SILVERSTONE NAIL-BITER FOR GT TITLE FIGHTERS

Official 2009 Avon Tyres British GT Championship News and Information

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7 August 2009

SILVERSTONE NAIL-BITER FOR GT TITLE FIGHTERS

The countdown to the crowning of the new Avon Tyres British GT Champions begins in earnest at Silverstone next weekend (15/16 Aug), with seven different drivers vying for the honour and only three races - Silverstone's two-hour marathon and a brace of one-hour events next month at Brands Hatch - in which to decide the issue.

Leicestershire's racing twin brothers, David and Godfrey Jones, hold the advantage currently but it's a slim one: just four points separates the Preci-Spark Ascari drivers from Hector Lester in the Rosso Verde Ferrari, and indeed only 15 points separates the top four teams.

The Joneses and their Team Pyro-prepared machine have enjoyed a mightily impressive season - they were twice second at Oulton Park, second again in the first of the Spa races, winners for the first time at Knockhill and then finished on top again in the blistering heat of early July at Snetterton. Last time out, in the two-hour Donington race, they finished fifth after a conservative run aimed at preserving their car, and their championship lead, in very difficult wet conditions.

Preserving the car to get to the end of what will be a punishing race will be uppermost in everyone's minds at Silverstone, but the Jones brothers will also have to weigh up the fact that their points lead is probably not large enough for them to able to afford another finish off the podium.

Genial Ulsterman Lester and his extremely rapid driving partner Allan Simonsen have also enjoyed a successful season, winning GT3 at Rockingham and claiming an outright race victory at Snetterton, as well as podium finishes at Oulton, Snetterton and Spa. Lester was on the podium at Knockhill, too, where he was partnered by Stephane Daoudi.

Momo Mosler man Dan Brown, just turned 18, is fourth in the championship and still in with a very real shout of the title despite a recent run of mechanical problems which has cost his Rollcentre Racing-prepared machine valuable points. Dan won twice on his championship debut at Oulton Park, with Stuart Hall sharing the driving, and was the GT3 victor at Rockingham, where he was partnered by Gregor Fisken. Next weekend Brown will again share the Mosler's cockpit with Rollcentre boss Martin Short.

The remaining title-contending team is ABG with the Kingsbury Jig and Tool-backed Viper of Craig Wilkins and Aaron Scott. They took their maiden British GT race victory at Spa and won again in fine style at Knockhill. Reliability is a Viper strongpoint and ABG's pit work is second to none; they should be looking good at Silverstone.

There are several more potential Silverstone race winners in the field, not least the RPM Ford GT which romped to victory in the rain last month at Donington in the hands of Philip Walker and Alex Mortimer. The Ford's frugal nature will once again give the team a bigger pit window than rivals and enable it to take advantage of an early safety car interlude, as it did so successfully at Donington.

A Ferrari won at Silverstone last season, and there will be at least another three 430s out to try to repeat the feat: the Chad Racing car of Chris Hyman and Paul Warren; the VRS machine of Adam Wilcox and Phil Burton, and the beautiful new Scuderia model prepared by MTECH and driven by Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin. Cameron and Griffin both drove brilliantly at Donington and were beaten to victory by the RPM Ford by only eight seconds.

A holidaying Andrew Howard missed the Donington race but he's back for Silverstone, along with team-mate Jamie Smyth and the beautiful Beechdean-backed Aston Martin DBRS9, to bid for their maiden British GT win. Barwell Motorsport, fresh from success in the Spa 24 Hours, will be wielding the spanners and planning the strategy for the Aston, as well as for the very rapid Invitation Class Ginetta G50Z - a double outright race winner at Rockingham in May - to be driven at Silverstone byOliver Bryant and Piers Johnson.

Provisional GT3 championship placings after round 11
1=  David & Godfrey Jones  69
3  Hector Lester  65
4  Daniel Brown  60
5  Allan Simonsen  55
6=  Craig Wilkins & Aaron Scott  54
8=  Adam Wilcox & Phil Burton  39
10  Gregor Fisken  36 etc

FIRTH POISED TO CLINCH GT4 CHAMPIONSHIP HONOURS

A finish at Silverstone will effectively be enough for Jody Firth to clinch the GT4 class championship title. If his Team WFR Ginetta G50 makes it to the end of the race, there will be only one man left in the championship who could possibly wrest the crown from his hands, and that's his own team mate, Nigel Moore. And as Firth and Moore have pledged to drive together for the rest of the season, it's a no-contest knock-out for Firth.

Jody's won the class eight times from 11 races, and in seven of those wins was partnered by Moore. Ian Stinton beat him to victory at Knockhill, however, and will be out to try to repeat the feat for Stark Racing next weekend, partnered by Neil Clark. Joining the GT4 Ginettas in battle is the rapid and exciting Super Sports Class KTM X-BOW, prepared by ABG and driven by Marcus Clutton and Phil Keen.

Provisional GT4 championship placings after round 11
1  Jody Firth  61
2  Nigel Moore  52
3  Ian Stinton  37 etc

Click for hi-res version. The Philip Walker/Alex Mortimer Ford GT was the victor at Donington. Image by Jakob Ebrey Photography

For more information on the Avon Tyres British GT Championship and access to hi-res photography, please visit www.britishgt.com

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Issued on behalf of SRO by Max Communications
British F3 and British GT media contact: Nick Carter
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