Double Victory for Scuderia Ecosse at Magny Cours

02 May 2005

Scuderia Ecosse secured a double victory in the three-hour race on Sunday at Magny Cours. The Ferrari 360 Modena GTC of Nathan Kinch and Andrew Kirkaldy finished first in the British GT Championship, third overall in the GT2 class. Nathan Kinch is already thinking of the title win in the British GT. "It is looking really good in terms of the title, because we had two wins in two races now," he said in the press conference. "It's obviously important to get points at the start of the Championship. The race was good for us. Andrew [Kirkaldy] started from pole position and gave me the car in the lead, and we made a great call in the safety car period. It was just a case of getting my head down and building up a lead."

The other Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari, the nr 82 of Tim Mullen and Chris Niarchos , ended the race in second place. Mullen and Niarchos also set the fastest British GT lap of the race, with a time of 1:45.470 around the 4.411 km circuit. Chris Niarchos was very happy with the performance and is looking ahead to a great season. "We have got stronger and improved steadily over the last year and it's a huge confidence boost for us to be running so close to Andrew [Kirkaldy] and Nathan [Kinch]," Niarchos said afterwards. "There was quite a gap last year, but on my part now we have closed that quite consistently now. The whole objective for the team is to win races and in the end of the day we just want to make sure to finish each race. It's a long season and we know we are quick."

The Porsche 996 GT3 RS of Mike Jordan and Michael Caine gained third place after the final pit stops. "I'm not exactly pleased with the result, but it was probably the best we were going to be able to do this weekend - the Ferraris were just too quick for us," Michael Caine said. "Maybe Knockhill will be a bit better for the Porsche. Mike had a tremendous race. The TVR was two seconds behind us when we came out of the pits, and for around 45 minutes it was nose-to-tail. He was brilliant out there! But Team Eurotech does not want to play the bridesmaid, so hopefully at Knockhill we can take it to them."

Warren Hughes and Patrick Pearce (LNT) had been running in third position until Hughes went wide in the TVR T400R, which cost them a podium finish. Hughes and Pearce eventually crossed the line in fifth, with team-mates Lawrence Tomlinson and Jonny Kane overtaking them during the pit stops for fourth. "About ten minutes into the third stint, after I took the car over from Patrick [Pearce], I got a right rear puncture. I didn't have any warning, I just braked for the Adelaide hairpin and had no brakes or power at all, because of the puncture," Hughes commented. "It's a shame, as third position was ours without a doubt. We certainly didn't have the pace of the Ferrari at all today, and the car wasn't as good as in qualifying. Third place would have been very good; I think that would have been as good as possible today."

Emotional Engineering's Vauxhall Monaro of Matt Griffin and Ryan Hooker, who were running in the GT2 class, won the race in their category. "We are so pleased! We had so many problems over the weekend and we had to work really hard to get the car out there," Ryan Hooker was quoted after the race. "It was always going to be a tough race as we don't have power steering. We certainly didn't expect to win our class, and it has given the team such a boost now. It's probably the first win for a Vauxhall in the FIA GT Championship, it's going to be headline news. We have no complaints, it was very good!"

RJN Motorsport's three-driver-pairing, Michael Bentwood, Ally McKever and Bryce Wilson, who also raced in the G2 category, had to retire due to a broken driveshaft on their Nissan 350Z. The team had problems before the race even started. Michael Bentwood had to start the race from the pit lane as the Nissan 350Z had to be started manually. "Our pace was quicker than the Porsches, but then we had to pit and change the drive shaft, which cost us 15 laps," Michael Bentwood said after the retirement. "The boys did really well to get it fixed and get me out again. Unfortunately, the same thing happened another 20 laps later. I had a misfire and the cockpit filled with smoke. It was a real shame, because we set good times in the warm up session with full tanks, so that was pleasing. I am very disappointed but there was nothing we could do."

The Embassy Racing Porsche had to withdraw from the race shortly before the start after the car of Ben Collins and Neil Cunningham suffered from engine problems. "A problem with the engine prevented us from starting the race," Team-owner Jonathan France said after the withdrawal. "It is a great disappointment and we will be doing all we can to make up for it at Knockhill in three weeks."

SRO

See 2005 series calendar for British GT Championship

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