“I’ve done a lot of driving round here at Snetterton, a lot of it in the wet – and a lot of it in a Ginetta” That’s how Aidan Hills, who with Michael Knibbs, took a maiden Britcar overall win in the Safesite/Hills Motorsport Ginetta G55, explained his dominant performance in the closing stages of the wet 90-minute race. From the second lap of the race, when the intermittent rain began to set in, Knibbs brought the Rob Boston-assisted G55 into the overall top five, and kept there for the whole of his double stint, and it was Hills’ final dash for the lead that brought a memorable end to the race, which, despite the conditions, surprisingly was free of a Safety Car intervention.
Simon Clark’s team overcame gearbox issues to take overall and class 2nd
Sadly not making the grid was the KTM X-Bow of Matty Taylor due to a gear selection malfunction, while Greg Saunders’ Cupra failed, also with gearbox issues, on the pace lap, and the VW Golf of Henry Swanson had to be pushed off the grid. Pole sitter Mark Cunningham, in the SG Racing Porsche 991 led the pack away from the rolling start, and in the middle of the opening lap he headed a quartet of Porsches – James Caley’s Invitation entry 991, Jamie Hayes similar machine, and the 992 of Richard Avery, though windscreen wipers were already on as the cars reached the end of the Bentley Straight, a quick spin for Avery coming out of Russell for the first time convincing him that a change of rubber was needed, the same applying to the Geoff Steel pair of BMWs – Peter Moulsdale’s M2 and the M3 of Julian McBride – though sadly the luckless Moulsdale wouldn’t have the opportunity to fully appreciate the wets, as he was thwarted by gearbox issues after a few more laps. Already the conditions began to favour the more nimble GT Class cars – Simon Clark got up to second place in the FormEvo McLaren, and Richard Amos was third in the glorious-sounding Project 29:7 Ginetta GTP8, with it’s 6.2 litre Chevy-based V8 engine.
The Cunninghams were unable to translate their overall pole into a top-three finish this round but landed class 2nd
When the pit window opened, 18 minutes in, the rain had set in once again and there was a glut of takers for new rubber, and in the case of the leading SG Racing Porsche, a driver change to Peter Cunningham. Simon Clark got the best out of the first mandatory stops and as the middle stint settled down, the FormEvo McLaren led the Porsches of James Caley, Richard Avery and Peter Cunningham. Clark now held all the cards, maintaining the lead while those behind exercised varying strategies – Peter Cunningham got back into second place for a while, and lone driver Chris Murphy, despite some lurid slides and off-track excursions in the Woodrow BMW M3, had established himself in the overall top three, inheriting the race lead briefly when Clark made his second mandatory stop. Also in and out of the top three around mid-race was Michael Knibbs, serving notice of intent of what was to come, and once the second round of stops were served, Aidan Hills was installed in the Safesite Ginetta, assuming second position, and with less than 20 minutes of the race left, and with the weather worsening, began a pursuit of the lead. It took just three laps for Hills to whittle the gap down to just over a second, which Clark hung on to for a couple of laps, there was the semblance of an accidental nudge, and some slippy/slidey side-by-side action before the Ginetta seized the lead and pulled out a gap of just over eight seconds at the flag, with both Hills and Clark showing their prowess in the damp conditions.
Another Trophy class win for Carl Garnett and Jonathan Moore
It was the GT Class cars that held sway over the Challenge cars during this race – the Invitation entry Uber GT Porsche was third overall, James Caley handing over to son Bill Caley to rock around the rest of the clock after a double opening stint, and despite Mark Cunningham’s final blast in the SG Racing Porsche, fifth overall and second in the Challenge class was the best he could achieve. Jamie and Chris Hayes, in their second race in the EST Performance Porsche, and the first time in the wet, wee a cautious third in class, while the early extra pit stop for wets for the Porsche of Richard Avery and Nick Hull consigned them to fourth in class. Chris Murphy had fun in the wet, the Woodrow team played the strategy right, and the final GT podium spot was a fitting result for the BMW E46, while veteran protagonist Colin White hauled the CWS Ginetta from the back of the grid to claim the fourth GT place, ahead of the Project 29:7 Ginetta GTP8 of Richard Amos and Sam Smith- the pair did well to harness the power of the 6.2 litre V8 in the conditions, and Smith pedalled the fastest car on track in the closing stages of the race.
Chris Murphy shone again in the Woodrow Motorsport BMW M3 E46 – which was more than the weather did
The three-hander Army Sports Car Ginetta had some grassy moments, and the trio of Candler, Gilding and Ashmore came home sixth, ahead of the Constructive X UBIQ BMW GT4, with Pro-driver Nathan Wright consolidating Andrew Dawber’s opening double stint, while Maurizio Sciglio and Marco Anastasi ‘s disappointing season saw their Ginetta eighth, and Julian McBride’s early additional pit stop for a tyre change saw him finish ninth in the Geoff Steel-run BMW M3. The Trophy Class win was a magnificent victory for the Project 29:7 team – the Ginetta G56 GTA was subject to a Friday all-nighter by the team, and a hurriedly-delivered diff was fitted just before qualifying; still not quite right, Carl Garnett foresaw a stint of driving around the issues, but claimed the class lead after the first round of pit stops, handing over to youngster Jonathan Moore, who took it to a convincing class win, a team effort which, along with the performance of the GTP8 car, won the squad the Outstanding Achievement award. Archie Buttle’s Vortice Motorsport Ginetta held the class lead at the start, but a lengthy first pit stop thwarted the chance of victory, with Ash Woodman claiming third in class in the unique EDF-run Ligier JS2R, while it was a torrid time for the Race Car Experience VW Golf – a brake issue in practice, and a gear selection problem at the start of the race led to a finish four laps adrift for Henry Swanson and Olly Allen.
Overall podium
Sunoco Driver of the Day went to Micheal Knibbs
Team Project 29:7 landed Britcar Achievement Award
Words: Steve Wood; photos: Stevie Borowik and Paul Cherry