Quaife-Hobbs enjoying the GT journey

Single-seater graduate Adrian Quaife-Hobbs says he is enjoying life as a works McLaren GT driver ahead of this weekend’s Silverstone 500. The Briton, a former champion in Auto GP and race-winner in both GP3 and GP2, will be joined by Gilles Vannelet for his British GT category debut, and only his third meeting following the off-season switch to GT racing.

“I’m enjoying this a lot more than I did GP2 – I can push harder in an hour than I could ever in a GP2 hour because the tyres last,” said the 24 year-old, who readily admits that his second season in the category was not up to scratch. “I enjoyed most of the series [on the single-seater ladder] but GP2 ended up being quite political; it was never relaxed. There’s lots of things that go on, inter-team battles and all this, whereas here everyone is working towards the same goal. It’s not just about you, it’s a lot more chilled out environment, and it’s much more enjoyable – and that’s even before we start winning!”

Quaife-Hobbs will make his British GT debut this weekend (Xynamic).

As he alludes, Quaife-Hobbs has had little to show for his efforts so far in the Blancpain Endurance Series; Monza was an uncompetitive weekend across the board as McLaren struggled with straight-line speed, while a sterling opening stint from Nico Lapierre and excellent pit strategy came to naught at Silverstone last weekend due to the untimely intervention of Andy Soucek’s Bentley. However, he can at least take solace from the improvements being made round by round on the new 650S, which made it onto the podium in the Sprint Series at Brands Hatch, before Quaife-Hobbs’ sister car won outright at Silverstone with Rob Bell, Kevin Estre and Shane van Gisbergen.

Whilst McLaren have yet to hit the heights in British GT so far this season, they were in position to challenge for victory at Oulton Park before Andrew Watson’s accident at Island Bend and will likely be ones to watch this weekend.

“We were going really well at the Blancpain round and looked good for a podium before being taken out,” he said. “The fact we’d got into that position after making up 30-odd places suggests the McLaren will be a strong contender this weekend. I’ve never driven on the Avon tyres before but the team isn’t expecting much difference anyway. I guess the biggest change for me will be racing in a Pro-Am crew, but Gilles has a lot of experience.”

The Blancpain Endurance Series meeting ended in disappointment for the 59
crew after contact with the no. 8 Bentley put an end to their race (Xynamic).

As the last driver to be announced on the factory roster, Quaife-Hobbs’ learning curve has been a steep one as both he and McLaren have sought to get to grips with their new mount, but the experience of team-mates Alvaro Parente and Rob Bell – on McLaren’s books since 2011 and 2012 respectively – not to mention former F1 driver Bruno Senna, has proven invaluable, particularly given the uniformity of their feedback.

“We all say exactly the same every time we get out of the car, we all have the same opinions on what our problems are and where we need to improve, so it’s quite easy for the engineers in that respect,” he says. “So far it’s been okay, it’s obviously a different approach, but there are some similarities; in qualifying you just take the car and do the best you can do. The biggest problem is the traffic - you’ve just got to be a bit lucky because if you get stuck behind a group that are five seconds off the pace it’s a nightmare!”

The Van Gisbergen Phenomena

As this writer stood by the Silverstone pitlane entry ahead of the final sequence of pitstops at last weekend’s Blancpain Endurance Series meeting, one car in particular caught the eye. The orange and black no. 58 McLaren of Shane Van Gisbergen had enjoyed a comfortable lead hovering around the 40-second mark, but you would never have guessed from the way he attacked the braking zone, fully committed and visibly closing on the DragonSpeed Ferrari ahead. Even with his job done and Kevin Estre due to take over, Van Gisbergen was taking no prisoners.

With 60 cars all competing for space on track, finding a clear lap in traffic and settling into a rhythm would prove difficult for everyone, but it was the New Zealander who arguably had the most difficult job of all. Although he admitted to being more comfortable with the new McLaren 650S than he had been at Monza – incidentally, the first time he had driven it had been in Friday practice – this was still Van Gisbergen’s first ever visit to Silverstone, which makes his mammoth 1 hour 10 stint all the more impressive.

Van Gisbergen, Bell and Estre celebrate victory at
Silverstone (Olivier Beroud/ Vision Sport Agency).

After taking over from Rob Bell ahead of schedule during a Full-Course-Yellow, the Kiwi had to sacrifice straight-line speed to save fuel and manage his tyres, all while still maintaining the gap to the second-placed Audi of Robin Frijns. Strategy may have played a decisive role in putting him into the lead, but Van Gisbergen still had a job to perform, and did so expertly, giving European audiences a glimpse of the ability which first compelled McLaren GT Director Andrew Kirkaldy to involve him in the team’s works programme.

It is worth stressing at this venture that Van Gisbergen is by no means a raw, undiscovered talent, but one of the established stars of the show in Australia’s premier V8 Supercar Series, who has been around a lot longer than his 26 years would suggest; he practically pushed Jamie Whincup around the Gold Coast in a madcap finish to the 2010 race, before breaking his duck on home turf at Hamilton a year later. After impressing at the 2013 Bathurst 12 Hour in Tony Quinn’s McLaren MP4 12C – battling for the lead with GT racing royalty Bernd Schneider – Van Gisbergen won first time out for Jonathan Webb’s one-car Tekno Autosports outfit at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide.

It was to prove the start of a fruitful partnership; overcoming the bitter disappointment of losing a shot at converting pole position to victory at Bathurst with a starter motor failure at his final pitstop – “there are ten guys who almost won Bathurst every year; that’s just the way that race is, but that was the first time I’ve been in a position to get a result there, so it’s a bit of a shame that something silly let us down” – Van Gisbergen’s terrific form in the second half of last season propelled him into surprise contention for second in points.

Ending a barren stretch going back to Pukekohe in April, two wins at Sydney Motorsports Park, followed up on the streets of Surfers Paradise and Homebush proved enough to usurp Ford Performance Racing’s Mark Winterbottom and Red Bull Racing Australia’s Craig Lowndes at the final round, in the process earning himself a call-up to partner Lowndes and runaway champion Jamie Whincup in an expanded three-car team from 2016.

Van Gisbergen sets up to attack turn one at Adelaide (V8 Supercars).

“[2014] was really good,” Van Gisbergen recalled before Pre-Qualifying. “We worked hard all year and although we really struggled in the middle, for the last five or six rounds we had a pretty good car there. We were a long way off Jamie, but all the same, second was really awesome. We were pretty stoked about that.”

Conscious that he is still contracted with Tekno Autosports, Van Gisbergen is understandably retiscent to wax lyrical about his future employers – “I think I’ve been around long enough to slot straight in and be alright” is about all he will divulge – although there is an implicit understanding that the switch may force him to cut down on his European commitments.

“The good thing about where I am now is the freedom to go and race other cars,” he says. “I started in 2013 with Tony Quinn, who invited me to race his Porsche at Bathurst and it went really well, then I did it again the next year when he changed to the McLaren and Andrew Kirkaldy came to race with us. It went well each time and I’ve always enjoyed racing other things, so Andrew said to come and do Spa last year and then this year as well.

“It’s a completely different way of going racing; its not just about you, so you’re not selfish I suppose. Every track we go to until Spa will be new for me, so it’s about learning as much as I can and trying to be a sponge with all the information. It’s a completely new experience and to be able to experience different things makes me better as a driver.”

The McLaren is a very different beast than the one Van Gisbergen
is accustomed to back home (Olivier Beroud/ Vision Sport Agency).

Owing to their busy schedule with 14 races per year, it is rare to see the V8 contingent diverge overseas, but it does happen on occasion. BJR’s Jason Bright appeared at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2013, while Van Gisbergen was joined at last year’s Spa 24 Hours by Lowndes – who finished on the podium in the Pro-Am class – Australian GT champion Richard Muscat in an Erebus/ Black Falcon Mercedes and three-time Bathurst 1000 winner Steven Richards in the Lago Racing Lamborghini.

“They see it’s possible to go and do things, you don’t just have to be a V8 driver,” Van Gisbergen says. “V8s is a full time job and it’s a bloody tough series, but some of them are good enough to come over here and race for sure.”

But quite apart from improving himself as a driver, for Van Gisbergen the McLaren programme provides a welcome release from the pressure cooker environment of the V8 paddock, literally a world away.

“In V8s we race a lot, but there’s still a lot of downtime, and I always find if I’m driving different stuff you’re learning different ways of doing things. It keeps your eyes open,” he says. “Last week [at Winton] we had a shit weekend and you leave the track angry, but you know you have a race the next weekend and its always exciting going and doing something different. If you have a bad week and then don’t race for four weeks until the next one you dwell on it, but you go away with different people, different team and you’re refreshed when you go back to Australia, you want to get into it, fix the car and be better for the next one.”

In that case, victory at Silverstone will have gone down a treat.

McLaren plays its cards right

On the day Lewis Hamilton lost a near-certain victory at the Monaco Grand Prix due to a poor strategy call, Rob Bell, Shane van Gisbergen and Kevin Estre delivered McLaren a first win for their new 650S with a perfectly-executed race at Silverstone. 

After Bell jumped from fourth to second on the first lap, Von Ryan Racing made full use of a Full-Course Yellow just before the hour-mark to recover Fabien Barthez's stricken Ferrari and called their man in early, giving van Gisbergen a commanding lead once the leaders pitted on the hour. However, they were helped by delays for their main rivals Wolfgang Reip, Katsumasa Chiyo and Alex Buncombe in the pole-sitting no.23 Nissan, which collided with a backmarker at the Loop and then lost time in the pits and could only recover to 13th overall. 

After a terrific fuel-saving stint from Van Gisbergen, Estre was left with the simplest of tasks to bring home the win, 23 seconds clear of the no. 1 WRT Audi of Jean-Karl Vernay, Robin Frijns and Laurens Vanthoor, denying the Belgian a third win in successive weekends at the Blancpain Sprint Series in Brands Hatch and Nurburgring 24 Hours.

McLaren's Kevin Estre had reason aplenty to smile (own photo).

“This was my first time in the car when I have not been asked to push,” Estre said. “It was very strange, as people who drive with me know, it is not my way!”

The no. 75 ISR crew were able to take full advantage of another Full-Course Yellow following contact between Andy Soucek's Bentley and Alvaro Parente's McLaren, which shredded the rear bodywork on the no. 59 and brought their heroic drive from 33rd on the grid to an abrupt halt. Marco Bonanomi, Filip Salaquarda and Frederic Vervisch would finish third on the road, but were relegated to fourth by a post-race five second penalty for infringing track limits, promoting Stephane Ortelli, Frank Stippler and Stephane Richelmi in Audi no. 3.

“It was a very interesting race and Team WRT didn’t put a foot wrong,” said Ortelli. “To get two cars on the podium is great; it’s not a win, but it’s a very good result considering we were fighting for P10 at one point.”

After running for most of the race on the fringes of the top ten, the no. 73 MRS Nissan of Craig Dolby, Sean Walkinshaw and Martin Plowman used a similar strategy to leap into fifth, despite progressively-worsening break wear.

Dolby and Plowman with Sean Walkinshaw (not pictured) impressed in the Nissan (own photo).

“We had a bit of a lucky break with the yellow,” Plowman admitted. “We were stretching the second stint trying to catch a yellow just in case and then it came out, I jumped straight in and that gained us a load of places. Taking fifth place from where we started [P22] is a pretty good effort and some great points.

“I think all three of us have got the best out of the car. It’s still new, so we’ve got to work on dialling the set-up in as it’s not a proven thing yet, but we’re chipping away with it and so long as we get it right for Spa, that’s all that matters.”

The battle-scarred Bentley of Soucek, Maximilian Buhk and Maxime Soulet worked their way through the field from 17th to sixth, despite a penalty for the contact with Parente, also attracting the ire of Rinaldi Racing’s Norbert Seidler, who eventually persevered after an entertaining scrap with the Grasser Lamborghini of Mirko Bortolotti, Giovanni Venturini and Adrian Zaugg for seventh.

“Just after the new start-finish line he hit me really hard from the back and I nearly spun, I was lucky there,” said Seidler, who shared the no. 333 Ferrari with Marco Seefreid and Rinat Salikhov. “The race was good, the pace was good. In practice we were P20 or something like that, so if we thought we would be P7 at the end we would have taken that.”

Steven Kane, Andy Meyrick and Guy Smith were unable to repeat their 2014 success and finished a disappointed ninth after a sticking wheel-nut cost them 65 seconds, with the no. 99 ROWE Racing Mercedes of Stef Dusseldorp, Nico Bastian and Klaus Graf completing the top ten.

“It was a frustrating day,” said Meyrick afterwards. “We lost a bit of time because we went down to 24^th place and overtaking the Ams you lose a lot of time. I think we would have finished on the podium for sure, but we’ve proved again that the Bentley Continental GT is quick.”

Joe Osborne and Lee Mowle qualified on Pro-Am pole, but were unable to stay there (own photo).

Meanwhile in Pro-Am, the Leonard Motorsport Aston Martin took the honours on home soil, just seven seconds ahead of a charging Jann Mardenborough in the no. 22 RJN Nissan. As the Triple Eight BMW in which Joe Osborne set class pole and ran as high as third during Ryan Ratcliffe's stint gradually faded, the no. 32 Vantage driven by Michael Meadows, Paul Wilson and Stuart Leonard came to the fore and ran consistently inside the top fifteen throughout, only conceding 13th place to overall polesitter Alex Buncombe inside the final 20 minutes.

Mardenborough came through from third after his pitstop to the brink of victory after solid opening stints from Gaetan Paletou and Ricardo Sanchez, whilst the Emil Frey Jaguar sprung a surprise in third after the no. 51 AF Corse Ferrari of Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin was hit with a post-race penalty for exceeding the track limits and dropped to fourth. Christophe Bouchut anchored the GT Russian Mercedes to fifth at the flag ahead of the TDS BMW, which failed to hit the giddy heights of second overall in Saturday practice, despite the best efforts of Franck Perera, Eric Dermont and Henry Hassid, while the Kessel Racing challenge was over before it had even begun, when Michael Broniszewski was spun into the gravel at Chapel on lap one.

In the Am Class, the no. 15 Boutsen Ginion BMW of Olivier Grotz and Karim Ojjeh finished a lap ahead of the no. 25 Glorax Racing and no. 42 Sport Garage Ferraris.

Klien and Liuzzi: Best of Frenemies

Team SARD-Morand’s contractual woes meant Christian Klien was unexpectedly freed up to join his former Red Bull sparring partner Vitantonio Liuzzi at ByKolles for the first two rounds of the World Endurance Championship at Silverstone and Spa. James Newbold hears their story.

‘Could it really have been ten years ago?’ Christian Klien’s eyes appeared to say. Indeed, it could. After rescuing the floundering Jaguar outfit in November 2004 and signing up veteran David Coulthard after nine years at McLaren, the new Red Bull Racing team had a big decision to make, with two promising Red Bull-backed youngsters vying for one seat. Sound familiar?  

In one corner stood 22-year old Austrian Christian Klien, with a year’s F1 experience already under his belt in the recalcitrant Jaguar after winning the Zandvoort F3 Masters and finishing runner-up to Ryan Briscoe in the previous year’s Formula 3 Euroseries – ahead of Nico Rosberg, Robert Kubica, Timo Glock, Bruno Spengler and Nicolas Lappiere, to name but a few. In the other, 23-year-old Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi, who wiped the floor with the opposition in the final season of Formula 3000, only once failing to take pole and winning seven times.

In the end, it was decided that the two would share the seat, with Klien starting the season and Liuzzi taking over from the European leg in San Marino, each aware that any mistake could spell the end. But despite everything that was at stake, their relationship was surprisingly amiable.

Liuzzi and Klien converse with Red Bull team boss
Christian Horner at Bahrain in 2005 (Motorsport.com).

“I have known Christian since 2001 or 2002 and we became friends straight away,” says Liuzzi. “Even though for many years we were fighting for the same seat and both realised that obviously when you close the visor you are fighting for your career, we were always good friends and had a good relationship.”

“At that time, you could easily become enemies because you are racing for your career, but for us it was good outside the track,” agrees Klien. “Everything was normal and that was of course a benefit for us.”

But for whatever reason, unfortunately neither of their Formula One careers would live up to its early promise. Klien outqualified Coulthard 8-7 in 2005 and was in line to score Red Bull’s first podium at Monaco in 2006 before transmission failure struck. He was eventually replaced by Robert Doornbos for the final three Grand Prix of the season, only returning to F1 in 2010 for a three-race stint at Colin Kolles’ fledgling HRT team. Liuzzi would also race for Kolles at HRT in 2011 alongside a fresh-faced Daniel Ricciardo, having been dropped by Red Bull sister team Toro Rosso at the end of the 2007 season despite a sixth place in China. He would match that result for Force India at the 2010 Korean Grand Prix, before teaming up with Kolles again in the new World Endurance Championship in 2012. 

Motorsport is a funny old business at the best of times, so it was only apt that it took the perfect storm of French air traffic control strikes – which threatened to ground ByKolles’ second driver Simon Trummer – and the last-minute withdrawal of Klien’s original team due to contractual wranglings for the pair to finally be reunited at the WEC’s season-opening 6 Hours of Silverstone, naturally with Kolles again at the helm. Klien takes up the story:

The CLM P1/01 on track at Silverstone. Reliability and a lack
of downforce have been problematic so far (ByKolles). 

“The good thing is that in endurance racing we don’t have to fight for the seat!” he joked. “There was obviously a bit of a drama, so I was here anyway just to sort things out. I was around the paddock and on Friday morning [ByKolles director of operations] Boris Bermes called me to ask if I was available. I said ‘right now I’m in bed but I can be in one and a half hours!’ so I came straight here. Thankfully Sard-Morand were fine with it, so it’s good to race.”

However, the CLM P1/01’s lack of downforce and struggles to get heat into the tyres meant scoring a result against the manufacturer entrants around the high-speed Silverstone was always going to be a tough ask, and qualifying amongst the LMP2 pack confirmed their worst fears. An extended stay in the garage after sustaining floor damage from a kerb on the opening lap meant things didn’t get much better therein, before the glorified test session was eventually cut short forty minutes before the end by engine failure.

“Silvestone is really the worst conditions we could have, so this weekend will be a chance to get information about the car and put more laps on it,” Liuzzi admitted. “We still have a long way to go and when you are racing here and you are ten seconds off the pace it’s not so nice, but Christian and I believe in the job Colin is doing. This is good preparation for Le Mans.”

ByKolles at least managed to outqualify the fastest LMP2 entry at Spa with revised bodywork and a new gearbox and suspension, before mechanical gremlins again struck. But despite the travails, it is evident that both men have nothing but respect for Kolles, whose roster of drivers down the years resembles something of a who’s who of motorsports, with the likes of Adrian Sutil, Andre Lotterer, Narian Karthikeyan, Pierre Kaffer and James Rossiter among his list of alumni. From the junior formula to DTM, sportscars and Formula One, you name it, Kolles has done it, often on a tight budget and with the odds stacked against him.

Klien and Liuzzi were finally reunited at ByKolles (own photo).

“He’s always managed to put a team on the grid, which is never easy, especially here when you’re having to fight against manufacturers,” says Klien. “You cannot compare a private team with the resources they have to manufacturers; you can only compare it to Rebellion in the end. Even in Formula 1 in the really difficult times like in 2010 with HRT, he made it possible for the team to race. He just lives for the sport.”

“He offered me the opportunity to race at Macau in Formula 3 in 2002, so I’ve known him for many years and I’ve always respected him a lot as a person and a businessman,” Liuzzi adds. “With him I always felt that black is black and white is white. He always was very serious and straight-up. He likes a challenge because many times he has been on board with projects like HRT or Caterham or this one, which is really difficult because you are fighting against manufacturers or teams with a huge budget. But he always made a good job with the resources he had, so I’m sure he will find the right way. It will take time, but sooner or later we will find out way out of the tunnel.” 

However the latest Kolles adventure pans out in the end, you can bet that Klien and Liuzzi will have relished their surprise reunion; if only to recapture the youthful exuberance which saw Liuzzi lay claim to the crown of the ‘paddock’s best dancer’.

*It was announced before e-Racing went to press that Tiago Monteiro would join Pierre Kaffer and Simon Trummer in the ByKolles lineup at the Le Mans 24 Hours. It is unclear whether Liuzzi and Klien will return to the project later in the year. 

Introducing: Ross Gunn

It’s been quite a week in the life of Beechdean AMR youngster Ross Gunn. The 18-year old from High Wycombe belied his lack of experience with an error-free run to victory in torrential conditions at the Britcar 24 Hours of Silverstone and promptly followed it up with a dominant performance at Rockingham to become, along with 16-year-old Jamie Chadwick, the youngest ever winners in British GT history. The Motorsport Journal caught up with Gunn, an Aston Martin Evolution Academy scholar, before qualifying.

Ross Gunn knows what it’s like to be on the outside looking in. Twice a winner during a part-season in BRDC Formula 4 in 2013, Gunn was forced to sit out the entirety of last season due to a lack of budget, making him all the more determined to maximise his opportunity at Andrew Howard’s Beechdean outfit, which swept to the GT4 class title last season with Jake Giddings and Ross Wylie.

Howard, Chadwick, Gunn and Adam pose after qualifying at Rockingham,
where the GT4 youngsters notched up pole and the win (Ross Gunn Racing).

“Still two months on from signing the contact it feels amazing to be doing British GT with an Aston Martin,” he says. “Just being able to wake up in the morning and know I’m racing is amazing. I’m very lucky to be here and I have a smile on my face every day.”

With a formidable record in karts behind him, Gunn’s speed has never been in doubt; witness his pole lap in qualifying at Rockingham, a full second quicker than his ever-improving team-mate Chadwick and almost four tenths up on Giddings, now driving the JWB Bird GT4 Aston Martin. But as the old cliché goes, GT racing is about far more than just one-lap pace. Over the course of a two-hour race, let alone a 24-hour race, consistency is king; developing the ability to relay what the car is doing and find a consistent balance are all invaluable skills in a GT driver’s armoury.

Gunn knows has had a lot to learn, but couldn’t have dreamt of a much better start than the surprise overall triumph at Silverstone. As the faster cars around them faltered – including the LNT-ran Ginetta LMP3 with former F4 sparring partner Charlie Robertson and Sir Chris Hoy at the wheel – the Aston ran faultlessly throughout the night, closing out the win by an eventual five clear laps.

Needless to say, it was the longest race he has been involved in.

“It was really tough; you have to make sure you sleep at the right times, drink, eat as well, but the reason I think it went so well was because of who we’ve got behind us,” he said. “The Aston Martin GT4 Vantage is a very reliable car, we had no drastic problems throughout the race. The Dunlop tyre held up very well and the team were absolutely fantastic, they stayed up all the way through the race; all the pitstops were very smooth, even during the night when it started to rain and things got quite hard. Really, I’m just a very small cog in the machine.

“It was a bit of a surprise to be honest to take the overall honours, but Class 3 probably less so because the car was very quick. It was just a fantastic experience.”

Additional seat-time in the GT4 Vantage could prove crucial in the title battle (SRO Media).

The extra seat time, spent alongside Beechdean owner Andrew Howard and Aston Martin factory driver Jonny Adam could prove vital come the end of the season in his and Chadwick’s assault on the GT4 class title, with the lure of a professional works contract for the winner of the Evolution Academy also up for grabs. 

Gunn admits that "it would mean more than anything to win it", but competition is fierce, with Chadwick, Giddings and GT3 racers Dan Lloyd, Matt Bell and Jody Fannin also among the ten young drivers being assessed over the course of the year on their fitness and nutrition, media engagement and technical feedback to find the next Darren Turner or Richie Stanaway. 

"I know I must keep my feet on the ground at all times, as the drivers on the Academy are all very talented and are working very hard,” he adds. “It's certainly an opportunity I would work 24/7 for and do everything in my power to repay Aston Martin with on and off track performance."

At least if early impressions are anything to go by, the name Ross Gunn could well be one to watch out for in the coming years. 

Sims and Attard Score Rockingham Win

Defending champion Marco Attard and Alexander Sims took their first win of the season with an accomplished performance at Rockingham. After qualifying four tenths clear on pole, Sims and Attard were always likely to be the combination to beat, but it took a small error from Daniel Lloyd to make sure.

Knowing they had to serve a five second success penalty carried over from the last round at Oulton Park, Attard defended resolutely from Lloyd's team-mate Ahmad Al-Harthy in the race’s opening stint, ensuring Sims emerged from the pits on Lap 33 with only a small deficit to make up.

“Ahmad drove well, I’ve got a lot of respect for him and vice versa. I just had to keep him at bay; I wasn’t going to let him past and I didn’t let him past, but it was all good and fair,” said a delighted Attard afterwards.

Carrying an additional 70 kilos, Lloyd was always going to struggle to resist Sims’ charge, but did so admirably for twenty minutes before making a small mistake at the Deene hairpin while negotiating slower traffic. Sims seized the opportunity and promptly made his escape, surviving a late safety car to finish 10.498 seconds clear of Lloyd, who just managed to hold off team-mate Rory Butcher with a progressively worsening throttle problem.

Attard and Sims picked up their first win of the season (Jakob Ebrey).

“You never have any doubts when Alexander gets in that car; if anyone can do it, he can,” added Attard. “He is the fastest man out there and if I do make a slight mistake, he will always make up for it, so we had no worries. We’re very happy.”

Despite missing out on the victory, Lloyd was content to take home a decent haul of points after a difficult Oulton Park weekend.

“It was extremely difficult,” Lloyd reported. “It was a case of killing it in the middle of the corners, getting a gap and hoping for the best with the GT4s but unfortunately they ruined my chances, I had to go around the outside and hit the marbles and there was I could do.

“I was battling away for ages, I asked my engineer how long was left and he said ’50 minutes’. It was kind of inevitable in a way, but to be honest I was shocked that I was even able to hold him off for fifteen minutes. I guess you never know, but I’m really happy with second.”

Motorbase team manager Dave Bartrum echoed those sentiments, as his team scored a double podium for the first time this season.

“Obviously we’d like to win, that’s what we’re here for, but it’s a great team result and the drivers were superb,” he said. “There was that little moment when you get them both together on the circuit, but the rules of Motorbase are that they’re here to race and so long as they race fairly and don’t touch, you’re okay. Dan showed a great pace today, it’s a shame he had that little moment because he was doing a great job. Bearing in mind we carry 70 kilos on that car, I’m very proud of both drivers.”  

Motorbase were delighted with Lloyd's drive to second (Jakob Ebrey).

Lewis Plato and Alastair McKinnon took home an excellent fourth in the RAM Racing Mercedes, with Matt Bell and Derek Johnston’s TF Sport Aston Martin fifth.  Both had been passed by a fired-up Adam Carroll, although the Northern Irishman, sharing with Gary Eastwood, was promptly given a black flag for an earlier clash with James Harrison which left the GT4 Aston Martin languishing in the gravel at Tarzan.

Suffering from exhaust damage after Lee Mowle was assaulted on the opening lap by Salih Yoluc – who blotted his copybook further by clattering into Von Ryan McLaren team-mate Ross Wylie – Joe Osborne did well to hold onto sixth and even challenge Bell in the latter stages, with Jonny Adam and Andrew Howard – delayed by a 15 second success penalty from Oulton – seventh and Phil Keen and Jon Minshaw rounding out the top eight.

Having raced their way past the eventual-third placed Griffin and Butcher in the opening stages, Rick Parfitt and Tom Oliphant could well have sprung a surprise from 12^th on the grid in their LNT Ginetta, but a debilitating alternator problem, followed by a frightening 140mph blow-out at the banked turn one firmly put paid to that. Afterwards, Parfitt could only smile.

Rick Parfitt Jr. was out of luck again (Jakob Ebrey).

“I’ve always been quick around this circuit but for whatever reason I’ve never finished,” he rused. “I didn’t expect to make so many places so quickly – I was just waiting for the race to come to me, but the car was absolutely brilliant. If we had carried on like that I see no reason why we couldn’t have finished on the podium, but we’ve shown that we can fight with the big boys and when the car lasts the course we can be right up there.”

In GT4, Beechdean AMR youngsters Jamie Chadwick and Ross Gunn were never headed, pulling out a lead of over a minute over the chasing pack. After the GPRM Toyota of Richard Williams and Stefan Hodgetts hit trouble, Academy Motorsport’s Will Moore and Dennis Strandberg came through to second, with Jake Giddings and Kieran Griffin completing an Aston Martin podium whitewash in third. 

This article originally appeared on Motorsport.com.

Catching up with: Jake Hill

21-year-old Jake Hill is making his British GT debut this weekend in AMD Tuning’s Porsche 911 GT4. His weekend didn’t get off to the best of starts when a mechanical failure forced him to sit out FP1, but Hill and team-mate Graham Coomes still recovered to qualify seventh in class. The Motorsport Journal caught up with him just before qualifying.

After a brief flirtation with the BTCC at Croft in 2013, Hill has set his sights on a career in endurance racing, following the likes of newly-signed Nissan LMP1 driver Harry Tinknell.

“Harry I know personally and hats off to him, he’s done what we all wish we could do,” said BRDC Rising Star Hill. “He’s had an amazing year with Jota Sport, winning his class at Le Mans, second in the ELMS and now he’s a works Nissan driver.  So fair play, he deserves it, that’s also the sort of thing I’d love to do eventually.”

As Hill freely admits, budget has inevitably played a part in his decision. Much like Formula Ford champion Dan Cammish last season, who found his path to the ITV4 behemoth blocked by a budget shortfall, Hill has had to be pragmatic.

“The budget for touring cars for a proper team is £300,000-£400,000, but for GTs it’s more like £100,000, or maybe even less than that for certain teams,” he says. “Touring cars is great and if I got paid to do it I would love to go back there, I love touring cars and always will, but ultimately what I want to be doing is sportscars. As a professional route, the sportscar programme and GT3 will always be the way to go. We’ll just keep doing this for now, hopefully we can have a good year with AMD in their Porsche and see what the future holds.”

But despite the niggling problems with the Porsche, Hill has enjoyed every minute thus far. With former BTCC racer and team-manager Shaun Hollamby mucking in washing the wheels, Hill has relished in his new team and expects to see out the season.

“I’ve known Shaun and guys for a very long time now and I tested their touring car last year at Snetterton, they’re a great bunch, so I’ve clicked well with the whole team and with Graham as well,” he said. “He’s a good laugh and we bounce off each other; we both like the same feeling in the car, which means the team isn’t fighting to find a balance for us both and should make the car quicker.”

Sims storms to Rockingham pole

Alexander Sims laid down the gauntlet with a lap four tenths faster than anybody else to earn pole position for Round 3 of the British GT championship at Rockingham. One of only two drivers to get under the 1:23s barrier, Sims and defending champion Marco Attard combined to set an aggregate time of 2:46.786 in their Barwell Motorsport/ Ecurie Ecosse BMW, with Beechdean Aston Martin pair Jonny Adam and Andrew Howard completing the front row for tomorrow’s two-hour race.

There was no stopping Sims in qualifying at Rockingham (Jakob Ebrey).

A solid banker lap from leading Silver Cup entrant Ahmad Al-Harthy and Daniel Lloyd put the Motorbase Aston Martin firmly in contention in third place, with TF Sport’s Matt Bell and Derek Johnston fourth and Rory Butcher and Liam Griffin fifth in the sister Motorbase machine.

On his return to the circuit where he won in the Ginetta GT4 SuperCup last year, Northern Irishman Andrew Watson set the quickest lap during the Am session, but reigning GT4 champion Ross Wylie was unable to match his pace and will start seventh, ahead of Von Ryan team-mates Euan Hankey and Salih Yoluc.

Having saved up their tyres during practice, last year’s Rockingham winners FF Corse will be disappointed with eleventh on the grid, while Joe Osborne and Lee Mowle faired only marginally better with the same strategy in ninth. However, with rain forecast tomorrow, both will be confident of making progress. 

Fresh from winning the Dunlop 24 Hour race at Silverstone last week, Jamie Chadwick and Ross Gunn dominated in GT4 with an aggregate time 1.3s faster than the Toyota GT86 of Stefan Hodgetts and Richard Williams. 

This article originally appeared on Motorsport.com.