THE UK’S BANK HOLIDAY ACTION
BRITISH GT KICKS OFF AT OULTON PARK
Flick Haigh created British GT Championship history as the first female driver to claim an overall race victory, while inclement weather later curtailed race two of the Oulton Park season opener.
Teamed with double champion Jonny Adam, Haigh stole the headlines for Optimum Motorsport with pole and a win in the weekend’s sole race.
A coating of sleet met drivers on Easter Monday, Haigh utilising a safety car start to romp over six seconds clear in the early stages of the race while last year’s double winner Jon Minshaw began a determined charge from seventh towards the front.
The Barwell Motorsport driver survived first-corner contact that sent Mark Farmer’s Aston Martin spinning, quickly passing the two Team Parker Racing Bentleys to take second and proceeding to trim four seconds out of Haigh’s lead cushion by the time pitstops began to cycle through.
Adam and Phil Keen, Minshaw’s partner, resumed the lead fight, the latter trimming the deficit to nothing within three laps.
The intense scrap that loomed ended somewhat prematurely when the pair encountered traffic. Keen’s attempts to squeeze by the GT4 Ginetta of Callum Hawkins-row at Druids resulted in contact, damaging a wheel rim of the second-place Lamborghini Huracan which dropped to fifth from the resulting puncture.
Adam was untroubled for a 28s victory, ensuring success for Haigh on her series debut. “The last time I was here I was airlifted to hospital,” said the 33-year-old in reference to a previous Caterham accident at the same circuit.
“I think I was napping a bit out front, but it helps that it is such a narrow circuit. Jonny is a complete driver and, after a lot of testing, I’ve got that base confidence.”
Returning to Oulton Park for the first time since 2008, Darren Turner ensured an Aston Martin 1-2 after a gritty defence of second place from former single-seater racer Yelmer Buurman in the ERC Sport Mercedes he shared with Lee Mowle.
Turner inherited second place after team-mate Andrew Howard climbed to third from fifth on the grid in the Beechdean Vantage during his opening stint. Buurman followed closely but was unable to find an opening despite a traffic-littered final lap.
Keen came home fourth ahead of Barwell team-mates Leo Machitski and Jonny Cocker, sharing their Huracans with Patrick Kujala and Sam de Haan respectively.
“Weirdly, I thought my chance would come in traffic,” bemoaned Keen. “I was maybe a bit impatient.”
Barwell would not get the chance to avenge the situation in the afternoon, with race two called off after four laps in inclement conditions behind the safety car.
The matter of whether or not to award full championship points has been referred to the championship stewards to decide. Technically British GT
regulations say a result can be declared after just two laps. However, the sticking point arises as part one of the race ended under a red flag, not a chequered flag, and part two never happened. So it is up to the stewards to decide whether or not the outing actually constituted a race.
Keen supported the decision to end the race, adding: “Personally, I wanted to race on [but] I would say that though as I had a clear track; I think it’s the sensible call. It’s a shame we haven’t won today, but the plus side is that it means we don’t now carry a penalty into Rockingham.”
The stoppage acted as a bizarre lifeline for the Optimum squad, after Adam aquaplaned into the barriers heading to the dummy grid.
Rear suspension damage cost them four laps, but the cancellation handed the experienced Scot and Haigh the early championship lead.
Reigning champions Team Parker Racing and Rick Parfitt Jr were instantly on the back foot in conditions not suited to the Bentley Continental’s strengths, Parfitt admitting he was lucky to race after pain induced by his Crohn’s disease.
“My illness is flaring up again; I was in so much pain on Friday night,” he said, finishing a lapped 13th with co-driver Ryan Ratcliffe.
Team-mates Callum Macleod and Ian Loggie did manage to salvage seventh place in the sister Bentley, both cars struggling for tyre temperatures.
Balfe Motorsport’s Mclaren finished eighth ahead of TF Sport’s Derek Johnston and Marco Sorensen, with Jetstream’s Graham Davidson and Maxime Martin rounding out the top 10.