Race Report for Round Eighteen - Pit-Stop
Tilley and Tregurtha claim maiden win in rain-soaked thriller
It was an incident-filled pit-stop race, featuring safety cars, last minute rain and plenty of overtaking.
A cracking start from Richard Neary saw the Team Abba Mercedes retain the lead from a hungry Michael Igoe. Shamus Jennings made a good start too, jumping Tom Webb on the first lap.
Early drama for FF Corse as Laki Christoforou pulled into the rear paddock entrance with a very slow Ferrari 488, leaving Graham de Zille as the sole remaining Ferrari on circuit.
Michael Igoe frequently set and reset the fastest lap but couldn’t find a way past Neary’s impressively wide Mercedes. Further down the pack, Grahame Tilley nabbed fifth from Graham de Zille while Brent Millage made his move over Chris Murphy to claim third in GTH.
As the pit window approached, disaster struck for Neary as he found himself sideways in the barrier along the Cooper Straight. Any hopes of repeating their performance in the Sprint Race dashed. Race Control called the safety car onto circuit, neutralising the field.
Issues began to appear for the Webb Lamborghini, as Tom brought the car into the pits for a somewhat extended stay. Under safety car conditions, it was Igoe leading two Grahams - Tilley and de Zille. Once the stricken Mercedes had been cleared, the green flag fell, and Igoe retained his lead.
By this point, the pit window had opened so the pit lane became a hive of activity with drivers diving in to make their mandatory stops. Simon Orange climbed aboard the #21 Team Hard Ginetta after feeling unwell earlier in the day, Graham de Zille swapped to his fresher son Dan and Grahame Tilley handed the GTR over to Will Tregurtha.
Less than ten minutes before the chequered flag, the building clouds gave way and dumped rain across the circuit. With so little time remaining on the clock, most decided to hunker down and stay out - a decision that proved to be Igoe’s undoing. The Lamborghini spun coming out of Druids, gifting the lead to Will Tregurtha in the Nissan.
The rain continued to fall heavily, with drivers struggling to keep their cars on the tarmac. But as the timer reached zero, the chequered flag fell, with Will Tregurtha claiming the maiden win for the Tecserve UK Nissan GTR. Tregurtha finished ahead of Michael Igoe, and fellow GTO competitor Shamus Jennings and Greg Caton.
Fourth overall and taking the GTC group win was the #19 FF Corse Ferrari of Graham and Dan de Zille. Despite issues with the car, Tom Webb scoops up second in the group, and a good handful of points for the championship fight.
In GTH, the #21 Team Hard team picked up the win - the combination of Josh Jackson and Simon Orange proving to be unbeatable in the group. Their nearest rival was Brent Millage in the Spy Motorsport Porsche. Millage ended up second in the group and eighth overall, just ahead of Steve Ruston and John Whitehouse in the #44 McLaren.
More success for Top Cats Racing as the Mortensen duo took the group GTB win. The Marcos crossed the line sixth overall, four positions ahead of second in the group - Mike Sellar. Third in GTB went to 24-7 Motorsports’ David Frankland.
Newcomer Adam Lucas makes it two from two as he claims the GTA group win. The #14 Ginetta held off his sole remaining GTA rivals Fraser Smart and James Simons to finish seventh overall.
