British GT – Donington Park – Preview The Rebirth And off we go for the latest version of the British GT Championship. It’s an unusual story, the way this series has evolved during the last decade. One conclusion to the last 12 months’-worth of changes is that with more communication, there would be more than one entry in what was going to be the 2003 GT class – but perhaps there wouldn’t have been many more, with the Lister and Saleen entries slipping away anyway and the Speed 12 ‘retiring’. Two Ultimas would have been a challenge for the ladies though – but the Master Motorsport car is now a ‘GTO’ and Colin Blower has had difficulties finding a budget. So what have we got? GT and GTO are now amalgamated into the ‘Championship’ class, and the new arrivals are the ‘Cup’ class. 17 are listed in total for the first race, and if that number can be teased up past 20 my mid-season and on up to 25 by the end of the year, this format will be classed as a success. The first round is a 75 minute event, and with a race start at 14.00 (maybe 14.30), race fans will see the GTs in the middle of the schedule. There are no combined meetings with the BTCC this year, the F3s are still the other headline event, and we’re ready for a fresh start. Driver changes take place between 30 and 45 minutes, and fuel may not be added at this stop: another halt is required to add fuel, so the ladies will have to go some to make up for a second pit visit. The other 16 cars ought to make it on a thankful, so expect a (former) GTO car to take the win.
Which one though? A Mosler? A TVR? Not a Porsche (if a ‘GTO’ is to win overall). No Martin Short – he’s in the EMKA Porka at Barcelona – so Rob Barff stands in, with Tom Herridge, which possibly makes the Rollcentre car the favourite. A Mosler has never won a race overall before….in fact, only one of these GT Championship class cars has won its class before, hasn’t it? Or is it two? Answers to Confused Ed @ dailysportscar…. Not one of them has ever won overall. It's two (that have won the class) confirms Graham Goodwin. The CDL car (as the 2001/2 Rollcentre machine) and the Racesport Peninsula entry (as the DeWalt chassis in 2001). The Allen Lloyd XK8 and the Xero Corvette are particularly interesting machines, the Master Ultima will have an interesting Chevy V8, Shaun Balfe and Jamie Derbyshire have their first races in the Balfe Mosler, Eclipse are out for their first win, CDL has the former Rollcentre 2002 GTO championship challenger…..it’s into the great unknown. The Cup Class is even more of an unknown quantity. This one should grow and grow throughout the year. But what about the Darrian? can it race? We’ll pick up the Cup Class story at the Thursday Test Day.
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