2013 British GT Championship – Rd 1, Oulton Park

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The second race of the day started with the #3 Rosso Verde Ferrari of Hector Lester and Allan Simonsen leading the grid, with the #31 Trackspeed car again poised to take a high position from the number two grid box.

 

Their fight for the top spot was possibly the highlight of the race, with each driver setting fastest laps consecutively as they chased each other down. However, a slow pit stop pushed the Ferrari down the field, eventually bringing the car home in 4th place.

 

After an abysmal Race 1, the #007 Beechdean Aston Martin Vantage of Andrew Howard and Jonathan Adam were surely hoping for a better Race 2, starting from third spot, and holding the position from the start. However, a mistake from the #33 Trackspeed Porsche found the car being launched directly at the Aston, pushing them to 22nd place for the chequered flag.

 

And mere minutes later, the IDL-CWS Ginetta G55 found itself erupting into flames on the back half of the circuit, after a broken exhaust snagged, and then erupted a fuel line.

 

 
The driver, Colin White, quickly brought the car to a stop and jumped from the car, though forgetting to turn off the ignition, leading to an extended and incredibly difficult to extinguish blaze. Adding to the story, the only other Ginetta in the field, ran by Team LNT, had suffered a similar, but smaller blaze in Race 1. Whether it was a coincidence or a major issue is yet to be seen.

 

The race resumed with two minutes left on the clock, but that wasn't enough time to stop the #31 car from taking the win, followed closely by the United Autosports' Audi, and Ecurie Ecosse's #79 BMW Z4, wrapping up the opening round of the championship. Round 2 is at Rockingham on the 6th of May.

 

Race 2 Results

 

 

1

31

GT3

Trackspeed

David Ashburn
Nick Tandy

Porsche 997 GT3 R

34 laps
1:01:24.750

1:35.865

2

25

GT3

United Autosports

Mark Patterson
Matt Bell

Audi R8 LMS ultra

34 laps
+0.280

1:36.775

3

79

GT3

Ecurie Ecosse

Marco Attard
Oliver Bryant

BMW Z4 GT3

34 laps
+3.604

1:37.307

4

3

GT3

Rosso Verde

Hector Lester
Allan Simonsen

Ferrari 458 Italia GT3

34 laps
+4.155

1:35.861

5

888

GT3

888Optimum

Steve Tandy
Dan Brown

BMW Z4 GT3

34 laps
+8.280

1:37.276

6

14

GT3

Fortec Motorsports

Benji Hetherington
Ollie Hancock

Mercedes AMG SLS GT3

34 laps
+9.342

1:37.708

7

18

GT3

FF Corse

Gary Eastwood
Rob Barff

Ferrari 458 Italia GT3

34 laps
+9.741

1:37.383

8

22

GT3

Preci-Spark

David Jones 
Godfrey Jones

McLaren MP4-12C

34 laps
+10.416

1:38.082

9

1

GT3

Motorbase Performance

Ahmad Al Harthy
Michael Caine

Porsche 997 GT3 R

34 laps
+10.656

1:38.032

10

23

GT3

United Autosports

Zak Brown
Glynn Geddie

McLaren MP4-12C

34 laps
+11.550

1:38.070

 

Full race results, season standings, and more, can be found at britishgt.com.

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