Kinch and Kirkaldy Dominate First Race of British GT Championship at Donington

03 April 2005

Andrew Kirkaldy and Nathan Kinch were untouchable at Donington Park today, claiming a resounding victory in the first race of the 2005 British GT season, a two-hour race around the 1.9573 national circuit. Starting from pole in the nr 35 Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari 360 Modena, Kirkaldy pulled out an unassailable lead, allowing the team to change drivers without losing the lead. Nathan Kinch crossed the line 41 seconds ahead of the nr 43 LNT TVR 400 of Patrick Pearce and Warren Hughes, having completed 101 laps in the allotted time. The second Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari of Chris Niarchos and Tim Mullen was third.

With pole position and two cars in the top three, Scuderia Ecosse has made a near-perfect start to the season. "The car went perfectly all weekend, so we have nothing to complain about. We decided not to change the tyres when I handed the car over to Nathan [Kinch]. We were intending to put on new tyres, but the car felt so reasonable, and as many other cars didn't change, we stuck with the ones we had," Andrew Kirkaldy commented after the race.

His fellow team-mate Tim Mullen, who came third in the second Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari, was equally delighted about the race: "When I took over from Chris Niarchos we put on new tyres and went out. We caught the Embassy car and the Jones brothers were about 25 seconds ahead. After we overtook them after about 15mins I was able to pull away. I know second place was too far ahead so I was happy settling with third position. I am very happy, because it is a new car for me and Chris."

Patrick Pearce fought his way up from fifth on the grid, and claimed second place on lap 20 after a fine battle with Ben Collins in the nr 55 Embassy Racing Porsche 911 GT3-RS. Warren Hughes maintained their position on taking over the car, but was not able to catch the leading Ferrari. The second TVR was running well in the early stages, but pitted with an oil leak and retired on lap 13. After a strong start, the Porsche then started having problems, with an electrical gremlin resulting in a sequence of pit stops, eventually finishing eighth. However, the car set its best lap right at the end, giving some indication of its future potential.

The nr 77 Porsche of Jordan and Caine, which had qualified third, had an early pit-stop to tighten a wheel. Rejoining a lap down, the two drivers putting in a fine performance to pull the car up to fifth place, finishing a place behind the other Eurotech Porsche, driven by David and Godfrey Jones, which put in a consistent performance throughout. Cole and Hooker finished in sixth place in the Xero Competition Corvette C5-R.

An equally impressive drive came from the Eclipse Motorsport Mosler of Johnson and Balfe, which had to start a lap down from the pit lane after a clutch problem. The car fought back to 7th overall. "That was hard work !" Shaun Balfe said afterwards. "The Mosler is good, but not so good that we can start a lap down ! A clutch problem delayed us, but the car went well after that. Without the problems, we could easily have aimed for a top five."

With five different brands represented in the top seven, today's result was a fine reflection of the diversity in the grid for this year's Championship. The next round for these cars will take place at Magny-Cours, in France, where they will race alongside the FIA GT Championship cars in a 3-hour, 500 km race.

The GT3 race was equally thrilling, the class eventually being won by the Tech 9 Porsche GT3 Cup of Dimitris Deverikos and Piers Maserati. Second place went to the Team Tiger Marcos Mantis, shared by Chris Beighton and Jon Finnemore. There was a fierce battle towards the end, with the young pairing of Phil Quaife and Alex Mortimer finally winning out over the Hulford/Smyth duo in the Damax Ferrari, while Burton and Flux were fifth.

SRO

Images from this event are now available here.

See 2005 series calendar for British GT Championship

Related Story 02.04.2005 - Scuderia Ecosse Dominate Qualifying for British GT Opener