Kinch and Kirkaldy Clinch British GT Championship
with Race 1 Mondello Win
18 September 2005
Starting from pole and leading from flag to flag, Nathan Kinch and
Andrew Kirkaldy ran the perfect race to take their eighth win from
ten races. The ten points they took ensure that they cannot be caught
in the Drivers' standings. They were chased home by the second Scuderia
Ecosse Ferrari 360 of Mullen and Niarchos, an impressive result from
sixth on the grid. Third went to the Embassy Racing Porsche of Collins
and Cunningham.
In GT3 Masarati and Deverikos came agonisingly close to securing
their title, winning in the Tech 9 Porsche. As their nearest rivals,
Britnell
and Stockton, finished second in the Motorbase Quaife Porsche, there
is still a theoretical chance for them to snatch the crown - but
Masarati and Deverikos need only a single point from the remaining
three races.
Third went to Lester and Simonsen in the United Christian Broadcasters
Ferrari 360
Kinch and Kirkaldy made the most of the rolling
start, leading comfortably into the first corner. They were able
to pull away easily, stretching their lead by around a second a
lap, with
the nr 77 Eurotech Porsche of Jordan and Caine easing clear of
the nr 10 RJN Nissan 350 Z of Bentwood and Reid. They were at the front
of a pack of four cars, with less than two seconds covering all
four.
On lap 7 the race changed dramatically when the nr 81 Team Tiger
Marcos Mantis of Beighton and Finnemore had a rear wishbone break
while leading
the GT3 class, spearing the car into the barriers at Turn 7.
That brought out the safety car to allow the stricken car to be
hauled
away and
the barriers to be repaired - a lengthy process. The result was
that all fourteen of the remaining cars dived into the pits on
lap 12
when the window for the mandatory pit-stop opened. The top four
positions remained unchanged, but the nr 34 Scuderia Ecosse car
of Mullen and
Niarchos dropped from fifth to seventh; meanwhile the demise
of the Marcos meant the nr 20 Trackspeed Porsche of Moss and Ashburn
led
GT3,
fifth overall.
The safety car came in at the end of lap 17, leaving a 25-minute
sprint to the chequered flag. Kirkaldy, The leading Scuderia
car immediately
started to pull away again, but it was all change behind them,
as Mullen made the most of the restart to get up to fifth -
which became
fourth
within a lap as he followed Collins past the Nissan of Reid.
Two laps later Mullen shot past Collins at Daly's Drift to
take third
- and
on the same lap Caine made a mistake at Birrane's Bend, and
Mullen was through and up to second.
From there he set a succession of scorching laps, lowering
the fastest lap time on successive laps. He caught Kirkaldy
with
a lap to go,
but was unable to find a way past and had to settle for second.
Meanwhile Collins managed to find a way past Caine with eight
laps to go to
secure
the final podium place.
In GT3, Moss and Ashburn fell back down the order, eventually
finishing a lap down after coming out on the losing end of
a three-car tangle
at the final corner with five laps remaining. That allowed
Masarati and Deverikos to take a comfortable lead, which
Masarati nursed
to the flag, although he had a last-lap fright when the nr
22 Eurotech Porsche spun in front of him. Stockton and Britnell
took second,
a fine result as they were dead last after the pit-stops,
while Lester
and Simonsen were third - another good result after two off-track
excursions
in the first three laps left them well adrift of the field.
The win puts Kinch and Kirkaldy 39 points clear in the Drivers'
Championship, with only 30 points still on offer; Mullen
and Niarchos are nine
points ahead of Collins and Cunningham in the race for
second. Britnell and
Stockton could still win GT3 - if they win all three remaining
races and Masarati and Deverikos fail to score a single
point. This makes
it almost certain that Masarati and Deverikos will claim
the title in Sunday's race.
SRO
See 2005 series calendar for British
GT Championship
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