Ferraris Dominate at Snetterton British GT

August 31st, 2010

The Ferrari F430 Scuderia claimed the lion-share of honours at Snetterton this weekend In a pair of action-packed Avon Tyres British GT Championship one-hour races. In the first race of the day Dan Brown and Tom Ferrier took the victory by a margin of ten seconds for the Chad Racing team, in a dominant display. Brown who was called-up to partner Ferrier at the eleventh-hour, made a near perfect getaway at the start to pass the Rollcentre Mosler of Martin Short and the pole-sitting Ascari of David Jones on the opening lap. From there, the Essex-based driver went on to carve out a six second lead, before handing over driver duties to his team-mate.

Former BTCC racer Ferrier continued the Chad Ferrari’s charge to the finish, until a safety-car bunched the field back together, after Matt Griffin in the MTech F430S collected a puncture and left debris strewn across the Revett Straight. Undeterred, Ferrier broke away from the pack on the restart to collect the chequered flag with a ten second buffer.

Dan Brown and Tom Ferrier scored a dominant victory in their Chad Racing Ferrari.

Making it a Ferrari one-two, Allan Simonsen brought home the Rosso Verde car with body parts flapping in the Norfolk breeze after making contact with the Rollcentre Mosler now piloted by Gregor Fiskin with just a handful of laps remaining; an action that subsequently earned the Scandinavian a £500 fine and 3 penalty points on his racing license. When Hector Lester handed the F430 Scuderia to Simonsen he had worked his way to eighth position, and the Le Mans driver carved a path up to third by the time the safety-car was deployed. With a couple of laps remaining, the Rosso Verde team were given a free pass, after Adam Wilcox in the Predator CCTV Ferrari dived into the pits from second place with a broken drive-shaft.

The demise of the Wilcox and Phil Burton’s ‘Scud’ prevented the podium from being a Ferrari clean sweep, with the Alex Mortimer and Philip Walker Team RPM Ford GT taking third spot ahead of the Rollcentre Mosler, which ground to a halt 50 yards short of the finish line with a suspected gearbox issue. Thankfully, the Fiskin and Short car was a lap ahead of the championship-leading Trackspeed Porsche when the chequered flag was waved, so they retained fourth spot.

In the second British GT race of the weekend, Matt Griffin and Duncan Cameron dominated from start to finish, to collect an unchallenged victory. Griffin, who started in the MTech Ferrari, got the jump on the rolling start to snatch the lead from Adam Wilcox by the first corner. With a clear track ahead of him, Griffin had built a lead of seven seconds by the time he handed the F430 Scuderia to Cameron, who continued the run to the chequered flag unabated.

Only a flesh-wound . . . the MTech team repaired the damage suffered in Race One, enabling Matt Griffin and Duncan Cameron to score a resounding victory in Race Two.

Whilst Cameron and Griffin’s journey to the finish was a serene one, young Dan Brown in the Chad Ferrari had to fight his way to the podium for most of his stint. When his co-driver Tom Ferrier handed over the F430 to him, Brown was in seventh position.  The 18-year-old was soon marching through the field, setting the fastest lap of the race in the process, and passing the Jones Ascari, Burton Ferrari and Lester F430 on his way to second spot.

Bouncing back from an engine problem and subsequent retirement in the first race, the Preci-Spark Ascari of Godfrey and David Jones claimed the final podium spot with just a handful of laps of the one-hour event remaining. Despite the best efforts of Rosso Verde’s Hector Lester, and Predator’s Phil Burton, the KZ1R was unstoppable on its charge to third position. Hanging onto the coat-tails of the Ascari, Martin Short’s Rollcentre Racing Mosler MT900 followed the Jones car through the Ferraris to claim fourth position ahead of Burton.

After carrying maximum success ballast and a 5mm ride height penalty, the Trackspeed Porsche struggled around the high-speed Snetterton circuit, but with a top five finish in the first race, David Ashburn continues to lead the standings table by twenty points. Buoyed by a dominant victory, Matt Griffin and Duncan Cameron head to Rounds 11 and twelve of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship at Brands Hatch knowing they need a pair of top finishes to keep their title hopes alive.

Avon Tyres British GT Championship
Provisional championship standings

GT3 & Overall
1 David Ashburn 77 points;
2= Griffin & Cameron 57;
4 Glynn Geddie 51;
5 Lester 45;
6 Simonsen 43

G4 Class
1= Dick & Stanley 49.5;
3= Rory Butcher & Benjamin Harvey 38;
5= Simon Mason & Chris Bialan 32.5