British GT – Thruxton – Cup Class Report
Eight Out Of Nine – Champions

With two orange cars – ISL Marcos Mantis and Xero Corvette – not making it through Saturday, we were left with just six Cup Class cars for the 75 minute race, held in brighter conditions than Qualifying, but pleasantly warm rather than belting hot. The two GruppeM / Tech 9 Porsche crews would have preferred it hotter still, because they were running the hardest compound from the Dunlop range here, while the Morgans were on the “medium” – rather than the “soft” they’d use on most other tracks. “We’re very gentle on tyres and brakes,” explained Rob Wells, starting in the #46 Aero 8.

The other five start drivers were Pat Pearce, Tom Shrimpton, Neil Cunningham, Paul Whight and Walter Colacino.

The dailysportscar team (MC & GG) had the pleasure of watching the event from David Addison’s control tower: we kept out of the way as the Master of Ceremonies called the shots, non stop, throughout a very exciting GTO race.

The Cup Class was interesting more than exciting though. It had its tactical aspects, it had Neil Cunningham leading the way for Morgan – “We decided it was better for me to start and earn the glory of leading, especially with Henry (Taylor) suffering from the ‘flu” – but ultimately it was yet another win, and the Championship, for Pat Pearce and Matt Griffin.

Cunningham was certainly the hare from the green lights, Pearce a little slow away, and giving us a clue to his problems as he wobbled through the Chicane at the end of lap 2, already 4.9 seconds behind the #66 Aero 8. The Porsche’s lap times seemed to vary: high 21s and low 22s were punctuated by occasional 24s. What was going on Pat? “It all depended on whether I had a moment! The hard tyres took a long time to come in, but the car was getting better and better as they warmed up. The moments were pretty scarey!” Team boss Phil Hindley wanted the track hotter, rather than cooler as clouds sometimes obscured the sun.

Neil Cunningham - best lap a 1:20.547 - actually looked as though he might be able to hang onto the GTOs for a while. They edged away of course, and he ran a lonely 11th, as much as nine seconds ahead of the #76 Porsche by lap 5. This was a stunning Morgan performance, but largely explained by the tyre situation.

Paul Whight had his Elise going very well in third early on, ahead of the Wells Morgan and Shrimpton Porsche, but Shrimpton was fourth by the end of lap 2, the maroon Morgan then dropping away in a lonely fifth, just the white Colacino Elise behind.

The Scuderia Grifo Corse Lotus had the loneliest race of all, with no one to race against except themselves and the clock, but they did at least distinguish themselves by keeping right out of the way of the GTO pack, which often seemed to lap #43 at the Chicane. The Mullen Ferrari was hounding it to lap it as early as lap 6. But they did finish fifth out of the five finishers – a good reliability record for the class.

So Cunningham, gap extending to Pearce, another gap to Whight, who had Shrimpton right with him for lap after lap. The gap was often 0.2 secs between these two either side of ten laps, the Porsche getting some fluid on its screen for good measure. Was it clutch fluid? Shrimpton finally made it through at the Chicane completing 14 laps, and was still only six seconds behind Pearce in the sister car: Cunningham was 14 seconds further up the road.

What the #66 crew didn’t need was a Safety Car early on, but that’s what they got as Herridge and Evans clashed exiting the Chicane, Cunningham’s lead evaporating as the cars lined up in the queue. The Cup leader has just been lapped, so we had the #88 Ferrari followed by the Morgan, then Rob Wells in the other Aero 8 (just lapped by Cunningham), then Stanton in the DeWalt TVR, then Pearce.

Cunningham would stay in and try to build the lead again when racing resumed, but Wells, Pearce, Shrimpton and Whight adopted more conventional tactics and pitted for the driver change as the pit window opened completing 22 laps (for the overall leader).

So many cars came in together – and so quick was the Pearce to Griffin stop – that #76 resumed fourth in the queue rather than fifth, with Keith Ahlers now right behind, but still that lap down. Peter Snowdon was slow to go racing (despite a very clean screen - well done Michael Mallock!) as the Safety Car pulled off, but he quickly pulled away from Liz Halliday.

Cunningham set about doing it all over again, Matt Griffin slipping to 12 seconds down, but content that the Morgan still had to stop. Griffin still had the other Morgan right behind him, Ahlers unlapping himself from Griffin just before Cunningham pitted with 32 minutes left (16 seconds ahead).

Henry Taylor had no chance of staying in touch, resuming 17 seconds down in second – and that’s where he was, second, at the end, the gap extending to a minute.

There were two other significant incidents. Peter Snowdon: “I had no clutch from the start of my stint. Finding gears was more and more difficult, and in the end I was struggling to get second at the Complex, it finally went in, locked the rears and spun me round. It jammed in gear and I couldn’t move it. A second place gone.” Because he’d passed the unwell Taylor in the Morgan on lap 31.

That brought out the Safety Car again, which had far more impact on the GTOs than the Cup Class. Keith Ahlers edged away from Griffin (on the track), the leader getting instructions not to worry about passing the Morgan because the win was so secure. But as Griffin lapped (slow starting) team-mate Liz Halliday, so the #46 Morgan passed the lady for third (as they went racing for the third time - with the leading GTO TVRs, and the Ferrari all involved too). The Morgans may not have won 40 years after that Spa win, but they did finish second and third. Ahlers had clawed back the bulk of a lap on the #66 car.

Pearce and Griffin were the victors then, their eighth from nine starts – and such form assured them of the Championship. Two quick drivers and an absolutely reliable Porsche made it very clearcut.

“Out of the Chicane for the last time I did a massive powerslide,” said a joyous Matt Griffin. “Good job you didn’t hit the pit wall,” said a still smiling Phil Hindley.

“Car for car, we had the advantage today,” reckoned Keith Ahlers. But Matt Griffin and Patrick Pearce were the strongest pair from race one all those weeks ago. Deserving champions both – with ambitions to go a lot further yet.
MC