STICKING THROTTLE LIMITS 935 SUCCESS
The duel between Richard Chamberlain and John Seale has been finely poised in the
GT Cup this year.
Heading to Silverstone last weekend, the two cars had shared six GTO (open spec) class wins apiece, and by the end of Saturday another victory each – the sprint for Chamberlain and the pit contest for Seale’s Lamborghini shared with Jamie Stanley in the 50-minute races – ensured the ding-dong duel between the two continued.
Chamberlain, in the CTR Developments-entered Porsche
935 enjoyed a lights-to-flag victory in the first sprint, but suffered heartbreak in the 50-minute second race with a stuck throttle.
Chamberlain had engaged with the #55 Lamborghini Huracan started by Seale in a fierce battle where the lead changed hands several times. The Porsche driver was ahead by around a second heading into the pit phase and, despite the Lambo leading by 17s once Pro driver Stanley was in the driving seat, Chamberlain was still on for decent points in second.
But with 10 minutes to go, a slowmoving Chamberlain was forced to pit with his sticking throttle, which assisted the Wessex Motorsport Nissan GT-R Nismo shared by Nigel Mustill and Craig Dolby into second and the Adam Carroll/laki Christoforou
Ferrari into third.
In race one, the top two may have had a strong lead on P3 – 33s at the chequered flag – but Grahame Tilley in another Nissan GT-R, Shamus Jennings (Porsche 911 GT3) and the Ferrari 488 of Daniel and Graham de Zille tussled for the final podium place. Half a second was all that separated Tilley in third and the de Zilles at the line, with Jennings fifth.
Jennings wasn’t able to continue his momentum into the first of the pit races either, as a slipping clutch put him out on the first lap.
There was more strife for Jennings in the second sprint race when he rubbed bodywork with the de Zille FF Corse Ferrari which spun the Prancing Horse around, with the #83 and #18 Ferraris also collected in the melee. A red flag and restarted race was needed, but realistically was always going to be in the gift of Seale’s Lambo, as an engine issue in qualifying for Chamberlain meant Seale’s main rival was unable to take to the race.
Jennings meanwhile finally broke through in the final pit race. Seale pitted from the lead on lap 12 of 23 shortly after the pit window opened, but lost out when Tilley’s run on the grass at Luffield prompted a safety car.
Leader Jennings and the secondplaced Team Webb Lamborghini dived for the pits and found themselves as the only two cars on the lead lap as the safety car picked them up following the stops.
It set up an enthralling duel for the win, with the gap just 0.3s with one minute to go before a spin for the Lambo ended it early in Jennings’ favour.
“The safety car was called at a fortuitous time,” he admitted.
“But I am delighted to be number one on the podium.”