Britcar: Brands Hatch Report
Busy day at Brands as the cars raced into the darkness
The season for first-tier motorsport is over, championships have been won, dreams fulfilled or shattered, but what to do with spare budget, loose time, and a racing car gathering dust? If it’s got a roof (or maybe even not), then Britcar is your playground, and a number of national names had posted an entry for the penultimate Britcar race, 100 minutes of the Brands Hatch Indy circuit.
The Entrants
Star attraction was the Countdown Developments TVR T400R, team owner Bert Taylor looking for "a bit of fun, and to give (regular British GT pilot) Gareth Evans more track time ". Gareth, however, was stuck on the tarmac at Rhodes airport at 5pm on Friday evening, so the experienced Ian Flux was drafted in at the last minute to replace, or share if Gareth arrived in time, which he eventually did.
Regular entrants Topcats Racing were fielding two cars, their usual Marcos complimented by a TVR Tuscan challenge car, to be driven by team boss Warren Gilbert and friend Richard Forres. “I haven’t raced for six years ”, said Warren, “and the car was built in 1998 for Michael Caine, but has been used as our two-seater trackday car for the last couple of years. I originally intended to do half the race, then retire the car, but now Richard has joined me, we’ll try for the whole distance. ”
There was another welcome back too as well to Freddie Kinchin and David Smith returned in their Mantis, and yet another example from British GT title aspirants Eclipse, fielding a car for Jeff Wyatt and a rare outing owner John Griffiths.
BTCC race-winner Paul O’Neill was partnering improving novice Fiona Leggate in her MG ZR I60, and Production class champion Luke Hines was sharing the Barwell Honda Civic Type R with Mark Lemmer.
Qualifying
Sadly, the Cunningham/ Sollis Mini failed to appear, but most of the regulars were there, and 31 cars took to the track for the mid-morning qualifying session, in damp but drying conditions.
Jon Harrison’s MG, and the Proton of Ben Salmon had spins in the opening minutes of the session, but worse was, literally, just round the corner. On his fourth flying lap, Gareth Evans slammed the TVR into the tyre wall at Clearways, and it was game over for the CDL team. The session was red-flagged whilst the car was recovered, revealing major bodywork damage, plus broken engine mounts and a smashed radiator. Back in the paddock, Evans was thumbing through the Motorsport Book of Excuses, and quoting from the chapter titled “Damp Track, Slick Tyres ”.
Restart
Once the session was restarted, the Rouse Mercedes once again topped the timesheets, with a lap of 50.126 followed by Calum Lockie in the BMW M3, and the Mardi Gras BMW E46 of Richard Meins and Simon Harrison. An impressive Warren Gilbert was next up in the Tuscan, then the Eclipse Marcos, Peter Seldon’s BMW, and the Life Motorsports BMW Z3 of Dave Kempton/Chris Wilson. Further back, the Topcats Marcos of Andrew Davies and Martin Parsons was tenth, and the similar machine of Smith/Kinchin 13th.
The buzz in the paddock pre-race was whether the full 100 minutes would be possible, since the programme was running 30 minutes late, and would potentially finish in darkness. “We race till we stop ” was the official EERC line from James Tucker, and the field was released by the pace car at 3.37 pm.
They're Off!
Julian Rouse led the pack away, but Warren Gilbert was a man on a mission, bullying his way past Cowgill and Meins at Paddock Hill Bend, and taking the lead from Rouse at the apex of Druids. Cowgill, by now was going in the opposite direction, having slipped to tenth in the opening melee, a melee which saw Chris Wilson in the BMW Z3 slide into the tyre wall at Graham Hill Bend. He pitted immediately for running repairs, but retired the car after 31 laps.
Rouse let Gilbert have his lap of glory, but was in no mood to play games, and by lap two, passed the Tuscan, and got on with the serious business of winning the race. The silver TVR now slipped back to head a train of scrapping BMWs, Seldon, Meins and Handkammer running nose to tail, in front of the similarly feuding Marcos duo of Parsons and Wyatt.
If anything, the action at the back of the field was even more intense, with two Fiestas, two Clios, a Cavalier, Beetle, and a trio of MGs all trying desperately not to be last, and testing the skills of the leaders as they encountered this bunch after five laps. Seldon had now got past Gilbert, but held the second place for barely half a lap, before the position reverted. This was the start of an epic battle that would rage lap after lap, corner after corner, until Warren began to pull clear around lap 16.
Martin Parsons was, as usual, on one of his early race charges, and having shaken off the attention of Wyatt’s Eclipse Mantis, had dispensed with Handkammer and Meins, and was now in strong pursuit of Seldon. Meins, however, was having problems with the M3, and brought it into the pits. It would restart later, but not finish the race.
Safety Car...
Lap 23, and Peter Knee had parked the Geoff Steel Racing BMW M3 in the gravel opposite the pit entrance, necessitating the safety car to be deployed. I t was too early for any driver changes, so nobody took advantage of the caution, though David Smith, whose Marcos had not yet started the race, breezed out of the pit lane and immediately laid an oil trail around the track, the smoking car pulling into the back entrance of the pits before completing a full lap.
After just three laps, the course went green again, and Parsons, aided by the safety car procession, was now poised to take Seldon, which he did a lap later, though the local BMW driver was having none of it, and retook the place after two tours, but then began to slip back, letting Parsons by again, then Handkammer as well.
Geoff Farmer in the Haas Automation BMW M3 had a lurid slide at Paddock, causing the following Honda Integra of John George to slide in sympathy, though both recovered to race on.
Pit Stops
Just before the hour mark, with 50 laps on the board, the pit stops began in earnest, and by lap 60, the race had settled down once more. During this period, Handkammer had brought the GTS Motorsport M3 in for more than a driver change, and after a lengthy stop to repair a broken bolt in the differential, Gregor Fisken took over to finish in a disappointing 20th position.
By now, the sun had set over the Foulston Centre, headlights were on, and Calum Lockie was in third position, and closing the gap on the second-placed Marcos, now with Andrew Davies at the wheel. Needles to say, Andy Rouse’s Mercedes was still in the lead, a lap in front. Richard Forres in the Tuscan was fourth, followed by John Griffiths in the Eclipse Mantis, then Alex Elliott in the BMW taken over from Peter Seldon. Lockie had passed Davies by the time the “10 minutes to go” board was displayed at 4.44pm, the officials deciding that the race should be wound up due to the increasing darkness.
Darkness Descends
With time now running out, several midfield skirmishes gained intensity. Griffiths’ Marcos was slowing in the dark, had been caught and passed by Elliott, then the lone Mark Thomas in the second Geoff Steel BMW, and was holding up a Class 3 ding-dong between Ed Pead’s Integra, and Luke Hines in the newer Civic. As the group entered Clearways, Hines tagged the back of Pead, causing them both to venture sideways onto the grass. Pead pitted immediately to fix the resulting puncture, but Hines’ damage was superficial, and he went on to win the class.
Andy Dunlop, running second in Class 4, had an untypical brush with the barriers in his MG, just minutes from the end, but nursed the car to the finish, losing position to the similar car of Paul O’Neill. But it was the leader of class 4 that was causing concern – Ben Salmon, driving the Proton alone, had not made a pit stop, by dint of which, and some good driving, he now held the class lead.
Finish!
The chequered flag fell after 76 minutes, the Rouses having completed 84 laps., with the Lockie/Cowgill BMW, and the Davies/Parsons Marcos a lap behind. Surprise fourth was the Topcats Tuscan, which was never originally expected to go the distance.
The controversial Class 4 result was decided after a short deliberation, Ben Salmon being given a two minute penalty for not pitting, handing the class win to Fiona Leggate and Paul O’Neill. “I lost a lot of places at the start, but made up a place nearly every lap ” she said. “I’ve really enjoyed it ” added O’Neill, “I was even standing by with the fire extinguisher during refuelling, and I never normally get do that sort of thing ”.
“Knackered ” was Luke Hines’ retort. “ I did about 40 minutes in the car, which is the same as a touring car race, but for some reason I’m really tired”.
Just three weeks to the last round, back at Brands on November 22nd, which, subject to confirmation, should be a night race.
Results
1 55 1 Rouse/Rouse DTM Mercedes 84 laps
2 18 2 Cowgill/Lockie BMW M3 83
3 27 1 Davies/Parsons Marcos Mantis 83
4 96 1 Gilbert/Forres TVR Tuscan 82
5 3 2 Seldon/Elliott BMW M3 81
6 47 2 Thomas BMW M3 81
7 16 3 Lemmer/Hines Honda Civic R 81
8 54 1 Griffiths/Wyatt Marcos Mantis 81
9 49 3 McInerney x 2 Honda Integra R 80
10 36 3 George/Pead Honda Integra R 79
Race report by Steve Wood
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