British GT to Rock the Rock

08 August 2006

For the first time since August 2003 the Avon Tyres British GT Championship will race at Rockingham in Rounds 10 and 11 of the 2006 Championship and they will be one of the first championships to try out the new 1.94-mile International Super Sportscar Circuit at the Northamptonshire venue.

Two wins at Snetterton has enabled the Scuderia Ecosse team of Tim Mullen and Chris Niarchos in their Ferrari 430 GT2 to close the gap on the Team LNT Panoz Esperante GTLM of Tom Kimber-Smith and Luke Hines. Both teams compete on the international stage with Kimber-Smith partnering Lawrence Tomlinson and Richard Dean to GT2 Class honours at the 2006 Le Mans 24 Hours Endurance race. Scuderia Ecosse took third place in GT2 at Le Mans and also scored a podium finish at the prestigious Spa 24 Hours. To help keep these two leading cars on their toes the Eclipse Mosler MT900R of Phil Keen had a good run at the last round at Snetterton finishing a close 3rd in both races and will be looking to duplicate that form here at Rockingham.

GT3 is new to British GT this year and has seen some excellent racing in the debut season. The Lotus Sport Cadena team have fielded cars at all but the opening round at Oulton Park and Sam Blogg and George MacKintosh currently head the championship table in their nimble Lotus Exige. Gavan Kershaw and Barrie Whight have also shown the pace of the little Lotus, with second overall in both races at Mondello Park. Here at Rockingham the RPM Porsche 997 will be making its first appearance in the GT3 class, with Phiroze Bilimoria and Nigel Redwood at the wheel.

In GTC the trio of Trackspeed Porsche 996’s will also be looking to add to the points haul they gained at Snetterton, where the team secured five of the six podium places in the two races. Victory for Matt Allison and Jonny Lang secured them a 6 point lead at the top of the championship table in front of the Team Tiger pairing of Chris Beighton and Jon Finnemore. The Leicester team have won four races this year in their Marcos Mantis and will be looking to return to the top step of the podium this weekend.

Another regular visitor to the GTC podium is the Team Aero Morgan Aero 8 of Keith Ahlers and Oliver Bryant. The quintessential British sportscar has the pace to match its looks and they are currently just 15 points behind Allison and Lang in the GTC championship table. The RPM Porsche 996 of Alex Mortimer and Bradley Ellis have also been consistent points scorers this year, including a class win on the streets of the French city of Pau in June. The three Ferrari 360’s of David Dove Racing, JMH and Beechdean Motorsport also provide some added colour to the British GT grid, with former British GT champion Calum Lockie partnering team owner David Dove in the number 70 machine. Beechdean are competing in their debut season having moved up after tasting success in Britcar. The red Ferrari has already been on the overall podium with a 3rd place at Donington in May and their garage is a favourite stopping place because of the superb Beechdean ice cream samples that team owner Andrew Howard brings to the circuit.

With a new circuit to try out this weekend here at Rockingham and a full grid of cars providing a visual and aural extravaganza, the Avon Tyres British GT Championship are back to rock The Rock.

SRO

See 2006 series calendar for British GT Championship

Related Story 20.07.2006 - Ryan Hooker Takes a Well Deserved British GT Class Win at Snetterton