Gornall and Barnes Win as Nicoll-Jones and Linn Become British GT4 Champions

14 July 2008

Jon Barnes and James Gornall moved a step closer to the 2008 Avon Tyres British GT Championship by winning Round 11 at Brands Hatch, finishing ahead of Hector Lester and Allan Simonsen who remain their only challengers with three races remaining. However the day belonged to Matt Nicoll-Jones and Stewart Linn of MSportUK.com Featured Team, IMS Motorsport who finished 3rd in class to become the inaugural Avon Tyres British GT4 Champions.

Paddy Shovlin (#15 CR Scuderia Ferrari 430) led the British GT grid down to Paddock Hill for the first time while third placed Michael Meadows (#14 CR Scuderia Ferrari 430) dived down the inside of James Gornall’s Team Trimite Brookspeed Viper to move into 2nd on the run into Druids. Ben de Zille Butler (#11 Team Modena Lamborghini Gallardo) also got a demon start to move up two places by the second corner. However before the end of the opening lap Gornall had regained the place from Meadows and Steve Clark (#1 Team RPM Viper) had moved back ahead of de Zille Butler both using the superior straight line speed of the V10 Viper on the Grand Prix loop.

Nick Foster (#2 Team RPM Viper) lost out to Jeremy Metcalfe (#16 CR Scuderia Ferrari) at the opening lap but then things got worse as a spin at Surtees dropped him down the order but then the next lap Foster pulled off the track at Graham Hill Bend in a cloud of smoke and the marshal’s promptly extinguished a fire in the black RPM Viper.

The leading Ferrari of Paddy Shovlin was now coming under pressure from Gornall’s Viper and on lap four the Viper got a good run out of Clearways to get alongside the #15 Ferrari into Paddock Hill and take the lead into Druids, with Michael Meadows following Gornall through to demote his CRS teammate a further place on the run into Graham Hill. However Shovlin wasn’t quite finished and he continued to keep pace with the leaders, setting the fastest lap of the race so far on Lap 5.

In GT4 Matt Nicoll-Jones was holding off the challenge of Nigel Moore in the GT4 Class and on lap 8 the Team RPM Ginetta was stuck to the rear bumper of the leading IMS Motorsport Ginetta. Nicoll-Jones, with his sight firmly set on the GT4 title let Moore into the lead on the Cooper Straight and then continued to dog his every move for the next few laps.

Back at the front Meadows kept the pressure on Gornall and on lap 10 got close enough to challenge for the lead at Druids but a mistake nearly saw the Ferrari end up in the passenger seat of the leading Viper.

The status quo remained at the front of the field for the next six laps as the pit window opened. James Gornall elected to be the first car into the pit, quickly followed by Meadows, while Shovlin decided to stay out. James Sutton took over from Meadows and rejoined the track in front of Jon Barnes, who was now at the wheel of the Team Trimite Brookspeed Viper. However Barnes retook the place before the end of the lap on the long straight into Hawthorns. Shovlin dived into the pits just as the pit window was closing and Michael Cullen got out just ahead of Barnes, only to lose the lead to the superior straight line speed of the Viper. Then the #14 Ferrari slowed and Sutton had to limp into the pits and into retirement with smoke pouring from the Ferrari’s engine bay.

With the rest of the pitstops completed it was Barnes in front of Cullen, with Oliver Bryant in the #1 Team RPM Viper just ahead of the #11 Team Modena Lamborghini of Guy Harrington with Allan Simonsen at the wheel of the CiM Ferrari powering his way back up the field from 7th after the pitstops, quickly moving ahead of Aaron Scott (#20 ABG Motorsport Viper) and Luke Hines (#16 CRS Ferrari).

In GT4 Nigel Moore had regained the lead despite having to serve an extra 10 seconds on his pitstop as a single driver, ahead of Stewart Linn in the #88 IMS Ginetta who was being caught by Rob Austin in the #55 RAM Ginetta. Austin reeled in Linn and swept past the championship leader on lap 33.

Meanwhile back at the front Jon Barnes was pulling away as Michael Cullen and Oliver Bryant battled for the minor podium places. For lap after lap the Ferrari and the Viper swapped places, going door to dor into Paddock Hill and Cullen using every trick in the book to keep the Viper behind him. This allowed Guy Harrington to close up and on lap 38 after an abortive attempt by Bryant, Harrington saw his chance and moved ahead of the Viper as they powered into Druids. However it wasn’t long before Bryant was back into third and Harrington had the Ferrari of Allan Simonsen to contend with.

The Dane went into 4th and then 3rd in two quick laps and was then harassing Cullen’s Ferrari for 2nd. On the penultimate lap Cullen, Simonsen and Bryant were nose to tail across the line with nothing splitting the three cars. As they came round Clearways for the final time Cullen seemed to falter and Simonsen pounced, quickly followed by Bryant and the Irishman found himself in 4th place and off the podium in the last 250 metres of the race.

At the front Jon Barnes took the fourth win of the season for Team Trimite Brookspeed and both he and James Gornall need just one point from the second race of the weekend to secure the 2008 Avon Tyres British GT title, with Allan Simonsen and Hector Lester the only driver pairing with a mathematical chance of catching them.

In GT4 Nigel Moore secured his second GT4 win in two races, 1 lap ahead of Rob Austin. However third placed Stewart Linn crossed the line to become the 2008 Avon Tyres British GT4 Champion along with co-driver Matt Nicoll-Jones, with 33 points ahead of Fulvio Mussi with just 30 points remaining. Linn and Nicoll-Jones had taken podium finishes in every race so far this season including 5 wins, 4 seconds and 2 third place finishes; an impressive achievement.

SRO

See 2008 series calendar for British GT Championship

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