Click story to download hi-res PDF - Allan Simonsen

British GT
season review
Viper Duo
bites ferrari
James Gornall and Jon barnes took a fine Gt
title for brookspeed. by KeViN turNer
The second year of the GT3 class
headlining the British championship
proved even more competitive than the
first. An influx of young drivers and
top cars resulted in victories for four
marques and eight different crews
over the 14 races.
After setting the pace for much of last
year the Ferrari 430 became the popular choice and
new squad CR Scuderia provided a serious challenge.
Yet it was an old combination who won through. A
Dodge Viper driven by two young hotshoes took the
crown again, this time courtesy of a one-car
Brookspeed entry for Jon Barnes and James Gornall.
In terms of raw pace the Ferrari was still the thing to
have. The Italian machine scored eight pole positions
and five fastest laps. It also won seven events, but the
Viper again proved to be a tough opponent come race
day. Barnes and Gornall also had the advantage of
being the most competitive Viper line-up, whereas
the Ferrari crews spread the points between them.
New squad CRS seemed to have all the right
ingredients to take the title, as their teams’ crown
demonstrated. The well-drilled squad had three 430s
and each proved capable of winning. Indeed, the team
attracted some criticism at the start of the year when it
planned to place Porsche Carrera Cup champ James
Sutton with series veteran Luke Hines.
Series organiser SRO then reclassified Hines as a
Grade-A driver, and with a 30-second penalty handed
to any crew with two Grade-As, CRS simply changed
the line-ups. Sutton was paired with Formula 3 convert
Michael Meadows, while Hines teamed up with
ex-Formula Renault race winner Jeremy Metcalfe.
Despite the changes there were still grumbles about
the CRS line-up – though nobody complained about
the Barnes/Gornall pairing – so it was perhaps fitting
that CRS’s third squad, of Ferrari Challenge veterans
Michael Cullen and Paddy Shovlin, won the Oulton
Park opener. They rarely led CRS’s challenge, but the
Irishmen were dogged and hard competitors and they
added another two victories during the season (albeit
only after the disqualification of the top four finishers
at Knockhill). They also proved tough to pass, as Cullen
demonstrated at Brands Hatch and Donington Park.
In the end they split their team-mates in the table.
Sutton was the fastest at CRS, but his car seemed to
attract more than its fair share of bad luck. At Oulton
a likely podium was lost with a brake problem, while
engine issues cost them good finishes at Brands and
Donington. But it wasn’t just unreliability that handed
Aston’s DBRS9 was still a
contender in Bentwood’s hands
Strong Ferrari challenge
failed to defeat Viper pairing
the advantage to Brookspeed.
Whereas Barnes and Gornall demonstrated an
uncanny ability to stay out of trouble, the CRS drivers
– Meadows in particular – got involved in several
scrapes. Perhaps it was the tough competition among
the Ferraris, or the lack of GT experience, but CRS’s
drivers lost a lot of points through panel-bashing.
At Knockhill Meadows crashed out of both races,
once on oil and once after a clash with another car,
while at Brands he came off worst after a collision with
Nick Foster’s Viper while they disputed second. Sutton
might have been CRS’s star, but the various problems
of his number 14 machine, often when he wasn’t sitting
in it, left him and Meadows ninth in the standings.
Hines and Metcalfe suffered too, but didn’t lose so
many points. Their woes included gearbox problems at
Oulton and the loss of a potential victory in the chaos
of the Thruxton pitlane, as the entire field came in at
once and tripped over itself as cars tried to get out.
Metcalfe proved the faster and one wonders what a
Sutton-Metcalfe line-up might have achieved.
All of CRS’s troubles allowed Barnes and Gornall to
wrap up the drivers’ title at Brands in July, but that’s
not to say they reversed into it. Although they scored
no poles or fastest laps all season, they were worthy
winners. They were evenly matched, the Grade-B
Gornall usually being within a few tenths of ex-Formula
Palmer Audi champion Barnes, and they set the car up
with a view to be consistently quick throughout a
session. They also had similar driving styles and both
proved capable of storming through the field.
Two key moments for Brookspeed came early in
the season. All the Vipers were given engine restrictor
The Lamborghinis
proved fast but fragile
Scott/Wilkins: unlucky
not to take a victory
breaks in time for Rockingham. Thereafter the quicker
drivers of the V10-engined cars found it relatively easy
to overtake the nimble Ferraris, which often qualified
ahead. Brookspeed’s first win came at Rockingham.
The second important meeting was the next one, at
Snetterton. There Barnes and Gornall both charged
through the pack and scored a first and a second.
Indeed, that tally would have read two victories had it
not been for the one-off appearance of the Ford GT,
driven by 2007 champs Alex Mortimer and Bradley
Ellis. That car’s pace upset several teams, but Barnes
and Gornall still left the Norfolk venue with a 16-point
series lead. And they never looked like losing it.
Gornall defeated Meadows in a straight fight at
Thruxton, while Barnes passed both Sutton and Cullen
at Brands on his way to taking the duo’s fourth victory
of the season. Only after the title was won did technical
issues prevent Brookspeed from taking podiums.
The other big squad in the series, RPM, won the
title last year with a Viper and should have been a
contender this season. Ex-BTCC racer Paul O’Neill
started 2008 as the fastest Dodge driver and colleagues
Steve Clark, Oliver Bryant, Nick Foster and Nigel
Redwood all showed the potential to run on the pace.
And yet it never really came together, perhaps because
the outfit was stretched running a three-car Ginetta
GT4 team as well as the Vipers.
There were highlights: Clark and O’Neill won at
Rockingham after Lamborghini driver Leo Machitski
dropped it while leading behind the safety car; Bryant
was stunning in qualifying at Brands and was only just
beaten by polemaster Allan Simonsen; and Foster led
at Donington. But a range of problems from punctures
CRS had too many incidents.
This is Meadows at Knockhill
Simonsen had the pace,
but only won once
to engine failures, via driver disqualifications, took the
bite out of the team’s attack.
Bryant and Foster also didn’t seem to gel and that,
combined with budget problems for Clark and O’Neill,
resulted in driver swapping that ended any thoughts
of a top finish in the drivers’ standings.
Ahead of the RPM drivers was the fastest man in the
championship. Last year there was the feeling that
Simonsen had a car advantage over most of his rivals,
but with the influx of strong Ferrari squads that was
clearly not the case in 2008. Yet the Dane was clearly
the pacesetter, scoring more poles (four) and more
fastest laps (three) than anyone else.
The Christians in Motorsport Ferrari nevertheless
won just once, and even that was thanks to the
Thruxton pitlane farce. Car owner Hector Lester, who
won four times last year, just wasn’t able to stay close
enough to the hotter pace of the 2008 frontrunners.
That did at least set up some brilliant fightbacks from
Simonsen, the best of which probably came in race one
at Brands, where he stole second from Cullen at the
last corner on the final lap.
Occasionally troubling Simonsen on pace were the
leading Lamborghini Gallardo runners, but they were
rarely around at the end. A win for Tech 9 at Oulton –
courtesy of Tom Ferrier and Oliver Morley – promised
much. Machitski and Jason Templeman (Tech 9) then
added poles at Rockingham, and Adam Jones (Team
Modena) was as quick as anyone on his appearances.
But that was as good as it got.
Electrical problems whenever it rained and a serious
lubrication issue that resulted in engine failures in
high-g corners were probably the worst of the
toP 10 driVerS
1 AllAn
SimonSen
The class act of
the series. Often
set the pace and
put on some great charges
when required. FIA GT racer
deserved more than one win
3 Jon
BArneS
Fractionally
quicker than
team-mate
Gornall. Barnes also did a lot of
overtaking, including a great
opening stint at Snetterton
5 JAmeS
GornAll
Key factor in
Brookspeed’s title
success. Always
on the pace in the races, in only
his second full season of racing
and his first in GTs
7 Jeremy
metcAlfe
Formula Renault
convert outpaced
his more
experienced team-mate Luke
Hines. The pair’s consistency
made them top CRS pairing
9 mAtt
Griffin
Unsung hero
of the season.
Storming past
Adam Wilcox and all three CRS
cars at Thruxton was one of the
drives of the year
nAtionAl reView
2 JAmeS
Sutton
Impressive first
season in Brit GT.
Sutton was the
fastest of the CRS drivers and
rarely made a mistake. Bad luck
hampered his challenge
4 AAron
Scott
As quick as
anyone in a Viper
in the second half
of the season. Formed a fine
partnership with Wilkins in a
true pro-am line-up
6 michAel
Bentwood
Upped his game
from last year and
single-handedly
reminded everyone that the
DBRS9 was still a contender.
Fine Thruxton pole a highlight
8 michAel
cullen
Cullen and
Shovlin surprised
with their pace in
2008. Cullen just gets the nod
thanks to his hard-fought
battles against Simonsen
10 PAul
o’neill
Didn’t complete
the full season,
but the former
BTCC race winner led RPM’s
charge early on and was often
the quickest Viper driver
Gallardo’s flaws. Tech 9 and Team Modena faded as
the year went on. Machitski’s spin behind the safety car
at Rockingham merely rubbed salt in the wounds.
Of the other runners experienced GT racers Aaron
Scott, Michael Bentwood and Matt Griffin stood out.
Craig Wilkins’ ABG Motorsport stepped up from
Porsche racing to run a Viper and Scott led the team’s
attack. It took a while for ABG to get a handle on the
car, but once it did the pair flew.
Wilkins became one of the quickest genuinely
amateur drivers in the series and Scott was often top
Viper man in the second half of the year. The win never
came thanks to a catalogue of misfortune. A loose floor
put them out while leading at Thruxton and a puncture
ended their Brands challenge. At Silverstone the luck
seemed to have changed, despite an early puncture
and spin, and Scott led in the closing stages. But the
car stuttered low on fuel, allowing Sutton by to win.
ABG has unfinished business heading into 2009.
Griffin and Bentwood also failed to take victories
thanks to their team-mates. Griffin never looked like
winning, with Peter Bamford being one of the slowest
drivers in GT3, and had to content himself with various
charges through the field – on occasion he was almost
as impressive as Simonsen.
Bentwood, revelling in the high-speed handling of
the Aston Martin DBRS9, handed co-driver Tom
Alexander a lead in race two at Thruxton with just
a couple of laps to go. Gornall easily overcame
Alexander, who then spun down to eighth. Bentwood
also led at Silverstone, but was forced to withdraw as
he had no co-driver! With the absence of crack Aston
squad Barwell Motorsport, Bentwood’s efforts ➜
88 autosport.com November 27 2008 November 27 2008 autosport.com 89
All pics: EbrEy/lAT

All pics: EbrEy/lAT
nevertheless proved the DBRS9 can still be a force.
The new Porsche 997 GT3 S and Ascari KZ1R also
proved fast but Trackspeed withdrew the German
machine after early equalisation measures hampered it.
Eurotech temporarily followed when the Godfrey
Jones/David Jones KZ1R lost its maiden win – at
Knockhill – thanks to a yellow flag infringement.
The competition was undoubtedly stronger in British
GT this year, as the struggles of Lester and Eurotech
demonstrated, but there were also a lot more clashes.
As well as serious accidents for Hunter Abbott
(Oulton), Piers Johnson (Oulton) and Ellis (Thruxton),
there were many car-crunching fights.
Hopefully that can be reduced next year without the
loss of close racing. RPM has stopped its GT4 project
and will run Ford GTs alongside its Vipers in GT3. CRS
will be back too with a big effort, but don’t count out
anyone. Just as with Mortimer and Ellis last year,
Barnes and Gornall underlined the fact that winning
the title in the GT3 era is about getting a well-balanced
and consistent driver line-up. The whole point of GT3
is that the driver combinations make the difference,
and it seems to be working.
➜
IMS led successful Ginetta
charge in new GT4 class
2008 British GT3 Championship
Pos Driver Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Points
1 Jon Barnes/James Gornall Brooskpeed Dodge Viper Coupe 21st 6th 2nd 2nd 1st 13th 1st 2nd 3rd 1st 1st 7th DNF 8th 76
3 Jeremy Metcalfe/Luke Hines CR Scuderia Ferrari 430 GT3 10th DQ 1st 8th 5th 6th 3rd 7th 7th 2nd 9th 2nd 3rd 1st 62
5 Michael Cullen CR Scuderia Ferrari 430 GT3 1st 4th DQ 1st 8th 16th 11th 4th 8th 4th 4th 1st DNF 2nd 60
6 Paddy Shovlin CR Scuderia Ferrari 430 GT3 1st 4th DQ 1st 8th 16th - - 8th 4th 4th 1st DNF 2nd 55
7 Allan Simonsen/Hector Lester Christians in Motorsport Ferrari 430 GT3 3rd 5th 15th DQ 12th 2nd 9th 5th 1st 5th 2nd DNF DNF 3rd 50
9 James Sutton/Michael Meadows CR Scuderia Ferrari 430 GT3 DNF 2nd DNF 10th 3rd 3rd 6th 3rd 9th 3rd DNF 13th 1st DNF 47
11 Aaron Scott/Craig Wilkins ABG Motorsport Dodge Viper Coupe 9th DQ 3rd 3rd 7th 18th 15th 9th 2nd DNF 5th 3rd 2nd DNF 40
13 Steve Clark Team RPM Dodge Viper Coupe 5th 3rd DNF DQ DNF 1st 14th 10th 11th DNF 3rd 8th - - 27
14 Nick Foster Team RPM Dodge Viper Coupe 6th 9th 17th DQ 4th 4th 12th 8th DNF DNF DNF 6th 4th DNF 22
15 Oliver Bryant Team RPM Dodge Viper Coupe 6th 9th 17th DQ 4th 4th 12th 8th 11th DNF 3rd 8th - - 21
16 Paul O’Neill Team RPM Dodge Viper Coupe 5th 3rd DNF DQ DNF 1st 14th 10th - - - - - DNF 20
17 Michael Bentwood 22GTRacing Aston Martin DBRS9 8th 8th 6th DQ 6th 12th DNS 12th 5th 8th 8th 4th DNF DNF 19
18= Matt Griffin/Peter Bamford, Chad Ferrari 430 GT3, Alex Mortimer/Bradley Ellis, Matech/RPM Ford GT, Piers Johnson, Team Modena
Lamborghini Gallardo, & Tom Ferrier/Oliver Morley, Tech 9 Lamborghini Gallardo, 18; 25 Adam Wilcox/Phil Burton, VRS Ferrari 430 GT3, 17;
27 Adam Jones, Team Modena Lamborghini Gallardo, 14; 28 David Ashburn, Trackspeed Porsche 997 GT3 S, 13; 29 Leo Machitski, Tech 9
Lamborghini Gallardo, 12; 30 Richard Williams, Trackspeed Porsche 997 GT3 S, 11; 31 Gavan Kershaw, Cadena Aston Martin DBRS9, 9; 32
Jonny Cocker, Tech 9 Lamborghini Gallardo, 8; 33= Godfrey Jones/Adam Jones, Eurotech Ascari KZ1R, & Tom Alexander, 22GTRacing Aston
Martin DBRS9, 7; 36 Adrian Willmott, 22GTRacing Aston Martin DBRS9, 6; 37= Barrie Whight, Cadena Aston Martin DBRS9, Marco Mapelli,
CR Scuderia Ferrari 430 GT3, & Guy Harrington/Ben de Zille Butler, Chad Ferrari 430 GT3/Team Modena Lamborghini Gallardo, 5; 41= Rachel
Green, Team Modena Lamborghini Gallardo, & Jason Templeman, Tech 9 Lamborghini Gallardo, 4; 43 Anthony Reid/Richard Marsh, Chad
Ferrari 430 GT3, 3; 45 Tim Harvey, Trackspeed Porsche 997 GT3 S, & Nigel Greensall/Duncan Cameron, M-Tech Ferrari 430 GT3, 2.
2008 British GT4 Championship
The inaugural British GT4 Championship was utterly
dominated by Ginetta’s G50. The controversial car
won every round, and IMS Motorsport pairing Matt
Nicoll-Jones and Stewart Linn took the title with
podium finishes in every single event.
The pace of the G50 scared almost everyone
else out of the category, with only a pair of Aston
Martins and Promotorsport’s Nissan 350Z racing
against them. That state of affairs has already forced
SRO into creating a new series, Supersports, into
which more race-focused cars like the G50 will go.
Fortunately, there was tough battling within the
Ginetta ranks. Nicoll-Jones starred, only being
outqualified in the class twice, but ex-Formula 3
race winner Rob Austin and Joe Osborne proved
capable of challenging.
Osborne led RPM’s three-car effort, but was
hampered by an almost unbelievable run of bad
luck, largely with the G50’s gearbox. Not only quick,
he kept the car on the island. When joined by G50
Cup sensation Nigel Moore, Osborne stood up well.
The pair dominated at Brands Hatch and would
surely make a fine GT3 pairing.
As was to be expected from a former F3
frontrunner, Austin was usually on the pace, but his
season started badly when co-driver Hunter Abbott
had one of the biggest crashes ever seen in British
GT at the Oulton opener. The pair fought back,
taking three wins, but the consistency of Linn and
Nicoll-Jones kept the IMS pair well out of reach.
The only real non-Ginetta GT4 highlight came at
Key to races: 1/2 Oulton Park, March 22 & 24; 3/4 Knockhill, April 12-13; 5/6
Rockingham, May 25-26; 7/8 Snetterton, June 7/8; 9/10 Thruxton, June 28/29; 11/12
Brands Hatch GP, July 12/13; 13 Silverstone, August 17; 14 Donington Park, October 12.
Points system: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 for the top eight finishers
Key: DNF=Did not finish; DNS=Did not start; DQ=Disqualified
Additional winners: Morley/Ferrier (Tech 9 Lamborghini Gallardo) won race two at Oulton.
Mortimer/Ellis (Matech/RPM Ford GT) won race two at Snetterton, after finishing second
in race one
Pos Driver Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Points
1 Matt Nicoll-Jones/Stewart Linn IMS Motorsport Ginetta G50 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 1st 2nd 3rd 1st 1st 2nd 3rd 1st 1st 1st 124
3 Rob Austin/Hunter Abbott Rob Austin Racing Ginetta G50 DNF DNS 1st DNF 2nd 1st 1st 2nd 3rd DQ 2nd 3rd 3rd 2nd 80
5= Joe Osborne Team RPM Ginetta G50 1st DNF DNF DNF 3rd 3rd 7th 3rd DNF 1st 4th 3rd 2nd DNF 61
5= Fulvio Mussi Team RPM Ginetta G50 3rd 2nd 3rd 2nd 3rd 3rd 2nd 4th 2nd DNF - - - - 61
7 Phil Bailey Team RPM Ginetta G50 6th 5th 5th 3rd 4th 4th 5th 7th 5th 3rd 5th 4th 5th DNF 56
8 Steve Tandy Team RPM Ginetta G50 6th 5th 5th 3rd - - 5th 7th 5th 3rd 5th 4th 5th - 46
9 Ian Stinton Stark Racing Ginetta G50 5th 6th 6th 4th DNS 6th 4th 8th 4th 4th 6th DNF 4th DNF 42
10 Nigel Redwood Team RPM Ginetta G50 - - 3rd 2nd 6th 5th 2nd 4th - - - - - - 40
11 Nigel Moore, RPM Ginetta G50, 38; 12 Neil Clark, Stark Racing Ginetta G50, 37; 13 Andrew Howard/Jamie Smyth, Beechdean Aston
Martin Vantage N24, 25; 15 Richard Evans, RPM Ginetta G50, 21; 16 Charlie Hollings, RPM Ginetta G50, 14; 17= Michael Broadhurst, RPM
Ginetta G50, & Derek Palmer, Promotorsport Nissan 350Z, 10; 19 Peter Snowdon/Mark Thomas, Chad Aston Martin Vantage N24, 7; 21
Jamie Robinson, RPM Ginetta G50, 6; 22 Colin Willmott, RPM Ginetta G50, 4.
toP 3 driVerS
nAtionAl reView
BritiSh Gt4
Ginetta hordes unbeatable in new category
Snetterton. Former GT Cup Class champion Jamie
Smyth scored a pole for Beechdean’s immaculately
prepared Aston N24, and team boss Andrew Howard
led race one. Alas, a charging Moore tried an
optimistic move into the Bomb Hole and fired
Howard into the wall.
Frustrated at what it saw as a lack of parity with
the Ginettas, Beechdean then left the series for
Britcar. The move to restore ‘proper’ GTs back to GT4
for 2009 has already tempted them back with two
cars. It is hoped that further teams and marques will
follow to build on what was an entertaining – if
rather one-sided – start for the category in Britain.
1 mAtt nicoll-JoneS
Former Ginetta G20 champion was the top
performer in the G50 ranks. Part of great pairing
with Stewart Linn that dominated the class
2 Joe oSBorne
Impressive season, given his inexperience,
demonstrating pace and consistency. All but
matched Nigel Moore when G50 ace stepped in
3 roB AuStin
Ex-Formula 3 race winner was always there or
thereabouts in GT4, despite a trying season in
which his car was reduced to a wreckage early on
Key to races: 1/2 Oulton Park, March 22 & 24; 3/4 Knockhill, April 12-13; 5/6
Rockingham, May 25-26; 7/8 Snetterton, June 7/8; 9/10 Thruxton, June 28/29; 11/12
Brands Hatch GP, July 12/13; 13 Silverstone, August 17; 14 Donington Park, October
12. Points system: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 for the top eight finishers
Key: DNF=Did not finish; DNS=Did not start; DQ=Disqualified
November 27 2008 autosport.com 91

Britcar
season review
baLListiC
britCar
it was another great year in
the world of britcar. by steVe
WooD and KeViN turNer
Britcar’s eclectic field put on some great
racing in 2008, the second year in which
it had championship status. Moslers
usually set the pace, but the overall titles
once again fell to teams in the lower
categories. Ian Lawson and ex-Formula 1
racer Mike Wilds took the drivers’ title, as
well as the production cup, while Rod
Barrett and Jan Persson won the GT crown.
The season opened with a demonstration that, in the
right circumstances, a BMW can still run at the front. In
the blizzard conditions at Silverstone, the win went to a
BMW saloon in the hands of Harry Handkammer and
the late David Leslie as the GT cars struggled.
One marker, though, was laid down on that snowy
March afternoon – ex-Tuscan Challenge racers Barrett
and Persson took a surprise Class 2 win. Thereafter,
they were never off the podium and, assisted at some
races by Jay Shepherd, their Neil Garner-prepared
Porsche 996 went on to take the Britcar GT Cup. It
went down to the wire and going into the Brands
Hatch night-time finale it was mathematically possible,
taking dropped scores and double-points Jokers into
consideration, that Henry Firman and 2007 overall
champion Steve Bell – in the Jaz Motorsport Porsche
911 – could have seized the title. But in the end they
All pics: GAry HAwkins
Lawson and Wilds took
overall crown in BMW
couldn’t unseat the Anglo-Swede combo.
That the overall GT title battle was fought by the
Class 2 competitors highlighted the parity and
reliability of the lower-powered GT machines against
the capriciousness of the faster Class 1 runners. Here,
the Moslers reigned supreme, and front-end honours
were generally contested by the Eclipse car of Michael
and Sean McInerney and Andrew Beaumont/Henry
Taylor in the Topcats machine.
It was the Eclipse car generally in front, though two
wins slipped away due to a last-corner retirement
(Snetterton) and time penalty (Silverstone). The
Topcats car was always waiting in the wings to seize
the opportunity, but Taylor’s storming drive from the
pitlane – a lap down – at Brands Hatch mid-season
proved they could do it on merit. Their more consistent
results earned them the Class 1 title.
The Kevin Riley/Ian Flux Mosler and Dennis Leech’s
TVR Sagaris both posted overall wins, but the points
tally shows that Witt Gamski/Keith Robinson (MJC
Ferrari 360, through hard driving and consistency), and
Duncan Cameron/David Back/Mike Edmonds (M-Tech
Ferrari 430, by stealth) were the better overall
performers. Former frontrunners Richard Chamberlain
(Porsche 935) and Mick Mercer/Richard Fores (Marcos
Mantis) found the going tough against the new
opposition, and didn’t contest the full season.
The Topcats Marcos Mantis had a mixed bag of
drivers through the season, which reflected in the
results, though Neil Huggins – returning after a fouryear
absence – put in some stirring performances. The
Jemco team got serious this year, and developed their
Ginetta G50 with the factory’s blessing, though Kevin
Hancock, Leigh Smart and Nick Reynolds got caught
up too many times in other people’s issues.
The saloons had their own title to contest – the
Britcar Production Cup – and despite a virtual clean
sweep of Class 4 wins Ian Lawson, with Mike and
Anthony Wilds, switched teams mid-season. With
Torquespeed looking after the BMW 320i, they
confirmed both of their titles at the final round, playing
their joker. “I never thought I’d be racing at my age, let
alone winning championships,” said Wilds Snr.
Once again, the non-championship Silverstone 24
Hours proved a highlight of the Britcar season, despite
the serious crash suffered by TVR racer Andy Neate. In
the longer event the Mosler teams struggled and came
up against strong opposition in the form of ex-
American Le Mans Series cars from Paragon
Motorsport (Porsche
997 RSR) and Strakka
Racing (BMW M3 E46).
It was Paragon who
came back from a
driveshaft failure to take
Porsche’s first overall
victory in the four-year
history of the event,
chased by the trio of
incredibly reliable
Aston Martin N24s.
The 24 Hours has
unfortunately fallen by
the wayside next year,
but a new class structure
will allow some of the
event’s most spectacular
cars to compete in the
full championship. So
long as that doesn’t
scare off the smallercapacity
runners, it
should provide another
great spectacle as the
championship enters
its third season.
nAtionAl reView
GT crown fell to Class 2
runners Persson/Barrett
The Mosler runners set the
pace in Britcar this season
Britcar 2008
Final standings
Britcar Drivers’ champions
ian Lawson/mike Wilds
BmW 320i
Britcar Gt cup
rod Barrett/Jan persson/Jay shepherd
porsche 996
Britcar proDuction cup
Lawson, m Wilds /anthony Wilds
BmW 320i
cLass 1
andrew Beaumont /henry taylor
mosler Gt3
cLass 2
rod Barrett/Jan persson/Jay shepherd
porsche 996
cLass 3
adrian Watt/chris Wilson/peter Duke
BmW m3
cLass 4
Lawson/m Wilds/a Wilds
BmW320i
November 27 2008 autosport.com 93