DONINGTON PARK: MSVR BY DAN MASON
The dominance of Bentley and Jordan Witt in the GT Cup suffered a rare challenge from Audi at the MSVR meeting at Donington Park.
Victorious in all but two races this season, Witt looked set to continue the trend with pole position and a convincing lights-to-flag brace of victories on Saturday in the Bentley Continental GT3.
The 50-minute final encounter would produce a new 2016 winner, however, the Audi R8 of Nigel Hudson and Adam Wilcox sealing honours in a race delayed by an off for Neil Huggins’ Lamborghini Gallardo.
A 75s success penalty and safety car interruption hindered Witt in the shortened race, leaving former Lotus Elise champion Wilcox to chase down and pass the Lotus Evora of Gareth Downing for JMH Automotive’s first win of the season. Aaron Scott fought from the back of the grid to snatch a last-lap podium finish after a spin for the AF Corse Ferrari of John Dhillon. Witt’s fifth spot was enough to hold a three-point series lead over Tom Webb’s BMW.
An oil leak cut short Richard Chamberlain’s weekend in the Porsche 935, prompting Witt to say: “I felt I needed him there to push me.”
While one Porsche endured troubles, those competing in the Porsche Club GB series thoroughly entertained onlookers. Peter Morris was twice victorious after a fine defensive display in both outings, resisting pressure from the charge of championship leader, Mark Mcaleer. “I’m back on form,” said Morris, who claimed a 30th class win at his home circuit. “I’ve got a fresh engine now, which has helped after a bad start to the season.”
Mcaleer’s title push was helped by son Jake, who grabbed the second S Class win from his father’s main rival, Andy Toon, the series leader forced to avoid a spinning Mike Johnson in the opening race.
A battling trio of wins moved James Littlejohn and Tony Wells into a clear Radical European Masters championship lead, despite being chased hard all weekend by RAW Motorsport’s Alex Kapadia and Manhal Allos.
After a strong race one win, Littlejohn fended off Kapadia’s late surge in the second before a drivethrough penalty for Allos gave Wells breathing space to complete his narrow treble. “Their penalty was a godsend,” said Littlejohn. “We stayed out as late as possible to avoid giving them an advantage.”
It was a rollercoaster weekend for Ben Cater in JMT Monoposto F3, 2000 and 2000 Classic. Taking race one honours thanks to an early pass on Chris Hodgen, a fire in qualifying meant he would be absent in race two, which was won by Hodgen after a three-way tussle with Simon Tate and Tony Bishop.
Jason Timms did the double in the second Monoposto championship race with his Moto 1400 Dallara F311, albeit aided by the race one exclusion of brother Jeremy. The 1600 class was dominated by Geoff Fern’s Van Diemen who grabbed the honours in both races.
Richard Bromley’s BMW E36 M3 claimed a hard-fought Trackday Championship win, while Henry Curtis battled to Trackday Trophy success in his Peugeot 205GTI after a lengthy dice with Darren Johnson and Alex Hodsall. There were 15 cars competing for success in the MSVR All-comers, both races won comfortably by the Radical SR3 RS of Barry Liversidge ahead of the similar car of David Frankland in both.