Ash Muldoon and James Kellett, in the #18 Amspeed Porsche 991, triumphed in the 90-minute race, finishing two seconds ahead of the similar machine of stablemates Dom Malone and Adam Smalley, in a race where two Safety Car periods threw some strategic challenges.
A last-gasp attempt by Malone in the short 10-minute qualifying session secured pole by just 0.165 seconds after championship newcomer Simon Griffiths, a class front-runner in another series in the Innovations Racing Ginetta G55, had set the pace, though the teams’ primary purpose was for absolute car-racing beginner Mike Chalkiopoulos to gain experience on a UK circuit.
Nathan Wells made his second Britcar appearance of the season, this time taking a class 3rd
Malone streaked ahead at the rolling start, followed by Griffiths and Muldoon, while Nathan Wells, in the Woodrow BMW GTR, split the Team BRIT McLarens of Aaron Morgan and Noah Cosby, with Mauricio Sciglio and Dave May disputing the lead of the Ginetta class, though May then dropped back into the clutches of a tight group headed by Chris Bingham’s GT-spec Ginetta and a very racy Nick Casey in a G55 Supercup; three Ginettas abreast into Redgate was never going to work, and the slightest of contact with Darren Ball’s class-leading TCR Cupra sent Casey into spin. Sadly it was race-over for lone driver Harry Barton, retiring his BMW E46 after just three laps with an oil leak, while clutch problems led to the retirement of the RSR Audi TT of Mark Jones and Marc Kemp eight laps in. Noah Cosby relieved Nathan Wells of second in the GT class, and was soon on the tail of team-mate Morgan, while Nick Casey, in a recovery drive in the Datum-run Ginetta, came upon a battle between Steve Fresle’s G55 Supercup and Johnny MacGregor’s Mazda RX8 – there was contact at Redgate, sending Casey and McGregor into half-spins, both getting back on their way again.
Calum Bates’ BMW E46 M3 helped a great showing from Woodrow Motorsport
Calum Bates led the Trophy class in the black Woodrow BMW E46, but Bryan Bransom, running on a relay basis in his orange E46 with Jas Sapra’s identical blue machine, was cutting through the pack, taking the class lead on lap 19. Griffiths found a sudden burst and pulled the Ginetta up to the rear of Malone’s leading Porsche, taking a look at Redgate, but any further opportunity was stymied by squabbling traffic, and the Innovations Ginetta was pitted to hand over to co-driver Mike Chalkiopolous to take a longish middle stint, leaving Muldoon to inherit second place, 22 seconds adrift. A slightly slower lap from Aaron Morgan allowed Team BRIT stablemate Noah Cosby to take the GT class lead he had been threatening for, and ,just as the mandatory pit stops had started, dead-on the half-hour, or one-third distance, the Safety Car was deployed – Steve Fresle’s Ginetta G55 Supercup had crashed heavily into the tyre wall after a side-on clash with James Harrison’s G56 down the Craner Curves. For those that pitted when the SC boards went out, refuelling was a no-no, which added a new dimension to strategies. Leader Malone came in, and stayed behind the wheel for a second middle stint, but Muldoon, now in the lead, stuck it out behind the Safety Car.
Jas Sapra relayed Bransom in the blue BMW, slotting into the somewhat chaotic crocodile behind Muldoon’s Porsche, which then pitted, the Aussie amateur handing over to pro-driver James Kellett – no fuel for either of the Amspeed Porsches, so that would come in the second stop. None, either, for the Woodrow twins, Calum Bates and Chris Murphy, who double-stopped during the caution period and got the delays out of the way – it seems the old benchmark that a BMW M3 with a 120-litre tank burns a litre a minute still rings true. The caution took 20 minutes out of racing time, and once the field went green again, Cosby brought his Team BRIT McLaren in for fuel and for Caleb McDuff to take over, while a few minutes later leader Malone made a second stop – the Porsche was refuelled, and Adam Smalley was installed for the remaining 38 minutes of the race, a call that prompted a whole host of other runners to do the same. Kellet made his second stop with 26 minutes of the race left, leaving Jas Sapra – yes, you read that correctly – to take the top spot in the relaying blue SGM BMW.
Martin Addison’s Aston Martin V8 Vantage at the Richards chicane
A clash between Martin Addison’s Aston Martin and Paul Fullick’s McLaren saw the Team BRIT car bedded in the gravel at the chicane, causing the deployment of the Safety Car once again. Sapra had attempted to hand the relay baton to Bransom, but a malfunctioning radio saw him pit in vain, and drive out again, leaving another surprise leader, Gus Burton in the Geoff Steel-run BMW M2 started by Lee Goldsmith, while Nick Casey was clearly having issues in an ill-handling Ginetta, a trip through the gravel causing a pit stop to tape up splitter damage. For a few laps we had the spectacle of both Bransom and Sapra circulating as the #40 relay BMW, but once the field went green again it was Bransom alone, about to be relieved of the lead by faster machinery. As the race entered the final 15 minutes, the Amspeed Porsches had their pro-drivers onboard, with Smalley and Kellett trading fastest laps as they called and responded, and with 12 minutes left on the clock, Kellett took the more-decorated of the Amspeed 991s into the lead, while around the same time, Michael Lyons , in the Raceworks Ginetta G55 started by Chris Bingham, seized the GT class lead from Caleb McDuff’s McLaren, and Bransom had to give best to Chris Murphy for Trophy honours, though it wasn’t long before Bransom was pitbound into retirement with a diff issue, a sad end to a robust and entertaining performance from himself and Sapra. And this was just one of several withdrawals towards the end of the race – first-timer Mike Chalkiopolous had put in a solid middle stint in the Innovation Racing Ginetta G55, but Simon Griffiths’ final push to get the car back into contention ended with oil and water leaking from the engine, though they were classified third in the Challenge class, while Nick Casey called it day in his taped-up Ginetta, again bagging a third in class, and Darren Ball, who had bursts of performance tempered with some issues, retired the Capture Motorsport Cupra TCR 15 minutes from the end. The final few minutes saw a lot of intense racing – none of it for position, but multi-class battles of cars on different laps, which did no favours for Kellett, who saw his lead over Smalley ebb as they negotiated the mayhem, but it was in the bag, a popular first win for Ash Muldoon, who had held it steady in his opening stint, and pro-driver James Kellett – they had played the pit stops and Safety Cars just right, enabling refuelling to ensure they could push when needed, finishing two seconds ahead of Amspeed team mates Dom Malone and Adam Smalley. “No team orders, but it’s good to spread the wins” said team boss Aaron Moulton-Smith after the race.
Third overall, and winning the GT class, was the Raceworks Ginetta G55 of Chris Bingham and Michael Lyons, another solid showing from Bingham, moving up the order in the early laps, then two early pit stops to allow Lyons a run to the flag, being particularly assertive in the closing stages to ensure that overall podium. Fourth, and second in GT, was the Team BRIT McLaren of Noah Cosby and Caleb McDuff, Cosby’s great opening stint earning him the Sunoco Driver of the Day award , while Nathan Wells admitted it was hard going as a lone driver in the Woodrow BMW GTR on his way to the final class podium. Fourth in GT was the Amspeed BMW GTR of Matthew Sanders and Jack Layton, a steady performance to 13th overall, just ahead of Martin Addison’s Aston Martin, solid again in a lone drive, while the luckless Team BRIT pairing of Aaron Morgan and Paul Fullick set the early class pace in the #68 McLaren, but got caught up in a clash, and returned after recovery and repairs, finishing nine laps down.
Chris Murphy showed his endurance mastery, taking the Trophy class win from 26th on the grid and landing Driver of the Day
The Trophy Class win was a lesson in how to run and endurance race; Chris Murphy, in the Woodrow BMW E36, started 26th on the grid, and in the early stages bided his time, taking both mandatory pit stops during the early Safety Car period, utilising the tried and tested E36 fuel consumption intelligence. As the race drew to a close, he was third overall at one point, but gave best to the faster classes, coming home fifth overall, and clinching the Rowe Driver of the Day award. By contrast, team mate Calum Bates was never off the boil in the newly re-engined Woodrow E46, seemingly always finding somebody to race with, whatever class, and toughed it out to class runner-up, a lap behind Murphy, while the run to third in class for the Geoff Steel-run BMW M2 of Lee Goldsmith and Gus Burton was torrid too – pitting both times under the Safety Car, the fuel consumption in this new machine was an unknown quantity, but Goldsmith depended on faith rather than caution in his assertive closing stint, saying “there was a lot of ‘prayering’ going on towards the end, to which the team echoed in unison, “yeah, we were all ‘prayering’”.
A well-deserved class win for Ash Woodman in the EDF Cupra TCR
Fourth and fifth were the Ginettas of Ian and Elliott Wilson and the Alexes – Turrnbull and Toth-Jones – while early progress in the MacG Racing Mazda RX8 of Johnny MacGregor and Josh Tomlinson was thwarted by a side-swipe clash which damaged the exhaust system and compromised performance, and similarly the High Row Ginetta of James and Steve Harrison endured slight contact on its way to seventh in a competitive class. The Datum pairing of Maurizio Sciglio and Marco Anastasi were more comfortable, back in their original and re-fettled Ginetta G55 Supercup, leading the Ginetta class from the start, though Dave May in the 118 Rescue G55 was a threat in the opening laps, before settling down, and coming home to the class runner up spot with co-driver Mark Skeats. Ash Woodman took a popular victory in the TCR Class – the long-term Britcar exponent has got his mojo back thanks to some expert coaching and preparation of the Cupra from Dave Farrow the EDF squad – he kept his powder dry while Darren Ball and the TSR Cupra of Rob Ellick/Fynn Jones duked it out for class honours, but Ball’s issues and five pit stops for the TSR machine gave him the mantle, which he took to the flag, nearly a lap ahead of old friends Nick Hull and Richard Avery, who were mightily pleased to be on the podium after the RACE team had burnt the midnight oil getting the Cupra ready with late-delivered parts. Chris and Jamie Hayes drove an exemplary race to bag the Cup Class win in the JLC Group Seat Supercopa, no dramas in a lights-to-flag victory, redemption for the issues endured last time out at Thruxton, while Asha Silva suffered boost issues and a longish-pit stop in her opening stint in the Team BRIT BMW M240i, and Bobby Trundley did what he always does, finishing second in class, while newcomer Matt Rainbow claimed the final podium spot, continuing gamely and staying out of trouble his little SVG-run Ginetta G40.
Sunoco Driver of the Day Noah Cosby
Rowe Driver of the Day Chris Murphy
Text: Steve Wood; photos: Chris Valentine, Stevie Borowik, Rowan Flynn and Connor Rugg.