Topcats Racing And G-Cat Racing Purr With Donington Park Victories
Topcats Racing and G-Cat Racing enjoyed a strong Saturday showing on day one of the penultimate GT Cup Championship meeting at Donington Park, taking a win apiece overall as the former moved further clear in the title chase.
With the title getting closer to the line both overall and in the respective groups, Topcats Racing took full advantage with an overall win for Fraser Fenwick in the Sprint race, plus a critical GTC victory for its sister machine that leads the overall championship.
GT3 honours went to G-Cat Racing in both outings, wrapped up with an overall success in the frantic second race of the day in their Porsche 911. GTH went the way of two crews, as Forsetti Motorsport and Paddock Motorsport shared the top step.
Qualifying
The morning's Qualifying session was a tight affair for top honours, but a late effort from the #3 Topcats Racing Lamborghini was enough to put Fraser Fenwick on pole position overall and in GTC for the Sprint Race.
Its sister car suffered contrasting fortunes however, as a driveshaft problem put it out of the session before it even began. Second overall went to the top GT3 entrant of G-Cat Racing, piloted by Shamus Jennings.
GTO went the way of defending champion Paul Bailey in his Lamborghini while Forsetti Motorsport went to the top in the GTH group, the latter with title challenger Mikey Porter gaining bragging rights to continue his quest for group honours.
Sprint Race
With one car at the front and one bringing up the rear, Topcats Racing were the providers of much of the action in the afternoon's 25-minute Sprint contest.
The leading Huracan of Fenwick made the early break while its sister machine - driven by a feisty Tom Rawlings - started its fightback from the stern by charging forward from the moment the lights went green.
Climbing up into the top four overall in the early laps, a swift pair of late-braking lunges up the inside at the chicane dived Rawlings up to second ahead of Bailey, and then the second-placed Porsche of Jennings.
A chase commenced as the top two team-mates went into battle, Rawlings trimming a six-second cushion to almost nothing by the time the pair took the chequered flag, with Fenwick victorious in front of Rawlings for a GTC and overall triumph.
Third was enough for Jennings and G-Cat Racing to clinch the GT3 spoils, while Bailey topped GTO by following them home in fourth. An impressive fifth went to the Aston Martin Vantage of Porter, who dominated GTH for another crucial win.
Endurance Race
The 50-minute Endurance Race that followed was equally hard-fought, particularly in the opening laps as the pole-sitting Lamborghini of Charlotte Gilbert headed the way for car #2 early on.
Taking up the fight was the GT3-leading Porsche of Jennings, which kept close before and after a safety car was brought out for an off for Richard Chamberlain's Porsche 935 at Redgate, which recovered to the pits having fought from the rear to third spot prior to its problems.
The pit stops created their own drama up front. Taking the lead would be the G-Cat team with Greg Caton now behind the wheel, but a short stop meant they were hit with a penalty and a second trip through the lane. The punishment did not deter them however, as Caton's pace pulled them clear and bagged a third win of the season for the #33 crew.
David Brabham took control of the Kendall Developments Lamborghini from Bailey while leading GTO, grabbing a fine second place to ensure the group win ahead of GTC winners Rawlings and Gilbert.
GTH was a tight affair from the very start. The #9 Aston Martin of Forsetti Motorsport's Porter and Sam Neser looked set to take a second win of the day, but a fabulous charge from Paddock Motorsport's Martin Plowman in the second stint ensured he and Michael Orant's McLaren Artura overpowered their rivals to win the group.
Jolt Racing put in a sublime effort to fix a wiring loom issue on their GTA McLaren 570s from the morning, but it would come back to spite them as they retired from the day in the final race.
#2 Tom Rawlings
“If I'd have gone around the BMW at the start of race one I would have got a penalty, so I stayed behind and that cost us some time. We caught the pack and cracked on with the rest. It was a good race and we were on the limit all the time, but you've got to make sure you keep it clean and bring home the car and the points for the team with the title on our minds.”
#3 Fraser Fenwick
“It was a great race. It was enjoyable and I had Tom hunting me down every second so it's not easy with a fast driver like that behind you. It was a case of just keeping my head down and keeping a rhythm. I overcame a couple of issues in that race, and the one thing the team has said is that we're not going to force any team orders yet.”
#28 David Brabham
“The second race went as well as it could have really. Paul did a great job and then when I jumped in I was trying to take P1 overall, but the Porsche was just a bit too fast for us in the end. We managed to push and push and push and the car felt very nice. This was a time where I felt like I had a car that I could really race with, which shows we're making good progress.”
#33 Shamus Jennings
“It was a really good race, other than a little mistake when I hit the pitstop button into the Melbourne Hairpin. It meant that it was included in our pitstop time which resulted in Greg taking a penalty, but we still did enough to win the race which was a good feeling. A dopey moment, but the car was really good and felt on rails. It was magnificent.”
