DTM RETURNS TO BRANDS HATCH
If there was a script in motorsport, Mercedes wouldn’t be exiting the DTM at the end of the season having been a series stalwart since it relaunched in 2000.
Nor would four of the top five positions in the standings be occupied by its drivers, unable to defend the manufacturers’ title it appears certain to win with a 273-point lead after Brands Hatch. But you might just script the two leading title protagonists, Paul di Resta and Gary Paffett, sealing a British onetwo at their home circuit as the German tin-tops returned to Brands Hatch for the first time since 2013.
The Grand Prix layout played host, not the Indy configuration used previously. Due to the restricted number of days that the GP circuit can be used, the DTM was compressed into two days unlike the rest of its calendar. To accommodate the squeeze, practice sessions were truncated by five minutes, meaning making the most of track time was key.
Paffett has the most DTM race starts of any current driver under his belt, and continued his strong form this year to take pole for race two, his third in four races and fourth of the season. He lined up with his car aggressively angled to fend off fellow front-row man and HWA Mercedes team-mate di Resta.
But starting on the cambered side of the track hampered Paffett’s launch, and allowed di Resta to challenge as the pair ran side-by-side through Paddock Hill Bend. Di Resta’s line around the outside of Druids produced a quicker exit, allowing him to consolidate first into Graham Hill Bend. The battle was then quickly given a breather when a safety car caused by Lucas Auer clattering into Robin Frijns and then BMW’S Augusto Farfus stopped the action.
With two series wins at the venue scored in 2009 and ’10, di Resta used his knowledge of the first sector to lead a composed restart. In an attempt to find clear air, Paffett dived into the pits for his mandatory stop early on but di Resta responded on the next tour. After both settled into their stint, they were again separated by less than a second.
Not to be left out of the limelight, the only other Brit on the grid, Jamie Green, stayed out to assume the race lead. In recent seasons, Audi’s greatest asset has been its aero package. But for 2018, new regulations cut downforce levels by a third and dropped the brand off the pace. Regardless, Green was able to find two tenths a lap on di Resta and Paffett as the Audi has at least proven easy on its tyres at times this year, especially in the hands of Green.
The bold strategy would be to no avail, however. A delay when he finally pitted meant Green resumed just ahead of BMW’S Marco Wittmann. As he attempted a pass on Green, the Audi driver forced Wittmann onto the grass at the exit of Graham Hill Bend – an act of aggression rewarded with a drivethrough penalty for Green.
Once everyone else had stopped, di Resta returned to the top of the order ahead of Paffett and the closing reigning champion Rene Rast. But the top three remained in formation to the flag.
“It’s a perfect day, not a perfect weekend,” di Resta said of his third Brands triumph. “But when you come here to home soil you’ve got a lot of fans, friends and family here to support you and it’s added pressure.
“Crucially, I made a very good start and it was the deciding factor in the race.
“Mercedes’ end is coming in DTM and that’s the real big shame given how well it’s working.”
It was another Silver Arrows driver who headed the way in the opening race of the weekend on Saturday, Daniel Juncadella scoring his maiden series win. Intent on staying in the DTM when Mercedes departs, it was critical that he bounced back from a broken collarbone caused by a pre-season cycling incident to put himself in the shop window.
However, wheelspin off the line dropped the polesitter to third. Mercedes’ Auer pounced into the lead as Audi’s Rast compounded Juncadella’s sluggish start by sweeping around the outside through Paddock.
But Rast, attempting to repeat his Zandvoort-winning strategy by pitting at the end of the first lap, was caught out when his fellow Audi drivers Loic Duval and Frijns tripped over one another. Rast lost time in the resulting slow zone.
That left Juncadella to blitz a short opening run. A slick stop meant he dispatched a powerless Auer, who ran longer before pitting, through Graham Hill Bend as he resumed on cold rubber. Farfus followed through at Surtees for second, crediting his experience from a 2009 World Touring Car victory at the Kent circuit.
With di Resta failing to score in 16th, Paffett was able to extend his points lead to 29 points with a sixth place, ahead of ex-formula 1 driver Pascal Wehrlein.
An RGB Sports 1000 podium lockout for Mittell drivers, Christopher ‘Chippy’ Wesemael’s brilliant follow-up win on Sunday and a 1-2 for BMW E92 M3s in Club Enduro highlighted a weekend of firsts on the 750 Motor Club’s annual sojourn to Silverstone’s International Circuit.
Paul Smith, Wesemael and Daniel Larner’s resounding clean sweep, driving cars built in a garage beside father and son Ian and Scott Mittell’s Hampshire homes, harked back to the roots of the club, pioneers of affordable racing since its eponymous Austin Seven-based class debuted in 1950.
True the squadron’s success was helped, to its principals’ genuine disappointment, when champion Billy Albone’s works Spire GT3 was blunted by the same dire misfire which struck in qualifying. Smith shook his team-mates off, but it wasn’t until Wesemael shot audaciously round Larner’s earlier MC-52B at Stowe that Saturday’s order was settled.
On dry settings as the remnants of overnight rain dried, Belgo-scot Wesemael shot his MC-53 clear at Sunday’s start and pulverised rivals with a sensational display of pace and consistency. As Smith faded to fifth, Larner ceded second to MNR graduate David Watson (Spire GT3), loving the transition to a mid-engined chassis. Larner held off Colin Chapman (Spire) to the finish.
Luke Sedzikowski kept his fourlitre BMW E92 M3 close to the front throughout and won the Club Enduro race, battling E46s over an action-packed two hours in which class points leader Andy Baylie’s M3 shed a rear wheel at Vale at one-third distance. Second for Darren Ball’s sister E92 compounded the TI Motorsport team’s joy.
Julian Mcbride, going well in his PDKgearboxed M3, lost third to poleman Martin James, chasing relentlessly having pitted early for his Honda Civic’s damaged nose splitter to be removed. Both passed Class B standout Matt Faizey (Porsche 968) who finished fifth.
BMW E36 328i duo Matt Nossiter/steve Hewson kept their overall Club Enduro points lead, despite a power steering pipe bursting in the assembly area. Nossiter started half a lap late but, without assistance, they wrestled Class C honours fromandrew Winchester/josh Orr (BMW Compact).
Young Joe Stables blitzed all three Bikesports races. Not even a clash with challenger Lee Torrie – which sent both Radical SR3S through the Vale gravel bed in Sunday morning’s damp stanza – put him off. Phil Cooper (Radical PR6) gratefully grabbed second in the melee from which Torrie emerged fifth. Father Richard Stables (PR6) snaffled Class A winner’s points in the first two races but Torrie bounced back to finish runner-up to his lad’s B-car in a clean close-fought finale.
Bears GAC driver Craig Pollard consolidated his Formula Vee points lead with a double. With Danny Hands starting his GAC from the pits, Saturday’s win over Graham Gant (WEV) was fairly straightforward. Sunday’s race was epic though, poleman Gant, Hands and Peter Belsey (Spyder) all leading as the top four jockeyed for position. “You can get a tow from 10 cars’ lengths in Vees, but today it was as much luck, where we found traffic, as who had the quickest car,” said Pollard.
Hot Hatchers joined in on Sunday and had the worst of the weekend’s conditions following a heavy shower. Despite gearbox oil leaking onto his Honda Integra’s rear tyres, causing lurid slides, Ben Rushworth downed Stephen Sawley (Civic) in the opener. A late gearbox failure struck Class B table-topper Rodren Vella’s Civic, rewarding Christian Lyne. Having reset the lap record, Rushworth’s car broke in race two, to Sawley’s advantage. Philip Wright (Civic) claimed Class B while Ian Williamson inflicted a rare C defeat on Michael Winkworth in their Citroen Saxo VTR battle.
Double Classic Stock Hatch champion Matt Rozier bested current incumbent Lee Scott both days in Peugeot 205 GTI versus Ford Fiesta XR2I bouts. Marcus Ward (XR2I) was a smoky third on Saturday, then made a 100-mile dash home for a spare engine which kept him in the title hunt with fourth, behind Andy Philpotts’ similar car, on Sunday.
Scrapes aplenty coloured the frenetic 10th anniversary Toyota MR2 rounds, an inadvertent wallop from Ben Rowe after a run round the outside at Stowe turning both Shaun Traynor and Rowe round in race one. Traynor recovered to win from returnee Stuart Nicholls (Roadster) and Darren Aldworth while points leader Rowe rumbled in 11th. The leaders arrived at the final chicane three abreast, which didn’t work, in the curtain closer. Traynor emerged ahead of Rowe and Jim Davies.