The weapon of choice in GT2 might have been a regular Porsche 911 GT3R in 2000 - but Rollcentre chose nothing so predictable. Instead, its self-built TVR Cerbera Speed 6 made its debut and immediately made an impact in more ways than one – Martin Short and Rob Barff showing immediate pace before an accident on the car’s Croft debut.

Mosler had been unveiled as the Rollcentre squad’s new weapon of choice with a race appearance in the final British GT race of the season at Donington Park, alongside the Tuscan R which was still grappling for the championship (for Short and Simon Pullan). After a topsy turvy season which saw the team take four race wins, misfortune at Donington Park saw Rollcentre finish the season third in the Championship.

Rollcentre’s main effort though was focused on the British GT Championship. Tom Herridge was joined by Rob Barff for much of the early part of the season and by Martin Short for the later races (after Shorty returned from an FIA GT campaign).

There was disappointment at the Spa 24 hours mid season with a very early retirement for the Mosler, but major consolation at the Spa 1000km: an epic battle between the Rollcentre and Balfe Motorsport Moslers went right down to the wire, in a race which saw a mixed British GT and FIA SCC grid. Joao Barbosa joined the Rollcentre team for this one and his battle with Balfe’s ‘supersub’ Thomas Erdos was one which will be long remembered, the Rollcentre man finally emerging victorious after the Balfe car coughed on the very last lap, low on fuel, when victory seemed certain. That set up a three way battle for the title at Brands Hatch which saw the Balfe car eliminated very early on and the Eclipse TVR falling foul of a spinning backmarker – Herridge was British GT Champion and Rollcentre claimed its first GT title.

Another fine run in what ultimately became the last (for now at least) Bathurst 24 hour race propped up a fine season for the team - but not for Martin Short himself.

The close season purchase of a pair of the ex ORECA Dallara Judds was the first and most significant one - with the Mosler continuing in British GTs alongside another new marque to the fold, a Noble M12 GTO3R for the GT Cup class in the British Championship.

The first race outing for the Dallara – 2004 would see only one car run by the team - was at Sebring, and a mightily impressive start it was too. The Short, Barbosa and Barff entry finished in fifth place overall at one of the most punishing races on the planet.

In the LMES Patrick Pearce replaced Barff and the Dallara ran fast and reliably - before a violent shunt at Eau Rouge brought the curtain down on the season.

At Le Mans the Rollcentre Dallara had been mighty for Short, Barbosa and Barff, running fourth on pace for hour after hour and higher still in the order when others hit trouble ….until a punt from Seb Bourdais in (of all things!) a Pescarolo pushed Short off track just a few laps before something broke at the rear of the car in the very worst place possible, throwing Shorty into the wall at the Porsche Curves – game over. He wasn’t happy.

It was a brave move but the combination proved an unreliable one from its debut at Sebring through both the LMES and, with dreadful luck, at Le Mans too. By the latter part of the season it was back to Judd power for both cars.

The other car had been flying from the start of the season: three podia on the trot started the season in the LMES, with Vanina Ickx showing form that would earn her an Audi seat in the DTM for 2006. Consistency kept Rollcentre in the title hunt almost until the end of the season, the #8 car scoring points in every round - Ickx and Short driving with either Barff or later Barbosa adding some extra spice to the mix, easily enough to catch the eye of the ACO who recognise a well run car when they see one. The LMES good luck would desert #8 as well as #88 at Le Mans though: a top 20 finish was not what the team expected or hoped for but it was their first race finish at the 24 hours, a huge achievement in itself.

The black beauty was fast straight out of the box, very fast, Joao Barbosa coming very close indeed to leading the race overall at Istanbul, on the car’s debut. Shorty’s love affair with the SR9 got off to a flying start as he set a fabulous fourth fastest time, overall, in the car’s first ever official session.

The SR9 was fast everywhere but the team’s luck was dire. Le Mans was no exception to that chain, the car running superbly in the opening hours, well inside the top 10 but suffering problems that left the car too far down the order for a meaningful attack.

For truly awful luck though even that had to doff its cap to Donington Park, where a ring gear problem robbed the team of what looked like a certain class win with just minutes remaining.

That meant that the team ended the year with just one podium finish, at the Nurburgring, well below what the team expected and a series of results which belied the massive potential of the Radical.

Back at home and the team was back in the domestic GT Championship running a customer Mosler and again scoring regular podium finishes. Short’s other role as Mosler’s European distributor was beginning to kick in nicely, with the number of MT900Rs running in Europe now running into double figures.