29 cars were always likely to make the qualifying session - held in more bright, sunny weather - a busy affair and the immediate departure of the Master Motorsport Ultima, which pulled off at Stirlings on its out lap with a seized gearbox, causing an immediate red flag, did little to help matters. The GTO battle was immediately joined after the Ultima was recovered, a TVR vs Mosler affair was expected - but there was a joker in the pack this time around: Mike Youles was out on new tyres in the GT class #40 Porsche 911 GT2 and he was soon at the top of the timing sheet with a 1:28.553. But traffic would prevent the Porsche from getting another clear shot at a quick lap. It didn’t prevent Youles coming up with today’s quote: “It turns in like an old age pensioner going to bed – loads of effort, not much progress.” Thank you Mike. Michael Caine was next to show real pace: he pipped Youles for provisional pole with a 1:28.093, but he too would find traffic problems almost immediately thereafter. Shaun Balfe now had the bit between his teeth. Pole would be a handy edge in the #33 Mosler squad’s defence of their slim but vital championship lead. His answer to Caine’s effort came immediately with a 1:27.651. It would be good enough for pole and we had barely had 10 minutes of the session.
In fourth slot would be the #22 Rollcentre Mosler, just a tenth of a second shy of the Porsche ahead. The battle for the minor placings was still raging between a trio of TVRs: Bob Berridge in the #92 DeWalt car, Piers Johnson in the #69 Eclipse T400R and Steve Hyde in the newly rebodied #27 CDL version were all in contention for places five through to seven on the grid and the order would change constantly throughout the session. At the end though it was the third of the championship contenders, the Eclipse Motorsport car that came out on top of the trio, with Berridge and Hyde in close attendance behind. Right at the end of the session there was a coming together between the Caine-pedalled TVR and the #77 Porsche of Liz Halliday: “I was flashing my lights all down the straight to warn her I was on a quick one but she just turned in on me,” said Caine later. The damage looked cosmetic but the contact was substantial. The damage did nothing to lighten the mood of Rob Barff: “Michael and I are exactly the same in one respect, we hate coming second!” Shaun Balfe was pleased though: “ I had to really work for that, the gaps in traffic were tough to find. I was a bit disappointed with myself though, I was overdriving a bit.” It didn’t show Shaun! Porsche vs Morgan was what the form book had laid down for the 16 car strong Cup Class grid. It was half right!
Class pole was an impressive 1:32.951 from Matt Griffin, a time which looked secure from even Neil Cunningham, whose best effort was a full second shy of the 911. Late in the session though a battle royal developed with first the RML Lotus with championship debutant (and Lotus test driver) Gavan Kershaw climbing to second slot (a 1:33.380 his best effort) and then Chris Yandell in the Lanzante car usurping the green and yellow Elise by just eight hundreths of a second. It will be Porsche, Lotus, Lotus, Morgan (Cunningham - 1.33.9). Porsche (Shrimpton - 1:34, right), Morgan (Ahlers 1:34.4), Ferrari (Glenvarigill 1:34.5) on tomorrow’s grid. The Warren Carway / Patrick Charlton Elise didn't match its Friday form, and was just ahead of the #78 Porsche and the Virgo Ferrari. The Cup class as a whole is very, very close, the top seven cars covered by just 1.5 seconds. Gavan Kershaw – RML Lotus: “All this car is lacking is torque, there is still weight that could be removed. Our biggest problem is traffic, but our saving grace is our consistency. I don’t think the Porsches can maintain their pace throughout the race and we can. If we can get the driver change nailed there could be a potential win on the cards.” Chris Yandell – Lanzante Lotus: “I’m very pleased with the time, we’ve been doing 1:34s all weekend. I started on old rubber and then Dean went out with the new set to see what the difference was and it turned out to be quite a lot! We’re looking for reliability tomorrow, we’re used to 15-20 min races in roadsports – 75 mins should be interesting.” The only casualty
of the session (apart from the Ultima) was the Brunswick Motorsort
Elise (below), an electrical fault hobbling the car in the session
and a clutch problem emerging straight afterwards. Both cars will
be fighting fit for tomorrow’s race. The Alfa was at the foot
of the timesheet.
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The
#76 GruppeM / Tech 9 911 was indeed the front-runner, but the chasing
pack consisting of the sister #77 Porsche, #66 and #46 Morgans and
the #42 Ferrari were to get the shock of their lives as the pot
was stirred not only by the #55 RML Lotus but also the debuting
#30 Lanzante Motorsport version.
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