IMS Motorsport Maintain British GT4 Championship
Lead
15
April
2008
MSportUK-Featured IMS Motorsport drivers Matt
Nicoll-Jones and Stewart Linn are still the Avon Tyres British GT Championship
GT4 Leaders, extending their lead with one second and
one first place finish.
In Friday testing, the IMS Motorsport car topped
the times in two sessions. The drivers and team were still coming to
terms with the circuit which none of them had ever seen before. It
was quite a revelation, with good gradient change and undulation, a
complicated first third of the track comprising a number of very technical
interlinked corners.
The team were without one of their chief mechanics
for the whole weekend, as his wife was due to give birth to their second
child. Nonetheless Friday ended well, but the team were still looking
to find a few more tenths from the 55 second laptime around Knockhill
where the front running GT3 cars were putting in 51 second laps.
The Saturday
practice session went well and the IMS Motorsport car was the quickest
for most of it. The team then decided to focus on race setup and looked
to alter the setup of the car.
The first qualifying session went well, but the traffic was
tough and, with GT3 and GT4 cars together on track, the team never
got a clear or good lap together. They would line up a close second,
just over two tenths behind the Ginetta G50 of Team RPM's Osborne and
Mortimer. The session was red flagged with 90 seconds left to run,
but the team decided not to send Matt out again and got to work preparing
the car for Stewart's session. In this second qualifying session, traffic
once more played a part and the team would line up 3rd.
Race 1
The first race of the weekend was a rough and tumble affair
punctuated by Safety Car periods, almost from the start. With
a flurry of teams wanting to take advantage of one of
the Safety Car periods the pitlane was absolute mayhem. Confusion reigned,
but the team completed an excellent stop and got the car out ahead
of the competition. Unfortunately yet another safety car period allowed
the #55 Rob Austin car to effectively gain a lap on the IMS Motorsport
car and brought a halt to any thought of a charging finish from Stewart.
The team were more than happy to end the day with a 2nd place, especially
as there had been so many DNFs. They extended their championship lead
over the #52 Redwood/Mussi Team RPM car by two more points.
In Sunday morning's practice session, the team wanted to give another
setup change a run through and decided to attempt that in the time
allowed. The IMS Motorsport car would once more top the times.
Race 2
A bizarre race, without the recurring Safety Car periods of race 1,
the race was panning out to be a four way battle which would see four
G50s battling it out at the front of GT4. When the driver
changes were made RPM's car #51 and race 1 winner, Rob Austin Racing
#55 were stopped from leaving the pitlane as their brake lights were
noted to be not working. Rob Austin Racing worked on solving the
problem, and would make the end of the race, but did not reach the
required number of laps to qualify for points. The IMS Motorsport
car gladly took the change in fortunes and found itself running in
second, but waiting for the #99 Aston Martin N24 of Beechdean
to pit. Once the Aston Martin pitted and changed driver the IMS
Motorsport car took the lead and wouldn't relinquish it. A stark
contrast to the previous day!
The race was ended prematurely with
a red flag 2 minutes from the end and the team came home in first
place. The IMS Motorsport car extended their lead by a further two
points.
There is now a long wait until the next two rounds at Rockingham in
Northamptonshire. A great circuit for GT racing and spectating!
Richmond Racing
See 2008 series calendar for British
GT Championship
Related Story 13.04.2008 - Metalfe and Hines Take First GT3 Win
