Race Report for Round Ten- Pit-Stop
Laki Christoforou and Adam Carroll claim win in rain disrupted race
Rain started to fall as the competitors lined up on the grid. Weather would prove to play a huge role in today’s pit stop race. A handful of cars made the switch to wet tyres before the race began - a huge advantage for some as it would turn out.
Richard Chamberlain started on pole having claimed the fastest lap during the earlier sprint race, with Graham de Zille lining up alongside. Sander Mortensen lines up sixth as the quickest GTB car, with John Whitehouse and Kris Prosser behind as quickest GTH and GTA machines.
Chamberlain made a great start and retained the lead from pole. Graham de Zille wasn’t so lucky, and lost his position to both Tom Webb’s Lamborghini and Grahame Tilley Nissan GT-R. Chris Murphy in the #72 Whitebridge Motorsport Aston Martin had a fantastic start and boosted himself up to fifth with Del Shelton’s BMW right behind.
Christoforou appeared to vanish from the grid, as he elected to pit at the end of the green flag lap - the first in-race competitor to make the switch to wet tyres. It didn’t take long for other to follow suit, with the remainder of the field pitting over the next few laps. Wet tyres were clearly the correct choice. Those which switched before the race made the most of the advantage - Del Shelton spent a fair few laps leading overall. The gain for the #27 FF Corse Ferrari began to take shape as Christoforou took the lead from Shelton on lap six.
After the dust settled following the mandatory pit stops, Adam Carrol (taking over from Christoforou) had well over a minute in hand over the Webb Lamborghini in second.
Jamie Stanley took the #55 JMH Automotive Lamborghini from John Seale and immediately set to work climbing the order. The pro driver set two fastest laps in quick succession, smashing the previous fastest time by over five seconds, and then a further two. It wouldn’t be enough though as even Dan de Zille in third was too far up the road.
Ultimately, it was the #27 Ferrari which claimed the overall and GTC group win, after a fantastic drive from Laki Christoforou and Adam Carroll, and a great strategy call by the team. Second went the way of Tom Webb, with the de Zilles just behind.
Jamie Stanley and John Seale took the GTO group win, ahead of polesitter Richard Chamberlain and Grahame Tilley. Tilley finished seventh overall.
Winning GTH was the Porsche of Brent Millage. Having started 13th on the grid, Millage finished sixth overall, two places clear of Chris Murphy who claimed second in the group. Third in GTH went to Steve Ruston and John Whitehouse.
The story of GTB is definitely Del Shelton. The switch to wets before the race saved the BMW driver tons of time and helped him finish over a minute clear of his nearest GTB rival. Fraser Smart and James Simons made a great return following the incident at our last Snetterton round, finishing second in the group. Third went to polesitter Sander Mortensen.
Team Hard took the win in GTA with Kris Prosser and Steve Chandler, completing every session today top of their group.
