights of Brands’ ‘Hawthorns Diner’.

Halfway through the meal, with excellent views of the plunge through Paddock Hill Bend, Andrew was heard to say, “The Minis look fun”. Now I knew I was getting somewhere: he was starting to realise the difference between racing and a demolition derby. If he was enjoying the support races, there was hope for his racing soul yet!

Next it was time for the GTs. Knowing what had hooked me many moons ago, I decided to take Andy back into the paddock to listen to the cars starting up.

First we came upon the Richard Thorne awning. The sound of the #66 Morgan starting up produced exactly what I had hoped for - a smile as wide as Andy’s face. This was getting easier by the minute. Next was the big challenge, trying to get him to watch the cars out on track for longer than a lap (I am informed that this is the period of time, in a TOCA race, that it takes for half the field to disappear) .

It turned out not to be as difficult as I had first thought. Once Andy had seen the speed at which these cars took Paddock Hill Bend and carried along around the circuit, all the while never out of hearing range, he seemed to be transfixed to the track.

After what was a very interesting qualifying session, we were a bit bored (bloody teenagers! Dep.Ed.) so decided to have a wander around to see what other diversions were on offer.

The meeting was being sponsored by Malaysian Airlines and their marquee contained both an F1 car and an F3 car. Very impressively, without any prompting whatsoever, Andy turned his nose up at these and was more interested in challenging me to a race on the two consoles - that had been set up very authentically - to a real F1 car in the back of the marquee. Naturally I accepted his challenge and naturally (being used to proper motorsport!) I gave him a right whopping. He seemed more interested in the grass and barriers than the track, typical TOCA fan!

So it was the end of day one and I was well on my way to converting, this once misguided boy from the darkside.

Saturday evening brought a completely different challenge. As many dsc forum readers will know, there was a challenge to be taken up that night. Adam Proctor, PR guru for Balfe Motorsport, was a house guest at Goodwin Towers for the weekend. Adam is a fine man, knowledgeable, polite and with relatively few unpleasant personal habits. Sadly though he is also a misguided soul: he announced on ‘Sportscar Talk’ that he would be taking on the might of, “The Kid”, at racing computer games. My only course of action was clear, he had to be made an example of!

The sight of a broken and emotional Mr Proctor shuffling dejectedly to bed at half past ten “I’m a bit tired” was better than a trophy for the mantelpiece!

The next day brought the delight of British weather, rain. But nothing though could dampen our spirits as we trundled off to the circuit.

In my quest to finally turn Andrew on to GT racing, it was time to play the trump card. It was time to visit Eclipse.

When we got there the boys were showing some sponsors over the TVR. Dad was arranging to get Danny Bear placed in the car for the race and myself, Andrew and three other friends who I’d brought with me for race day, were to be treated to the thrill of a few minutes inside the T400R.

Team member Mark was great and explained all about the various controls and safety features (the irony wasn’t lost on any of us when we saw the car’s remains in the paddock later). This team is just wonderful and they had all of the boys open mouthed with excitement when they realised we would all get an opportunity to try the driver’s seat for size.

Next up was a visit to CDL and an opportunity to have a quick sit in one of their Tuscan Challenge cars, just before they had to rush off to race in the team’s final appearance in the series. You don’t get much kinder than that - thanks Bert and the boys.

Then it was the big race. We were very excited for very different reasons. I was looking forward to a race that would decide the title and Andy was looking forward to seeing these cars out on track RACING.

During the 75 minutes, the five of us managed to circumnavigate the whole of the Brands Grand Prix circuit, stopping off for a while to make sure that Shane Lynch was OK and out of the Eclipse TVR, the car we had all sat in only a few hours before. It was then that Andy came up with a good point: Danny Bear was also in the car. From that point onwards, none of us seemed to be able to concentrate on the race, more worried about the state of poor old Danny.

The end of the race came and it was obvious to see that Andy had enjoyed himself. It was great to introduce my friends to the sport I love, the one that I had spent every other weekend following, from the spring right through the summer.

The boys were mightily impressed with the cars, the sounds, the racing and the profile that “Our” website enjoys in the paddock. I have a feeling they’ll be asking whether they can tag along for a race or two next season.

Thanks to all the teams for their kindness over the weekend (Rollcentre, Xero and Richard Thorne especially, for carrying those stickers - a 1-2 overall, and winning the Cup Class - wow!) and for the spectacle they have helped to provide this year in the British GT championship. Roll on 2004.
The Kid (16 and a bit)