LNT Splash to a Dominant British GT Win as Scuderia Ecosse Falter in the Rain
21 October 2006
Tom Kimber-Smith and Luke Hines took a superb win in the torrential
rain at Magny Cours, finish 6th overall and lapping their British GT
rivals to score their first head-to-head win over Chris Niarchos and
Tim Mullen in 2006. It also means the Avon Tyres British GT championship
will be decided in the last race of the season tomorrow.
Just before the 43 car GT grid formed up the skies over Magny Cour
darkened and the heavens opened, forcing all of the teams to rush for
the wet tyres.
Chris Niarchos in the Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari got away cleanly after
the safety car pulled into the pitlane, with Luke Hines in the Team
LNT Panoz two places back but able to keep tabs on the Ferrari. At teh
end of lap 2 Niarchos and Hines had moved up to 16th and 18th respectively
as the tricky conditions caught out some of the cars ahead of the two
British GT contenders. However Niarchos was visibly struggling with
his car as he tried to find some grip on the slippery track but Hines
was reveling in the tricky conditions and by lap 4 was on terms and
swept past the lead Ferrari. At the end of the lap Hines held a 4.2
second lead over Niarchos and also had one of the French cars between
him and his rival. By the end of the next lap the gap had opened to
6 seconds and was increasing all the time.
Hines continued to move up the order, passing a number of cars so
that by lap 9 he was in 11th overall and had two cars between him and
Niarchos. The Scuderia Ecosse driver was not having a good time as he
struggled to find any grip, with the car aquaplaning at most points
of the track, in contrast to the Panoz, with Luke Hines coping well
with the very tricky conditions.
On Lap 11 Niarchos came in to hand the car over to Tim Mullen, hoping
the Northern Irishman could start to haul in the speedy Panoz. Hines
decided to stay out for another 5 laps and was 6th overall before coming
in to hand over to Tom Kimber-Smith.
As all of the pitstops finished the overall placings became clear
and Kimber-Smith was in 8th overall, while Mullen was 17th and over
80 seconds behind. As the race progressed towards the final few laps
this gap opened even further and Mullen was in danger of being lapped
by Kimber-Smith. On the very last lap the Panoz passed the Ferrari finishing
off a very miserable race for the Scottish team but they had the cancellation
of holding a three point lead in the championship with one race remaining.
Tom Kimber-Smith and Luke Hines celebrated the third win of 2006 and,
more importantly, there first head-to-head victory over their rivals
after the Ferrari failed to start the two races they won in Ireland
in June.
Tom Kimber-Smith (#57 Team LNT Panoz Esperante GTLM): "Really
pleased. Luke (Hines) did an excellent first stint, it was very tricky
out there, all we had to do in the end was keep it on the circuit and
we managed to do it. The car is really good in the wet, I didn't actually
know where the Ferrari was because the team weren't telling me much
about that, they knew I had to concentrate what I was doing and bring
it home in first place. It's going to make the championship a little
bit more exciting going down to the last race, let's see what happens
tomorrow. I quite like driving in the wet so I did enjoy the race, it
was really good fun."
Tim Mullen (#51 Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari 430 GT2): "The conditions
were pretty horendous really, the car was aquaplaning everywhere. So
we had to just bring the car home and not worry about catching these
guys. So that's what we did, we drove to the finish, get the points
and don't do anything silly." ering number 56 and Team LNT will
run their usual number 57. The first 60 minute race takes place on Saturday
21st October, with the final race of the 2006 season on Sunday 22nd.
SRO
See 2006 series calendar for British
GT Championship
Related Story 13.10.2006 - British
GT Set for Championship Showdown in France
