Happy ending for Sam at Donington
THERE was plenty for Ashbourne driver Sam Randon to celebrate at the end of the GT Cup season.
Randon and Team Hard co-driver Ben Clayden won the GT Cup Championship (GTB class) and were second in the overall championship.
There was also an unexpected bonus as the GT Cup organisers arranged a special Sprint Championship award, with Randon claiming the runners-up prize based on his individual sprint race results over the season.
Furthermore, Team Hard won the overall team championship.
In the final round at Donington Park, Team Hard won all four races, qualifying in pole each time as well as clocking the fastest lap times.
“What is so sweet for us, and it feels like a win, is taking second in the overall championship,” said Randon.
“Lady luck was finally on our side, someone was looking down on us.
“It’s great for the team to have first and second overall. It’s such a perfect end to the year.
“Working with Ben has been amazing, it has been a strong pairing from the start, especially considering his experience – or lack of – so it’s brilliant to come away with so much success.
“There are so many people to thank. Firstly Team Hard boss Tony Gilham for giving me this opportunity to drive such an amazing car and the Team Hard boys who ran our Porsche for us during the season.
“And, of course, we’re grateful to our sponsors who stuck with us through the pandemic – Velocity IT Interim & Consulting, DM Integration, No42
Kegworth House, Greystone Consulting, AVIT Media, Catena Business Networking and The Flag Micropub in Donington.”
Heavy rain marred Saturday’s racing but Randon led the way in qualifying at the wheel of the Team Hard Porsche.
However, it was only by a small margin due to a gear change problem which was rectified in time for the race.
Randon led the class from lights to
flag and, such was his dominance, he stayed in touch with the faster GTO and GT3 cars, avoiding a spinning Ferrari in the early laps. He also bagged an extra point for the fastest lap.
The pouring rain delayed the start of the pit stop race but once the safety car pulled in, Randon drew on his karting experience to find the grip away from the racing line.
More powerful cars struggled to get the power down and either dropped back or spun out of the lead as Randon claimed the overall lead.
The driver change didn’t go according to plan but Clayden thrives in the wet, despite his inexperience.
He kept out of trouble in treacherous conditions and brought the Porsche home a lap ahead of Marcos Mantis (Gilbert/lunn).
On Sunday, Team Hard made sure of the GTB class championship with pole position in qualifying.
But the bid for glory in the overall championship was damaged by race regulations as the team discovered that a broken fan belt issue during a previous round at Brands Hatch meant they were denied a 20-point bonus.
Randon said: “It was a badly written regulation intended to discourage championship competitors dropping out of the final two rounds but resulted in the unintended consequence of doubly penalising our DNS (did not start) at Brands Hatch.
“So we started the weekend on the back foot with the odds stacked against us.”
Undeterred, Randon won the race, leading from start to finish.
And they climbed up to second in the overall championship with another class win in the endurance win, leapfrogging the GTH Mclaren of Ruston/whitehouse, which withdrew due to electrical problems.
Randon added: “We’ve had so much bad luck recently with the fan belt issue at Brands Hatch and the impact it had on our championship points.
“This now feels right and shows that lady luck can spread the love a little!
“We had four straight wins this weekend which makes it sound straightforward but it was far from easy.
“We’ve all been on a crazy rollercoaster ride of emotions.”