British GTs... And Prototypes
British
GTs - Momentum
It’s a very pleasant feeling, sitting here on a Good Friday
afternoon, reflecting on the current state of the British GT Championship.
Last October, the gut
feeling was that it really was going to be as good as this, but
the ‘introduction’ of the GT Class then caused some
concern. The GTs haven’t yet arrived of course, but thus far,
after all the dramas provided by the N-GTs in both Donington races,
it would be difficult to find someone who missed them. We do love
Saleens and Listers and Vipers of course, but the N-GT Class rose
to the occasion and provided two extraordinary races.
Sunday’s genuinely
was one of the best races the Ed. has ever seen. Staying with the
N-GTs for now, we need to acknowledge the roles played by the teams
that supported this class last year, and by the teams that arrived
in, or returned to, the Championship last weekend – plus the
VLR Porsche, which was present as a one-off.
Mike Jordan returned
to British GTs, after a year in the international series, and the
Jordan-Warnock outfit played a very significant role in both classes,
in both races. A top team, a credit to any Championship, and both
N-GT cars were highly competitive – to the extent it was looking
like a JWR 1-2 on Saturday. Part of that was down to a clever choice
of tyres (and having enough wheels), but JWR was the star team on
Saturday.
Scuderia Ecosse arguably
took on that role on Sunday: winning from sixteenth, with a 25 second
penalty for having an A and a B driver – that was a tremendous
achievement. Andrew Kirkaldy didn’t like the penalty very
much (!), but even with it he and Nathan Kinch managed the win –
despite starting so far down. Had the started from the front row,
the race might have been somewhat less interesting…
GruppeM, RSR and Embassy
Racing were the other three newcomers, and each experienced much
to feel proud of. The blue Embassy Corvette, the chameleon orange
TVR and the Taiwanese colours of the GruppeM / Tech 9 GT3-RSR all
added much to the Donington event, and two of them could have won
(and nearly did – RSR just centimetres from the victory) first
time out. Jonathan Cocker did almost everything right in his first
GT race, Lawrence Tomlinson ditto. Sugden and Greensall were…
themselves. Neil Cunningham and Paula Cook – what a strong
pair they are / will become.
The 2003 regulars all
had ‘off’ weekends in one way or another. Each had its
reasons, and it’s a very positive thought that Rollcentre,
Balfe (we hope), Xero and Eclipse are potential race winners, each
with a point to make at Mondello Park. Peninsula and Damax had quite
a low key presence this time, and have more potential than shown
so far.
The dailysportscar.com
Cup races didn’t quite match the N-GT affairs, but we’re
sure that they will become just as exciting very soon. Not that
they didn’t have their own dramas and interest at Donington
– they did. Steve Wood, Gavan Kershaw, the new DRM team, the
Aero Lewis Morgan, the Rollcentre Noble, Phil Hindley’s outfit
– they all had reasons to feel very pleased, none more so
than Phil Hindley. The team owner just can’t work out why
drivers aren’t queuing to get in his Porsches. What more could
he and Jonathan Rowland do, than win both races?
There’s a pause
now before Mondello Park, and with a couple of the N-GTs heading
to Monza that weekend, and the Cup entries having a few weeks to
develop their new cars, perhaps it will be the ‘smaller’
cars that stand out next time. On the other hand, the Monaro round
Mondello is going to worth seeing….
…And
Prototypes Too
Despite a difficult winter in terms of the long term prospects for
prototype racing, short term we’re largely very encouraged
with the way things are heading. Sebring wasn’t a classic,
but that subtle change of rules preventing teams from changing the
whole back end of an R8 made for dramas in the LMP1 Class race (the
likes of McNish and Lehto in R8s was always going to make for a
great duel anyway), the Rollcentre Dallara proved the capabilities
of this chassis in 2004, the Dyson Lolas are going to be absolutely
competitive in the sprint races, while the LMP2s couldn’t
have had a more difficult event for the debut of this expanding
class.
The LMES has kick started
prototypes in Europe, and European teams are looking at completing
their 2004 seasons in North America – and running in the ALMS
in 2005. The momentum is still with existing designs though, and
while we have a situation in which Creation Autosportif is contemplating
purchasing a new Zytek, it’s hard to see the any new LMP1
projects reaching the race track in the foreseeable future. The
Nasamax and Courage hybrids are interesting cars though, and the
French manufacturer has received a real kick start with his C65,
in the LMP2 class at Le Mans.
Wouldn’t it have
been more satisfying though to see those entrants who have already
raced (or at least tested) and supported the prototype category
receiving acknowledgement for their efforts (Creation, Goddard,
Jota and particularly Racing for Holland)? There are always talking
points regarding successful and unsuccessful Le Mans entrants, of
course – and this is a debate that is fuelled by the pace
of certain cars at Paul Ricard this week.
In the course of time,
entries will be even more closely tied to results achieved, but
the four Ferrari 550 entries and Alex Job’s two (which were
declined, along with the Bentleys of course) suggest that this system
has its faults too.
The LMES looks
good though, doesn’t it (and even better in the prototype
ranks soon, we hope)? Almost without exception, every prototype
racing this year could be regarded as a private entry – well
done the private entrants!
Malcolm Cracknell
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