Two wins at Rockingham propelled Alex Mortimer and Bradley Ellis from outside title contenders to 2007 Avon Tyres British GT Champions.
The Team RPM drivers arrived at Rockingham eight points behind Guy Harrington and Ben de Zille Butler and their testing pace suggested that it was going to be an uphill struggle for the weekend but they would give it their best shot. Things improved in qualifying with Alex Mortimer putting the Viper on the second row behind Jason Templeman in the Team Modena Lamborghini and Matt Harris in the resurgent Tech9 Porsche 997. Mortimer was happy because Ben de Zille Butler had qualified the Aston Martin in 10th and Paul Drayson in the other Aston had only managed to secure 11th. Qualifying for Round 14 saw Bradley Ellis take 7th place, five places behind Jonny Cocker and two places ahead of Guy Harrington. Pole position for the race went to Allan Simonsen, keeping Hector Lester’s title hopes alive.
The first 60-minute race of the weekend got underway on Saturday afternoon and with Templeman, in his first race in the Team Modena Lambo, set the early pace but it was Mortimer who made up ground, moving ahead of Harris on the opening lap and then passing the Lambo on lap 6 to hit the front. The order at the front stayed this way until the pitstops when Mortimer and Harris pitted at the same time. The Tech9 crew had the better stop and Tom Ferrier regained the track ahead of Bradley Ellis. Adam Jones, now at the wheel of the Lamborghini, was back in 5th, just ahead of Jonny Cocker in the bio fuel Aston Martin. Jones and Cocker started to move up the order, picking off Erik Zwart in the Berlanga Ascari and then Nick Foster in the second Team RPM Viper.
Meanwhile back at the front Ferrier continued to hold off the hard charging Ellis but after many attempts Ellis put the nose of the Viper down the inside of the Porsche on the run into Deane on lap 34 and once ahead set off to secure the team’s third win of the 2007 season. Ten points for first place put Ellis and Mortimer back into contention for the title, heading into the last race just two pints behind Cocker and Drayson who had finished the race in 4th place. Harrington and de Zille Butler were also still in the hunt two points behind Ellis and Mortimer but were struggling for pace at Rockingham in their Aston Martin DBRS9.
The scene was set for a great showdown for the final race of the 2007 season. Simonsen led off the line in the CiM Ferrari with Adam Wilcox in the VRS Motor Finance Ferrari storming through from 5th on the grid to end the opening lap in 2nd, dropping Jonny Cocker to 3rd. Bradley Ellis was making steady progress, overtaking Tommy Erdos in the Damax Ascari on lap 10 and then Nigel Redwood two laps later to get on terms with Cocker at the pit window approached.
Once the pitstops had finished Hector Lester was leading the race thanks to Simonsen’s hard work with Phil Burton now at the wheel of the VRS Ferrari. However Alex Mortimer had moved ahead of Paul Drayson and was challenging the two leading Ferrari’s by lap 27. Mortimer picked off Burton at Gracelands and then closed up on Lester, taking the lead with less than 10-minutes of the race remaining. Paul Drayson had a spin at Deane, dropping the Aston Martin down the order and along with it his dreams of taking the British GT title.
At the flag it was Mortimer who punched the steering wheel with delight at the Team RPM crew lined the pitwall to welcome home the new British GT Champion. It was a double celebration for the team as Nick Foster brought the second Viper home in second place to take his and Nigel Redwoods first podium of the year ahead Hector Lester. Despite the spin Paul Drayson and Jonny Cocker finished 7th, which was good enough to secure them the runners up position in the championship.
The GTC Class wins went to the Beechdean Ferrari 360 of Aaron Scott and Andrew Howard. Second place in the first race of the weekend was enough to secure the GTC Class title for Graeme Mundy and Jamie Smyth. However the RSS Performance Porsche’s ECU decided to fail on Sunday morning forcing the newly crowned champions to sit on the pitwall for the final race of the season.
The move to GT3 as the main class in British GT has proven to be a great success with the title going down to the wire. Wins for Aston Martin, Dodge, Ferrari and Porsche has made the 2007 Avon Tyres British GT Championship the most closely contested series in the UK this season.
Same again next year please!
Remember if you missed the races at Rockingham you can catch them on Channel 4 and Motors TV. Full TV listings on the championship website at www.britishgt.com