One-Two Finish for Scuderia Ecosse in British
GT Race Two at Knockhill
22 May 2005
The Scuderia Ecosse team secured a one-two finish at the twisty Knockhill
circuit on Sunday afternoon. Nathan Kinch and Andrew Kirkaldy, in the
nr 35 Ferrari 360
Modena, had a clean start-to-finish win. The track was still damp when the race
started, following a shower shortly beforehand, but the rain stayed away and
the track dried continuously through the race. Andrew Kirkaldy started the race
from pole position and had a problem-free stint. After the pit stops Nathan Kinch
kept it clean and drove home to claim a superb home victory for the Scotland-based
team. "It was straightforward, to be honest," Kirkaldy said afterwards. "At
the start, we had a wet circuit and dry tyres, so we worked hard to get some
heat in the tyres in the opening laps. After that, it was just a case of getting
a gap. Luckily for me, Tim had a spin and it just went on from there. It's great
to come back here and win; this is worth just as many points as the three-hour
race at Magny Cours. Three wins and a second place from four races is a good
showing so far."
The nr 34 Ferrari 360 Modena of Tim Mullen and Chris Niarchos started
the race from second position. Early on, Mullen ran wide coming out
of Seat corner, which
saw him dropping back to fifth position. After the pit stops, Niarchos managed
to fight his way back through the field and finished the race in second place.
The Team Eurotech Porsche of Michael Caine and Mike Jordan crossed
the line in third position. Michael Caine, who was fifth on the grid,
had a great fight with
the nr 43 LNT TVR T400R, driven by Warren Hughes.
At the start, Caine charged past Ben Collins in the nr 55 Embassy Porsche,
and started to close on Hughes. Hughes used all the track to avoid
being overtaken
by Caine, and they touched coming up the pit straight. It would have been an
interesting battle for third position, but, unfortunately, Warren Hughes had
to retire due to the engine problems the team had suffered from all weekend. "I
think if we could have passed Warren (Hughes) then we could have been able to
push on and fight with the second Ferrari but these guys are setting the standard
in British GT," Michael Caine explained. "We're OK with third; we are
never really happy unless we're winning, but at the moment it is a big hill to
climb.
Saturday's winners, Ben Collins and Neil Cunningham from Team Embassy,
could not quite match the pace of today's front-runners, and finished
the race in fourth
position.
The nr 42 LNT of Jonny Kane and Andrew Thompson started the race at
the back of the grid after missing both qualifying sessions due to
an engine problem.
Kane, starting the race in the TVR T400R, was climbing through the field, and
was at one stage over a second faster than anybody else on the track. However,
Kane had to retire while he was lying sixth, when the car's engine problems reoccurred. "It
was the first time we used new parts for the engines and we had problems on both
engines twice this weekend," Kane explained afterwards. "It's very
strange, but we hope to have it sorted out for Thruxton next week."
In the GT3 class, Saturday's winners Team Tech 9 also won the second
Knockhill round. Dimitris Deverikos and Piers Masarati were involved
in some great fights
throughout the race, even challenging some of the GT2 cars. "I'm very pleased
with the result because we have scored well for the championship," Deverikos
said in the press conference. "The UCB Ferrari had a technical problem and
it worked in our favour."
With Julian Westwood in the Team Parker Porsche running close behind,
Simonsen, in the nr 21 Ferrari he shares with Lester, made a move
on Masarati into the
hairpin on lap 22 but as both cars ran wide, Westwood was able to put his car
into second, only for Simonsen to take the place back less than a lap later.
Simonsen would eventually force his way past Masarati to take the GT3 lead just
before the driver changes. However, the problems which have affected the UCB
Ferrari since the opening round of the season were soon to return with Hector
Lester forced to slow, allowing Deverikos able to take a comfortable class win
from the impressive Trackspeed Porsche of David Ashburn and Fred Moss. Miles
Hulford and Jamie Smyth finished third to secure their second podium finish of
the 2005 season. "Half way through my stint the engine went flat down the
straights, and I also had gear selection problems coming out of the corners," 16-year-old
Hulford said. "I tried to hold David off, but he was able to get past me
on the back straight. We're happy with third as we scored more points and beat
our team-mates.
With his car getting slower by the lap, Lester eventually finished
in sixth place. There was bad luck for the Team Parker pairing,
as Martin Rich spun out on lap
39, their nr 30 Porsche having earlier damaged its suspension.
SRO
See 2005 series calendar for British GT Championship
Related Story 22.05.2005 - Embassy
Racing Secures Its First-Ever Victory at Knockhill
