Race Report for Round Twenty-Eight- Pit-Stop
Endurance race win for WPI Motorsport makes a clean sweep
The fourth win of the weekend for WPI Motorsport thanks to a stellar drive from Michael Igoe and Franck Perera. The pair started in the best possible way thanks to Igoe’s fastest lap in the earlier sprint race landing them pole position.
A good, clean start from most of the field, keeping in qualifying order into turn one. Grahame Tilley clearly unhappy being held behind a GTC competitor swiped third from Graham de Zille to start chasing down James Webb. Group GTH again provided incredible track action from the word go. Champion elect Steve Ruston battling it out with David Holloway and Chris Murphy for second, third and fourth in group during the early stages of the race.
PT Sports Cars were the first to dive into the pitlane as soon as the window opened with David Bearman handing over to Ian Payne. A flurry of activity as drivers swapped to their fresher counterparts and returned to the circuit. Will Tregurtha immediately threw a challenge to Franck Perera, setting the fastest lap of the race with a 1:50.478. It didn’t take long for the Lamborghini to respond, with Perera being the only driver to break into the 1:49s.
Drivers may have changed, but it was still business as usual in GTH as battle resumed between Piers Johnson, John Whitehouse and Team Hard’s Josh Jackson. Johnson passed Whitehouse through Murrarys, but the window of opportunity was quickly slammed shut by Whitehouse stopping Jackson following through.
A fight was brewing as Greg Caton was quickly closing in on James Webb, but we’ll never know how that would turn out as the red flag drew the race to an abrupt end. The #41 Lotus of James Simons and Fraser Smart ground to a halt having lost a rear wheel following its pitstop. With just five minutes to go, there was no point in a restart.
But, a win is still a win, even under red flag conditions and WPI Motorsports walked away happy. Will Tregurtha wrung everything he could from the NISMO GT-R and kept ahold of second in GTO for himself and Grahame Tilley. Greg Caton and Shamus Jennings may have had to settle for fourth overall, but they bring home the third-place GTO trophy. James Webb may well be praising the red flag as it secured him fourth overall. There was little doubt he’d finish top in GTC however, as Dan de Zille sat behind Greg Caton. It’s a second in group for the de Zilles, and in the GTC group championship, while the Webbs secured the group title.
GTH saw a plethora of fantastic battles, none of which involved its group winners. Mark Murfitt and Michael Broadhurst were left untroubled by their GTH rivals, to take an easy group win - also their fourth of the weekend. After all the on-track squabbles, Chris Murphy takes home the second place trophy, ahead of the returning David Holloway and Piers Johnson. Steve Ruston and John Whitehouse wound up fourth in group, and sealed both the overall and group championships.
After a torrid sprint race, Saxon Motorsport came back fighting, with Jamie Morrow and Tom Barrow nabbing the group GTB win. Warren Gilbert and Jensen Lunn both drove the Marcos Mantis fantastically well, but couldn’t quite keep up with the BMW, settling for second in group. Jonathan Wright wraps up the GTB runners in third, and secures David Frankland and 24/7 Motorsport the group GTB title.
Team Hard finally managed to break PT Sports Cars’ grip on group GTA with a win for Niall Quinn and latecomer Sam Randon. The paid managed to keep the #87 Ginetta at bay, with the #20 Saxon BMW between them for good measure. Team Hard finish their GTA campaign on a high note, having secured the championship well in advance of this weekend.
