SILVERSTONE: MSVR BY STEPHEN BRUNSDON
Jordan Witt heads into the final round of the GT Cup next month with a three point advantage over Tom and James Webb after an up-and-down Silverstone weekend.
The 25-year-old took pole for the opening race by nearly three seconds but the Bentley driver was soon forced into damage limitation. Graham Davidson bagged a double victory in his Mclaren in the sprint events, but Witt bounced back to win the 50-minute endurance race.
Witt’s weekend nearly unravelled on the first lap of race one. A spin at Brooklands while contesting the lead with Davidson left the former Carrera Cup driver at the back of the pack. Witt fought back to claim points in seventh, only four places behind main rivals, Tom and James Webb in their BMW M3. That pair had been beaten to second by the Ferrari 458 of John Dhillon and Aaron Scott.
On pole again for race two, Witt was overhauled by Davidson once more, this time on the run to Copse. The gap ebbed and flowed, but the Bentley couldn’t keep pace and had to settle for second.
With the title in mind, Witt made an assertive move on Davidson into Village in the closing stages to win the final 50-minute endurance race.
Jack Manchester profited from a blistering start from fourth on the grid to cruise to a maiden win in the opening Radical Challenge Championship race. Fresh from a season’s best second place last time out at Brands Hatch, Manchester was imperious in the wet, beating nearest rival Brian Caudwell by over 17s. Caudwell and Manchester were both in the wars in race two, both having separate spins on the opening lap, leaving polesitter Jack Lang to add an easy win to his race one podium.
Lang’s exceptional consistency proved key as he picked up maximum points in the dry endurance race. Bradley Smith took victory in the Invitational class.
Ryan Savage made a daring last-lap pass on Adam Knight to take a thrilling victory in the first Lotus Cup and Elise encounter. Having headed the field early on, Savage was caught and passed by Knight midrace but fought back to snatch the win by under 0.3s.
Jason Baker pounced late on Adam Mckay, who had led most of the way, to take the honours in a substantially drier second race. Rob Myers finished a lonely third, almost a minute behind.
Ben Cater withstood intense pressure from JMT Monoposto race one winner Chris Hodgen to take the second by 1.9s.
Robbie Watts prevailed in an epic battle with poleman George Line to score his third consecutive F3 Cup win. Line received a 10s penalty for a jump-start but continued to race to the end, running side-by-side with Watts on the final tour. Daryl Jones inherited second, while Shane Kelly recovered from a lowly grid slot to extend his points advantage in third. Race two was just as close. Line won ahead of James Heffernan.
Stuart Waite cruised to a brace of Production BMW & Toyo Tires Saloons victories in his M3, while James Raven won the Superseries FF1600 race in the Ray GR15.