Oulton Park – 22nd & 24th March 2008
We arrived at Oulton Park in Cheshire on Thursday evening in cold, blustery weather. Overnight several teams' marquees and awnings had been blown down in the fierce gales. Friday's testing was uneventful and the car made steady progress, giving us great hopes for the race weekend. Our optimism proved valid when the following day practice showed we would be highly competitive.
We awaited the official qualification sessions with excitement. By this time the fans had arrived, all the teams were there and the British GT series was about to begin. Oulton Park is a picturesque race circuit set in the grounds of an old estate, the 2.7 mile track undulating through woods and alongside lakes. It combines fast curves with long straights and tricky chicanes - all in all a real drivers' circuit. The Race Series is headlined by Formula 3 and GT cars - F3 is where the Grand Prix drivers of two or three year’s time can be seen. GT is the training ground for Le Mans. The cars we race against come from the most exotic manufacturers in the world, amongst them Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Porsche and Dodge (later in the year we can expect Maserati, BMW, Nissan and Ford entries to compete against). Against these were six examples of the Ginetta G50, a 170 mph race version of a road car produced at the Ginetta factory in Leeds. Cars have to be race versions of road going two door closed sports cars or Grand Touring (Gran Turismo) cars. They are categorised into two classes; GT3 - the fastest cars with aero technology (wings) and GT4, which more closely reflects the road car version. We race in GT4.
Our drivers are Matt Nicoll-Jones, a 22 year old champion from Ginetta sports car series (where I raced) and 28 year old Stewart Linn, a champion from a similar back ground. Both are proven winners in every level of racing they have participated in. Stewart is an employed test driver for Ginetta Cars and Matt is watched throughout the paddock as a rising star with a big future.
Qualifying with Matt in the car gave us pole position in race one - the first GT pole for a Ginetta car. He took the fastest time with ease, declaring that there was "more to come". Poorer track conditions and traffic problems kept Stewart in 5th place for race two but it was a good effort and one he knew could be improved on.
Later that day variable weather preceded the first race and with a biting wind and near zero temperatures the cars formed up for the first race. The pole position enabled Matt to launch off into a class lead that threatened several of the faster GT3 cars - he was simply in a class of his own. Behind him one of the cars which had proved our main opposition in qualifying came up behind an Aston Martin on a particularly fast part of the circuit. The cars touched, launching the GT4 Ginetta (the same specification as ours) of Hunter Abbot (Rob Austin Racing) into the air. The car vaulted the crash barrier, turning end over end scattering bits of car before catching fire. Hunter crawled out of the car with clothing on fire but was saved from real injury thanks to the marshals. He escaped with some minor burns. The crash was shocking, vividly reminding us all of just how dangerous the sport can be. The Sunday Telegraph displayed graphic pictures of the crash. See www.crash.net for some scary images.
The race was stopped and on the restart Matt carried on the same way until coming in for the mandatory pit stop. At this point the drivers change and 45 seconds is allowed for the stop. If you take less time you still wait until 45 secs are up - if you take longer then your race time is affected adversely. During the stop the car must enter the pit lane at a regulated speed (60kph) and stop at the allotted pit , stop the engine, disconnect radio to the helmet , undo belts , climb out - then driver two gets in and does the reverse with radio and belts. Only then may he start the engine and wait the remainder of the 45 seconds to go. It is tense and exciting- we have done the driver change in about 20 seconds but on this occasion it went wrong and around 75 seconds elapsed as an errant seat belt clip would not fasten. We got out in second place and try as he did Stewart could not make up the time and we finished second. Second place on the podium and disappointment all round - not what you would expect - but we all knew we had let a first win slip through our hands.
After some post mortem and re-examination of procedures we were ready for race two. We had to wait a day, as no racing can take place at Oulton on Easter Sunday. The only entertainment was to walk the track and think of what might happen next day.
On Monday during pre-race warm up little was learnt when with Stewart in the car it snowed! There isn't a snow tyre so the session was abandoned! Racing in Europe takes place in most weather, but never in snow; unlike a rally car, a race car cannot function without grip, increasing the danger dramatically.
By the time of the race, weather was fine but very cold and windy. Pre-race formalities and the start all went well and Stewart had made a good start. Our 5th place on the grid became 4th when the crashed Rob Austin car (not surprisingly) didn't start.
Stewart's start was brilliant and he was soon up to second behind the RPM team Ginetta, driven by Italian Fulvio Mussi. In a brilliant effort Stewart took the lead and we took the driver change in our stride with a record breaking 18 second change. Matt simply drove away to a dominant win, no-one coming close to spoiling his Easter drive in the park. The race lasted one hour.
Celebrations ensued with the boys on the podium spraying Champagne and CEO Scott joining them for a spell!
A great day for any team to have achieved this result, but when we consider the very brief planning period, a quite exceptional feat.
We finished with a win, a second, a pole position and a fastest lap - near perfection.
There is a long way to go and Rob Austin, RPM and the Aston Martins will be out for revenge - but we have every reason to expect a season of success.
Peter Smith
Team Principal
IMS Motorsport