Race Report for Round Twelve- Pit-Stop
Speedy Stanley helps John Seale and JMH Automotive to endurance race win
Dry enough for slicks, but still a greasy surface at Snetterton for today’s pitstop race. John Seale started on pole, thanks to a 2:10.361 laptime during the earlier sprint race. Lining up alongside him was Laki Christoforou, with Seamus Jennings and James Webb filling the second row.
A good start by John Seale saw him hold onto the lead, but a flying Jennings almost scuppered his afternoon. Jennings spun and was largely a sitting duck as the field dodged around him. Christoforou and Graham de Zille filtered in behind Seale as the dust settled and the race was truly on.
Sam Randon had a good start in the #21 Ginetta, climbing as high as fifth overall in the GTH machine. The same couldn’t be said for Mal Sandford, having taken the gamble to start on wet tyres. Clearly the wrong choice on a drying track, Sandford pitted quickly to swap for slicks.
Attrition seemed to factor into this race more than any other this weekend. By the end of lap two, Lucky Khera had ground to a halt with a suspected left front puncture. Shortly afterwards, Sander Mortensen, who’d been having a fantastic weekend, made contact with the barriers, ending his race. Sandford, already having had a slow start also found himself in the barriers.
As soon as the pit window opened, Sam Randon and John Seale dived into the pit lane to hand over to their co-drivers. Josh Jackson jumped into the #21 Ginetta, while superquick Jamie Stanley took over the ‘Kermit’ JMH Lamborghini.
Stanley smashed the fastest lap of the race on his outlap, and continued to set the pace for the remainder of the race. His final quickest time was a staggering 1:51.595, almost three seconds faster than his nearest rival.
Pit stops proved to be a sticking point for a couple of cars - Frank Mortensen in the #51 Top Cats Racing car was given a drive-through penalty for an unsafe release, while Seamus Jennings picked up a five second stop/go for taking a short pitstop.
Stanley proved to be unstoppable and took the chequered flag with well over a minute’s gap to Dan de Zille in the #27 FF Corse Ferrari. Second in GTO went to a well recovered Seamus Jennings, with Graham Tilley’s Nissan GT-R in third.
Another good day in the office for FF Corse. Along with the de Zille’s winning group GTC, Laki Christoforou and Adam Carroll joined them on the second step of the podium. James Webb put in a strong performance, but a small run wide relegated him to third in the group.
Steve Ruston and John Whitehouse continue to pull the most out of their McLaren 570GT4, and added another piece of GTH silverware to their collection. Sam Randon and Josh Jackson also grabbed another trophy, taking second in the group, with Brent Millage in third for Spy Motorsport.
Kris Prosser and Steve Chandler made it four wins from four this weekend, claiming the GTA win. The pair finished ninth overall, and three positions of Del Shelton in the Geoff Steel Racing BMW E36.
In GTB, only two cars in the group crossed the finish line, and it was David Frankland taking the win. The Porsche driver beat Frank Mortensen to the top step of the podium.
The GT Cup will be back in action in mid August at Silverstone for rounds 13, 14, 15 and 16.
