Race Report for Race Two
IGOE MARCHES ON TO DOUBLE DOMINATION AT SNETTERTON
After claiming victory from pole position in race one of the GT Cup Championship at Snetterton, Michael Igoe followed up with a repeat performance in race two on Saturday afternoon. Less than a year after making his debut at the Norfolk circuit, the WPI Motorsport romped away in his Porsche to take another win.
Michael Igoe - WPI Motorsport (88)
“Our second win of the day, it’s great. I got my head down, pulled away, and did what I needed to do. I’m looking forward to tomorrow, we’ll see where we qualify and go from there. Adam and I work well together as a Pro and Am pair.”
Coming home in fifth overall, Tom Hibbert continued an impressive run on his GT Cup return, taking the win in Group GTA. After clearing the GTB Marcos Mantis he set after James Webb for fourth on the road but ran out of time to make a move before the flag.
“I put some new rear tyres on which gave me more grip,” said Hibbert. “I thought I was going to get the Group GTB BMW at the end. If I hadn’t been held up so much by the Topcats Marcos I'd have had a go. The tyres we had before had done a good 80-100 laps, so they were gone. It’s awesome around here. The car isn’t the quickest down the straights but its good around the corners. Hopefully it rains tomorrow as the car is very good in the wet.”
In fourth place James Webb took a second Group GTB victory, though this time chose not to mix it with the faster Ferrari Challenge machines ahead of him. “It was more straightforward,” said James.
“Jon [Harrison] didn’t have as much confidence as Warren so I was able to overtake him relatively early and I had clean air, so I ran around by myself. The tyres went at the end and it was a bit hectic with the Ginetta closing in fast, but I did enough to stay ahead at the end. It’s not the best track for the BMW, it's better through twisty bits, but it isn’t bad anywhere really.”
Adam Hatfield claimed the spoils in Group GTH after missing out in race one. He made his way in to the lead and caught the two Topcats Racing machines but opted to sit behind both rather than risk the win.
“I tried to keep out of trouble,” said Hatfield. “I got the move done nice and early. We were right on the back of the guys in front, but they were in a different Group, so I left it alone. It’s good for the Championship that cars in different Groups can battle. The Century guys have been pushing us hard all year but hopefully we can come out on top.”
It was another disappointing run for Gareth Downing in the Group GTO Lotus Evora GTE, losing several laps as the National Motorsport Academy team worked to keep the car on track. “We found some little issues with the Mosler. We turned up and on the first lap it lost oil pressure and we couldn’t diagnose it without taking the sump off, so it was safer to put it on the truck,” he said.
“The Lotus wasn’t finished being built. It’s been freshly re-done, and it struggles badly with bleeding the water system. Every time it goes out it gets better so hopefully by tomorrow’s race it will have gotten rid of all of its air. It’s a glorified test session for it.”
Results:
Group GTO
1) Gareth Downing, National Motorsport Academy – Lotus Evora GTE
Group GTC
1) Michael Igoe, WPI Motorsport – Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Gen II
2) Paul Bailey, SB Race Engineering – Ferrari 488 Challenge
3) John Seale, FF Corse – Ferrari 488 Challenge
Group GTB
1) James Webb, Team Webb – BMW M3 GTR
2) Jon Harrison, Topcats Racing – Marcos Mantis
3) David Frankland – Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Gen I
Group GTH
1) Adam Hatfield, Whitebridge Motorsport – Aston Martin Vantage GT4
2) Chris Murphy, Whitebridge Motorsport – Aston Martin Vantage GT4
3) John Whitehouse, JMH Automotive – Ginetta G55 GT4
Group GTA
1) Tom Hibbert, Harlaxton – Ginetta G55 GT4
2) Gary Smith, Topcats Racing – Ginetta G55 GT4
3) Andy Robey, Gemini Cars – BMW M3 GTR
“I put some new rear tyres on which gave me more grip,” said Hibbert. “I thought I was going to get the Group GTB BMW at the end. If I hadn’t been held up so much by the Topcats Marcos I'd have had a go. The tyres we had before had done a good 80-100 laps, so they were gone. It’s awesome around here. The car isn’t the quickest down the straights but its good around the corners. Hopefully it rains tomorrow as the car is very good in the wet.”
In fourth place James Webb took a second Group GTB victory, though this time chose not to mix it with the faster Ferrari Challenge machines ahead of him. “It was more straightforward,” said James.
“Jon [Harrison] didn’t have as much confidence as Warren so I was able to overtake him relatively early and I had clean air, so I ran around by myself. The tyres went at the end and it was a bit hectic with the Ginetta closing in fast, but I did enough to stay ahead at the end. It’s not the best track for the BMW, it's better through twisty bits, but it isn’t bad anywhere really.”
Adam Hatfield claimed the spoils in Group GTH after missing out in race one. He made his way in to the lead and caught the two Topcats Racing machines but opted to sit behind both rather than risk the win.
“I tried to keep out of trouble,” said Hatfield. “I got the move done nice and early. We were right on the back of the guys in front, but they were in a different Group, so I left it alone. It’s good for the Championship that cars in different Groups can battle. The Century guys have been pushing us hard all year but hopefully we can come out on top.”
It was another disappointing run for Gareth Downing in the Group GTO Lotus Evora GTE, losing several laps as the National Motorsport Academy team worked to keep the car on track. “We found some little issues with the Mosler. We turned up and on the first lap it lost oil pressure and we couldn’t diagnose it without taking the sump off, so it was safer to put it on the truck,” he said.
“The Lotus wasn’t finished being built. It’s been freshly re-done, and it struggles badly with bleeding the water system. Every time it goes out it gets better so hopefully by tomorrow’s race it will have gotten rid of all of its air. It’s a glorified test session for it.”
Results:
Group GTO
1) Gareth Downing, National Motorsport Academy – Lotus Evora GTE
Group GTC
1) Michael Igoe, WPI Motorsport – Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Gen II
2) Paul Bailey, SB Race Engineering – Ferrari 488 Challenge
3) John Seale, FF Corse – Ferrari 488 Challenge
Group GTB
1) James Webb, Team Webb – BMW M3 GTR
2) Jon Harrison, Topcats Racing – Marcos Mantis
3) David Frankland – Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Gen I
Group GTH
1) Adam Hatfield, Whitebridge Motorsport – Aston Martin Vantage GT4
2) Chris Murphy, Whitebridge Motorsport – Aston Martin Vantage GT4
3) John Whitehouse, JMH Automotive – Ginetta G55 GT4
Group GTA
1) Tom Hibbert, Harlaxton – Ginetta G55 GT4
2) Gary Smith, Topcats Racing – Ginetta G55 GT4
3) Andy Robey, Gemini Cars – BMW M3 GTR
