Meadows & Sutton Take Debut Win and Secure
Team Title for CR Scuderia
17
August
2008
Michael Meadows and James Sutton took their maiden Avon Tyres British
GT Championship win at Silverstone, ending the 2-hour race 9.8 seconds
ahead of the ABG Motorsport Viper of Craig Wilkins and Aaron Scott
to help secure the British GT team title for CR Scuderia. In a race
of attrition only 9 cars took the chequered flag but the lack of finishers
didn't detract from the action packed racing throughout the 120 minute
race. GT4 Champions Matt Nicol-Jones and Stewart Linn took their 6th
class win in 5th overall to secure the team title for their IMS Motorsport
team.
Craig Wilkins in the ABG Motorsport Viper led the 21 car grid towards
the first corner at Copse with David Jones challenging in the Ascari.
Wilkins held the inside line to emerge from the first corner still
in the lead with Michael Bentwood now up to third in the Aston Martin.
Phil Burton and Hector Lester were now fighting over 4th place as Michael
Cullen joined in the fray. Burton’s Ferrari emerged under Bridge
travelling very slowly with a puncture as did Cullen’s Ferrari,
with both cars returning to the pits for new rubber.
Newly crowned British GT Champion James Gornall was forced to start
at the back of the grid in the Team Trimite Brookspeed Viper after
a blown engine in free practice forced the him and Jon Barnes to sit
out Saturday’s 30-minute qualifying session. However Gornall
was soon scything his way through the field and was up to 6th by the
end of the opening lap and then gained a further two places by the
end of lap 2 by forcing his way past Nigel Redwood in the Team RPM
Viper and the Ferrari of Luke Hines.
Meanwhile Wilkins was still holding onto the top spot as David Jones
was coming under pressure from Michael Bentwood and on lap 3 the Aston
Martin moved ahead of the Ascari, with Gornall passing Jones on the
next lap at Maggotts to move into a podium position from the back of
the grid. David Jones lost further ground on lap 6 as Meadows and Redwood
both passed the Ascari.
Craig Wilkins now had the Aston Martin of Michael Bentwood filling
his mirrors and everyone thought it wouldn’t be long before Wilkins
succumbed to the pressure. However for lap after lap the driver from
the West Midlands who was driving in his first season of British GT
was having none of it and defended his line cleanly at every turn.
James Gornall joined in the battle and moved ahead of Bentwood at Becketts
on lap 8. On the same lap Michael Meadows, who was fighting with Luke
Hines for 4th place had a spin at Brooklands, dropping the #14 CRS
Ferrari back two places behind Nigel Redwood and the recovering David
Jones. Meadows dropped further back on lap 9 but on lap 10 set the
fastest lap of the race, setting the scene for a great recovery drive.
James Gornall was now challenging Craig Wilkins for the lead but disaster
struck at Brooklands on lap 11 as the Team Trimite Brookspeed Viper
didn’t brake quickly enough and ran into the back of the lead
Viper. Gornall was forced into the pits with smoke pouring from the
front right wheel which was rubbing against the broken bodywork. The
leading ABG Viper had some rear end damage but was able to continue
with Wilkins keeping his race pace unaltered.
Michael Bentwood was now back up into 2nd place, with Luke Hines in
3rd ahead of Nigel Redwood’s RPM Viper. These four circulated
nose to tail for lap after lap, no one giving an inch to their rivals.
David Jones, who was now back up to 5th place had an excursion onto
the grass at Becketts but was able to regain the track without losing
a place.
Meanwhile in GT4 Richard Evans (#51 RPM Ginetta) was holding off a
determined challenge from Stewart Linn in the IMS Motorsport Ginetta
after the newly crowned GT4 champion had lost out to Evans at the start
of the race. Behind these two Hunter Abbott was keeping track of them
in the Rob Austin Racing Ginetta however he was struggling with the
handling of his G50 and started to lose tough with the lead pair on
lap 14.
For lap after lap Wilkins and Bentwood were separated by less than
half a second, but Wilkins would not yield his lead to the vastly more
experienced Aston Martin driver. Michael Meadows caught and passed
David Jones for 5th but on the next lap Jones repaid the compliment
to regain the place. It took another four laps before Meadows could
repass the Ascari at Maggotts and make the move stick. Hines and Redwood
were also nose to tail across the line with the Ferrari driver defending
the final podium position rigorously.
On lap 28 Bentwood finally got his reward for his dogged determination
to take the lead as Wilkins succumbed to the pressure and on the same
lap Nigel Redwood moved ahead of Luke Hines, pushing the Ferrari down
to 4th. Craig Wilkins then had a spin at Brooklands dropping the Viper
behind Redwood and Hines only to regain a podium place two laps later
as Redwood ran wide at Becketts, the Viper spinning and losing three
places before the end of the lap.
All of this chopping and changing allowed Michael Bentwood to open
up a gap to his rivals and by lap 32 he was 3.8 seconds ahead of Hines
as Meadows moved ahead of Wilkins. Craig Wilkins decided his work was
done and dived into the pits to hand over to Aaron Scott. Michael Cullen’s
Ferrari became the latest casualty as the Irishman pulled off at Abbey
with a broken gearbox. David Jones’ race came to an abrupt end
when flames were seen from the engine bay and the Preci Spark Ascari
pulled off at Becketts into retirement. However Team Modena Lamborghini
of Piers Johnson spun on some oil dropped by the Ascari and the Gallardo
was launched into the barriers at Becketts. Johnson was alright, which
was more than could be said for his car.
On lap 40 the clock counted down to 60 minutes of the 2-hour race run
and Michael Meadows, Michael Bentwood and James Gornall all came into
the pits. Bentwood didn’t have a driver to hand over after Tom
Alexander was called away for family reasons and Bentwood was unable
to secure the services of another driver in time. So Michael Bentwood
got back into the Aston Martin to rejoin the battle knowing full well
he would have to retire after 90 minutes because this was the maximum
time a driver could spend in the car according to the British GT regulations.
However Bentwood was determined to be at the front of the field when
this happened to demonstrate his and the 22GTRacing Aston Martin’s
capabilities.
Meanwhile the Team Trimte Brookspeed pitstop wasn’t going to
plan as the damaged bodywork from the earlier accident had started
to come loose and then the cockpit fire extinguisher went off, ending
the team’s chances of taking the British GT Team title.
As the pitstops were all completed it was Michael Bentwood in the lead,
twelve seconds ahead of Jeremy Metcalfe now at the wheel of the #16
CRS Ferrari, who was just 0.3 seconds ahead of James Sutton in the
#14 CRS Ferrari. Nick Foster was eight seconds behind Sutton in the
RPM Viper and Aaron Scott was a further fifteen seconds further back.
On lap 50 Michael Bentwood brought the Aston Martin into the pits and
drove straight into the team’s garage after leading for 20 of
the 50 laps run to that point.
Metcalfe was now in the lead of the race with Sutton less than a second
behind as Fister was being reeled in by Scott, the ABG Viper catching
the RPM Viper by 1.5 seconds per lap. Jeremy Metcalfe and James Sutton
looked as if they were going to be taking a CRS 1-2 at Silverstone
when the team were handed a 10 second stop go penalty for refuelling
the cars with the doors open, which is against the regulations. On
lap 62 the two Ferrari’s were called in by the team but Metcalfe
was given the call late and in the effort to gain the pit road he spun
across the grass and the gravel and he was forced to follow James Sutton
into the pitlane and then follow him out onto the track, the two now
in 3rd and 4th respectively. Nick Foster was now in the lead of the
race with Aaron Scott closing down the RPM Viper’s lead.
On lap 65 Scott went into the lead with a move on Foster at Brooklands
as Adam Wilcox came into the pits to retire the VRS Motor Finance Ferrari
from 6th place. Gavan Kershaw was also forced to retire the Cadena
Aston Martin as the car slowed on the exit of Woodcote and was parked
out of sight at Copse.
In GT4 Joe Osborne , now at the wheel of the #51 RPM Gineta was being
caught by Matt Nicol Jones in the #88 IMS Motorsport Ginetta with Rob
Austin a lap adrift in 3rd place. Nicol-Jones was right on the bumper
of the GT4 leader as they began their 57th lap. Osborne bowed to the
inevitable and Nicol-Jones went into the GT4 lead at Becketts.
Meanwhile back at the front Aaron Scott was pulling away from Nick
Foster as the #2 RPM Viper was being caught by James Sutton in the
#14 CRS Ferrari and on lap 71 Sutton went ahead at Luffield. Nick Foster
seemed to be struggling with the handling of the Viper as Jeremy Metcalfe
rapidly closed up to threaten the final podium position. Three laps
later Metcalfe went ahead of Foster but knew that he would be unable
to get on terms with the leaders before the end of the race.
James Sutton was closing down the lead held by Aaron Scott but as the
Ferrari got to a second behind the Viper seemed to find some extra
pace and for three laps the gap was maintained. With just 90 seconds
left on the clock the two leaders crossed the line nose to tail to
begin the penultimate lap. As the Viper headed down to Abbey it appeared
to stutter, allowing Sutton to pounce and the Ferrari swept into the
lead on the exit of Abbey. Scott was clearly struggling as Sutton moved
rapidly ahead. However Aaron Scott coaxed the Viper to the flag to
take a well deserved second place finish but there was a great deal
of disappointment in the ABG team as they were so close to securing
their first win in British GT.
The race belonged to James Sutton and Michael Meadows, who joined their
teammates as race winners in the 2008 Avon Tyres British GT Championship
and they helped secure the British GT team title for CR Scuderia in
their first season.
The final 2-hour race of the 2008 season will take place at Donington
Park on Sunday 12 October. Highlights of the Silverstone race can be
seen on Motors TV across Europe and also in the UK on Channel 4. A
full TV schedule can be found on the championship website at www.britishgt.com
SRO
See 2008 series calendar for British
GT Championship | British F3 Championship
Related Story 07.08.2008 - Two Days of British F3 and British GT Action at Silverstone
