British GT – Snetterton – Cup Class Race Report
Porsches Take A Strong Gruppe On The Class
For those strange folk who prefer digging soil in their gardens at weekends to standing atop spectator bankings, the weather forecast was grim. Cold rain and biting winds were forecast to push us back into the clutches of winter once more, threatening the tender seedlings recently planted. Instead, the sun shone, the temperature stayed high, and the wind was pleasant. The sort of day that brings the flowers out.

The BRDC was hoping that the GT bulbs it planted over the winter would start to bloom, especially after the shoots of the GT Cup had had a fairly tough (thin) time a fortnight ago.

A quick glance at the results of this one, and you may think that this was a replay of Round 1 at Donington. But you’d be wrong - this one had much, much more happening, and hinted that the bud was perhaps about to open.

On the grid, Paul Whight’s glorious Exige (or is it an Elise?) provided a much needed splash of colour to a Cup field dominated by white and grey. Also of note was the Richard Thorne Motorsport Aero 8’s roof, the one that was noticeable by its absence at the opening round. This ’Le Mans’ roof was much more rounded than the Team Aero version, and would help with identification during the race. The #66 had also regained its power-steering since qualifying and was looking strong.

Following many delays during the support races, the two hour GT enduro started almost an hour late at 16.34. However, the drivers had clearly not let that bother them as battle was commenced immediately after the green light. A mighty roar signalled a charge down to Riches Corner and the initial scrap for position.

This time there wouldn’t be a Morgan leading at the first corner, as Matt Griffin held off Nick Staveley for the honour. Within a lap, it was clear that the GruppeM / Tech 9 Porsche Cup cars would once again be the class of the field, as they ran away from the other Cup cars to have their battle amongst the GTO runners. “I managed to stay with Matt for the first few laps and it was very close. But then I missed a gear going round the back of the circuit, which cost me time, and I was delayed in traffic,” was how Nick Staveley described a busy first half-dozen laps, during which Matt Griffin was able to pull out a slight advantage over the sister car. “The first couple of laps were very hard,” concurred the Irish driver. Such was the pace of these two cars, that they lapped the Italian Elise after just eight laps.

However, while at Donington this stage of the race effectively signalled the end of any meaningful racing in the Cup class, this time three of the runners were settling into a monumental fight for position, and one that would not be quickly resolved.

The #55 RML Exige (Paul Whight) had taken the initiative at the start and moved clear of Rob Wells in the #46 Morgan and the #66 Morgan of Ian Mitchell. Although rapidly falling back from the Porsches, the trio were keeping each other in close check (and even kept the Viper behind them for five laps) while Adam Sharpe was managing to keep them in sight of his Clio in the early stages. Paul Whight was unable to maintain his advantage for long and lost position to Wells on lap seven. The next lap saw the unusual sight of the #46 Morgan engaged in a drag race with the GT Viper of Annie Templeton down the Senna Straight, and only just losing out! Great fun.

The Morgan / Exige / Morgan trio were running within three seconds of each other on the track, and no car could pull out an advantage. On lap 11, Ian Mitchell took position from Paul Whight, but within two laps the Exige was back in front. Lap 14 saw the place fall to Mitchell once more. While these two swapped places, Rob Wells was starting to sneak away (it later emerged that the #66’s power steering had just failed.) The #66 / #55 fight was to last a full 30 minutes, with fourth place changing hands three more times. What a difference from Donington!

After thirty minutes, the order was #76 Porsche - #78 Porsche - #46 Morgan - #55 Exige - #66 Morgan - #47 Clio - #43 Elise.

The gap from first to second in class (eighth and ninth overall) was still only 12 seconds, although Matt Griffin was grinding out his advantage with nearly every lap. Nick Staveley wouldn’t give up, and was able to lap faster than Griffin on occasion, but the gap kept on growing. “He’s a very good driver, but he’s got age on his side!” was Nick’s smiling assessment of Matt. By 40 minutes Rob Wells had also built his lead to 13 seconds before Paul Whight pitted.

The Exige stop was to produce something of a surprise. Instead of the expected two-minute refuelling stop, the car was back out within a minute. No fuel. Could the Exige last two hours on a single tank? This was getting interesting! Two minutes later, Ian Mitchell handed the heavily-steering Morgan over to Neil Cunningham, who also rejoined without taking on fuel. You might expect the Exige to last two hours as it only has an 1800cc engine, but the Aero 8 has a 4.6 litre block. This was getting very interesting!

Chris Goodwin was soon on the pace, posting a 1:16 within two laps of getting in. A good fight loomed, or so we thought. Just two laps later, having posted a time within 7/1000ths of his previous lap, Goodwin brought the Exige back into the pits with what looked initially to be a puncture (“It will only be flat on the bottom!” declared Dunlop’s Jock Simpson over the PA), but soon transpired was a driveshaft failure. Game over for the Exige, and the race’s first retirement was posted. A great shame not to be able to see what Chris could do, but a highly creditable and promising debut for the team.

Up ahead, Matt Griffin was putting his foot down, trying to build as much of a lead as he could before his stop. His advantage over the sister car was now up to 1.5 seconds per lap, and his pace at this stage was such that he could fend off the Xero Competition Corvette into Riches for seventh place overall.

A long stop for Keith Ahlers ( a minute and a half without fuel), combined with the demise of the Exige, meant Neil Cunningham was now in third place in class and had a 22 second cushion to the #46 Morgan. Adam Sharpe brought the Clio in for Enzo Mucci after 49 minutes, the car going strongly in 13th overall. The Atlanta Motorsports team are looking forward to the twists and turns of Knockhill, where they feel their car may surprise a few people.

One hour gone, but the racing wasn’t done yet. Keith Ahlers was shaving big chunks of time (up to two seconds a lap) off Neil Cunningham’s lead, and the two Tech 9 Porsches had just changed drivers. Matt Griffin had driven superbly well to build up a 29 second lead before Nick Staveley pitted, and a faster pit stop meant that Patrick Pearce joined the race with a 49 second lead over Michael Mallock. “The car stayed really good throughout the stint, thanks to the Tech 9 boys!” said a happy Matt Griffin. Mallock’s car had had a small fuel leak and a problem with the rear left tyre during its stop, which accounted for the delay.

Within ten minutes, Ahlers had brought the gap to Cunningham down to less than three seconds, and it was obvious that the Australian would not be able to resist for long. Indeed, a couple of laps later the two Morgans went side-by-side through Russell, before Cunningham was treated to the sight of the #46’s rear end moving away from him down to Riches.

Michael Mallock had also come out of the blocks running. Within a couple of laps of joining the race, he had signalled his intentions by dipping below 1:13 and taking two seconds out of Pearce’s lead. However, Pearce responded and reduced the margin on the next lap to half a second. This duel would last for the remaining 45 minutes, with the two drivers matching each others’ efforts all the way.

With 35 minutes to go, things had quietened down significantly. Keith Ahlers was a dozen seconds ahead of Neil Cunningham; “Once I was ahead of Neil, I had to take it as easy as I could as we were getting marginal on fuel,” while the Australian was continuing his struggle with the ‘heavy’ car. Rob Barff noticed that Neil was having to take two bites at the steering wheel as he attempted to turn the car into Riches. Rob was on commentating duty this weekend, and he and David Addison proved to be a highly entertaining duo. Martin Brundle? Who he?

Sadly, the Clio had by this time become the second Cup Class retirement, but the Elise was still going at the back of the field. After the trials of Donington, this was a great performance from the little team, and late retirements in the GTO field would see the Elise finish in tenth spot, to their great delight. The car had a very slow last lap, but the drivers weren’t bothered; “We only had 2nd or 3rd gear towards the end” observed Michelangelo Segatori, while Walter Colacino added “Lotus. Lots of problems. Usually serious!” in a heavy, but happy, Italian accent.

Approximately twenty miles further ahead of these two, Patrick Pearce brought the #76 Porsche home for a fully deserved victory, Michael Mallock following to deliver the team’s first one-two of the season. It seems likely that it won’t be their last. Both cars also finished in the top six overall. A delighted Keith Ahlers claimed his and Rob Wells’ second podium finish of the season when he crossed the line ahead of Neil Cunningham’s Aero 8.

A much better race than the opener, and further evidence that the Cup Class has potential.

But what are the other teams going to do about those Porsches?
Mark Howson