2013 British GT Championship – Rd 1, Oulton Park
By Nat Twiss
Britain's premier GT Series, the Avon Tyres British GT Championship kicked off with an explosive start last weekend at the picturesque Oulton Park circuit.
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| Race 1 began with the #15 Fortec Mercedes AMG SLS GT3 on pole position, after a blistering qualifying time of 1:37.098, two tenths faster than the second place of the #27 Vita4One 458 of Jay Palmer and Mateo Bobbi. |
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| Although the circuit was dry, conditions remained difficult as the biting wind and cold temperatures made heating the tyres incredibly challenging. On the warm-up lap, the Vita4One car found itself buried in the Armco, causing a delay to the start of the race as the damage to the barriers was assessed. |
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Eventually the debris was cleared and the race, and season, was set to go. With the damage to the rear portion of the #27 car, second place was taken by the #33 Trackspeed Racing Porsche of John Misnhaw and Phil Keen, followed closely by the #1 Motorbase Porsche piloted by Ahmad Al Harthy. |
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| The British GT Championship is populated by some fantastic driving talent, and on such a small circuit like Oulton Park it manifests itself in exciting, close racing. Particularly in the midfield. |
Midway through the race, the front of the field started to shake up. The #15 Mercedes and the #31 Trackspeed car of David Ashburn were involved in a laps-long scrap for the top spot, with both of the Trackspeed team-mates finding their way through to take the lead. They remained this way through to the chequered flag, bringing the first race of the season to a great finish for two thirds of the Trackspeed team, with their fellow #32 car facing a disqualification after a first-lap altercation.
Race 1 Results
|
1 |
33 |
GT3 |
Trackspeed |
Jon Minshaw |
Porsche 997 GT3 R |
33 laps |
1:36.806 |
|
2 |
31 |
GT3 |
Trackspeed |
David Ashburn |
Porsche 997 GT3 R |
33 laps |
1:36.217 |
|
3 |
15 |
GT3 |
Fortec Motorsports |
Jason Minshaw |
Mercedes AMG SLS GT3 |
33 laps |
1:37.337 |
|
4 |
1 |
GT3 |
Motorbase Performance |
Ahmad Al Harthy |
Porsche 997 GT3 R |
33 laps |
1:37.843 |
|
5 |
3 |
GT3 |
Rosso Verde |
Hector Lester |
Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 |
33 laps |
1:36.130 |
|
6 |
79 |
GT3 |
Ecurie Ecosse |
Marco Attard |
BMW Z4 GT3 |
33 laps |
1:37.362 |
|
7 |
13 |
GT3 |
AF Corse |
John Dhillon |
Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 |
33 laps |
1:37.338 |
|
8 |
21 |
GT3 |
MTECH |
Duncan Cameron |
Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 |
33 laps |
1:37.038 |
|
9 |
25 |
GT3 |
United Autosports |
Mark Patterson |
Audi R8 LMS ultra |
33 laps |
1:36.734 |
|
10 |
6 |
GT3 |
PGF-Kinfaun AMR |
Phil Dryburgh |
Aston Martin Vantage GT3 |
33 laps |
1:37.346 |
