Clean Win for Tech 9 in British GT Race One at Croft

08 May 2005

Tech 9 have won the first race at Croft after a superb start-to-finish drive in variable weather conditions for Piers Masarati and Dimitris Deverikos in their Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

Deverikos started the race in the dry from pole position and pulled out a healthy lead over Steve Warburton (Bill Barrett Motorsport), before the Safety Car came out to recover Jamie Smyth's Damax Ferrari 360, which had gone off when light rain hit the North East of England. Piers Masarati took over the wheel of the nr 9 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, holding the lead until the chequered flag, despite intermittent rain showers which made conditions tricky for all the drivers. However, he admitted afterwards that he had been disappointed to see the safety car on track.

"I was gutted, as Dimitris had built such a good lead," Masarati said in the press conference. "We wanted to leave him out as long as we could but the safety car meant we had no choice but to make the stop. I got away well at the restart and I wanted to build a good lead. I struggled in the wet because the car was too stiff; I was being careful and just tried to keep it on the circuit."

Hector Lester and Allan Simonsen had a great race, finishing in second place with their United Christian Broadcasters Ferrari 360. Simonsen took over from Lester after the Safety Car period, finding himself in ninth position. Towards the end of the race, he gained two places in one lap, overtaking the Marcos Mantis of Chris Beighton and the Morgan of Oliver Bryant. "I had hoped to get a trophy and we had some luck," Simonsen commented. "The weather certainly played into our hands because it's easier to overtake in these conditions; some people are a bit more cautious. I'd unplugged my radio because of interference so I didn't know that Julian Westwood was a lap down - I just kept trying to pass him. Then, with three laps to go, the car developed a misfire similar to the one we had at Donington, but we were ok. Now we have to find out what the problem is."

The Damax Ferrari 360 of Marco Attard and Nick Adams, which started from seventh position, took advantage of the damp conditions to secure the final podium place. Adams admitted afterwards that the conditions had played a key role in the result. "You need a bit of luck in these conditions, sometimes you make a mistake and sometimes you get away with things," he said. "We didn't have a good set-up for the dry with this car so the conditions certainly helped us."

Phil Burton and Ian Flux finished fourth in the JMH Ferrari despite an engine problem. Stuart Scott and Steven Wood came fifth in the Eurotech Porsche. Oliver Bryant ran in a podium place for much of the race but had to settle for sixth in the Team Aero Morgan after losing out in a four way battle for the final podium place - less than two seconds covering third from sixth at the flag.

SRO

See 2005 series calendar for British GT Championship

Related Story 07.05.2005 - Double Pole for Tech 9 at Croft