Sunday at Silverstone: FIA GT1 World Championship

Regular readers of the blog will know that it is traditional that my racing companion, Christian, 7, and I always stop at McDonalds for breakfast on the way to get our fix of motorsport and the plan on Sunday was no different. We had got up extra early, 5.45am no less, due to the extended run to Silverstone, as opposed to our leisurely 6.30 for the usual run to Oulton Park. I wanted to break the back of the journey before we stopped and remembered from my childhood trips to Silverstone that my dad had always stopped at Keel services on the M6, due to it being exactly half way (and if my dad said that then it was EXACTLY half way, coming from the man who used to boast that it only took him 64 and a quarter breaths to blow up a double airbed), so nostalgia won the day and we plodded along until we reached said services.
I had already noted the lack of any golden arches on the slip road and my fears were confirmed as we entered the building, we did find somewhere that was serving breakfast and I had to make do with a bacon, sausage, hash brown and mushroom roll, oh the deprivation. Two men sat next to us in overalls and were chatting about why the bridge over the M6 was closed, the conversation went along the lines of the travelling Everton fans who had been through the night before trashing KFC and jamming the fire alarms in the on position (and that was after a goalless draw), it reminded me why, even though I enjoy football as much as the next person, I take Christian to watch motor racing, they’re a much more civilised bunch.
We carried on our journey, Christian playing on his DS and me remembering making the trip so many times as a boy, all the old landmarks still there; Spaghetti Junction, Villa Park, RAC Centre and the icon that is Fort Dunlop – I always knew we were close when I saw that. Soon after, Jane, the SatNav, had led us as far as she could and the circuit’s signage took over. We were led into a huge car park, where we could see the GT1 cars on circuit for their warm up, and could tell instantly that everything, from the approach road to the car park to the stewarding was hugely more functional and professional than the last time I was there, although the last time I was there Michael Schumacher slammed his Ferrari into the barriers at Stowe (to huge cheers from the faithful, maybe we’re not so civilised after all), breaking his leg and bringing his 1999 season to a premature end.
We entered the track on foot over the bridge at…..well at Bridge, where the operators have been careful to ensure that there is no viewing capacity to avoid bottlenecking of cars and pedestrians on the bridge which was out of bounds to spectators prior to the revisions. We were passed on the bridge by a host of exotic cars on their way to the various owners club areas, Christian spotted three Dodge Vipers line astern drive past us as we crossed the second road bridge which now brings you out at the back of the paddock, adjacent to the short straight between Copse and Becketts, an area where I am certain will be restricted when Bernie comes to town in July.
Aside from my initial observations about the recent changes and the changes that had taken place over the ten years since I was last there, one thing really stood out; it was absolutely bleeding freezing. I tried to work out from the direction of the wind, which of the completed grandstands would offer the best protection from the weather, I decided Copse would be the best place and we made our way there in time to watch a master class in wet driving by ART’s British hope Alex Sims, including a fantastic ‘wall of death’ move around the outside of Gabriel Dias at Copse, which it looked like the Brazilian had bottled and backed out of, although I’m sure he would call it ceding the place to an ‘Invitational class’ driver, whom he was not directly competing with. Sims duly drove off into the sunset to claim victory in his first ever weekend of British F3. After the F3 had finished, and still freezing, I decided to seek warmth within the confines of the paddock; I didn’t find it, what I did find was a very reasonably priced programme (£5), and while I was marvelling at the fact that it cost only the same as a programme at Oulton, I was stung for £10 to go on the pit walk, which people were already queuing for.
The ten pounds turned out to be money well spent as after braving the lengthy wait for access, it transpired that everyone of note from the GT1 series was sat at the front of their respective garages meeting the fans, we met Karl Wendlinger (who I met here about 20 years ago), Romain Grosjean, Oliver Gavin and Darren Turner amongst others and were given some pretty nifty free stuff by Young Driver AMR in particular, along with having a chance to see some of the machinery close up.
After our pit walk we had a good walk around the paddock, and then ventured off for a walk up towards the hangar straight where I thought we could get some lunch from a less congested burger van, and watch the GT3 race from a different place. As it turned out we watched the race from many, many different places as we walked to try and find this elusive queue-less food outlet, and as we walked first around the outside of the Maggotts/Becketts complex, and then around Stowe it dawned on me, the place is an absolute tip, nothing more than a building site. The track is finished, but the rest of the place is just mud, both in the spectator areas and trackside, I’m sure it is under control, it has to be, we would be the laughing stock of the entire F1 world if we held a Grand Prix at the venue in its current state, but with only 75 days until free practice, there must be some concerned people within the FIA and the BRDC.
Anyway, we found our food stand, not only was there no people waiting when we got there, I don’t think there had been any people there all day, I paid the usual race meeting £10 for a hot dog and a burger, the burger was like a Frisbee (I was concerned when I saw the vendor drop it into the chip fat when I ordered), and while I was pretty sure the hot dog was dog, it certainly wasn’t hot. The man serving was on the phone while serving us complaining about being left out in such a remote place while the competition had been allocated plots in and around the paddock area, and as such I decided that I wouldn’t voice concerns over our food for fear of ending up hanging upside down in a refrigerated van.
We wandered around the rest of the circuit before we arrived back, still shivering in the Baltic conditions, at the infield, where Christian had a brief go on some quad bikes before being removed for being unable to a) keep his going in a straight line, and b) slow down for the corners, two aspects of quad bike riding that the operator seemed to think were pretty fundamental to the safety of the other children (look out Valentino). We had another loop of the paddock (catching the GT4 race from the Paddock bar), before heading back to Copse to watch the GT1 feature race from almost the same spot that I watched Johnny Herbert win the Grand Prix nearly 15 years ago. The GT1 race was great, as was the spectacle; it has the makings of a great series, perhaps it might fill that gap for drivers who take single seaters as far as they can without making the impression they need in F1 circles (Grosjean being a case in point). The race itself saw the former Frenchman spin out at the first corner into retirement, and further drama was provided by one of the Phoenix Racing Corvettes expiring in a ball of flames on the new loop. Meanwhile the Aston Martin teams fought for the win which was eventually claimed by Darren Turner and Thomas Enge in the Young Driver AMR entry, before later being stripped of it due to a technical infringement, handing the win to British pair Warren Hughes and Jamie Campbell-Walter in their British run Sumo Power Nissan GTR. We stayed until mid distance in the third British F3 race of the weekend at which point the conditions got the better of us and we left for the car in order for our toes to thaw.
A great day, bringing back some great memories, like watching Senna win in driving rain in ’88, the Herbert victory amongst many other home successes; Hill, Mansell, Coulthard. I hope the circuit is in good shape ready for our next visit to Northamptonshire for the Grand Prix in July, and that when everything is finished it still has the character that it had the last time I saw a Grand Prix here, I know that things had to change or we wouldn’t have a Grand Prix to watch, but facilities aren’t everything, all the shiny new pit garages, tarmaced car parks and dual lane bypasses in the world won’t compensate for the loss of the most fundamental facet of this special place, its soul.
Look out for more posts over the coming days, including Christian's autograph book, part 3.
Follow me on twitter: @ifitsgot4wheels or @daimccann.
Photos will be on ifitsgot4wheels Flickr page in the next day or so.

Easter Weekend at Oulton Park: Monday

After a day in the real world on Easter Sunday, followed by an early night, it was up at sparrow-cheep on Monday, and off again to Oulton via McDonalds. I had decided to be bold and not use Jane (the name given to our SatNav); although after completing the 50 mile trip quite a few times I should really be able to manage it by now. This backfired as I took a wrong turn a few miles shy of the circuit, at which point Jane was duly removed from the glove box to provide assistance. We arrived just as the GT cars were completing their warm up, it’s a great feeling when you cross the road bridge over the circuit at Oulton’s main entrance, especially when you have Ferraris roaring around underneath. We were directed to park on the infield overlooking Cascades, and when we parked we were amazed, we had undoubtedly the best parking space anywhere in the history of the world. Ever. In the front row, high on the bank, with panoramic views of probably half a mile of the track, encompassing two of the best overtaking areas it has to offer; I didn’t want to get out, but I did.
Christian had decided that he wanted to watch the first race of the day, the reverse grid F3 sprint race from the start line, so we watched the VW qualifying from Lodge, and crossed the track as the session ended. We arrived opposite the pits just as the teams were starting to assemble on the grid, and I tried my best to be as inconspicuous as all the other men as we ogled the Cooper Tires grid girls. It was actually quite an eye opener watching some of these young kids going through their pre race routines, especially Daisuke Nakajima, who had his engineer stick some duct tape on the barrier, presumably as a marker to show him where to stop after the formation lap. I listened as two particularly dull sounding chaps dissected the previous day’s Malaysian GP, “They’re going to have to just dump a load of water on the track half way through each race” was countered with “They need to go back to having cars like these (Formula 3), there’d be loads of overtaking”. I wonder if they noticed that only James Calado overtook anyone after lap 1 in the main F3 race, from the whole of the top 10, they were probably too busy looking for a hosepipe. After the cars left for the parade lap, we legged it down to Old Hall to watch the start, which was impressive if uneventful, apart from Nakajima taking over from Gabriel Dias at the front, lap 2 was more eventful as Dias tried to reclaim the lead around the outside, off the drying line and entered into a predictable, but well saved 360, which left him at the back of the pack. The next lap saw impressive young Brit Rupert Svendson-Cook relieve the Japanese of the lead, again on the run out of Old Hall, a lead which he held to claim his maiden F3 win, at only the second attempt.
We crossed back to the infield after the race and watched the Formula Ford race from Druids, totally the other end of the circuit for those unfamiliar with OP, due to Christian’s constant wanderlust, and by the time we arrived there most of the expected frontrunners were missing from the action, although I never did find out why. We crossed the bridge to watch the first British GT race from the outside of Knickerbrook, my personal favourite spot, where we amazingly managed to stay for the duration of the one hour race. Let me give you some background on my son, Christian. Christian always manages to take a shine to an unexpected driver over the course of a race weekend, it was Michael Caine at the BTCC meeting last year who became the object of his obsession. This time it was his namesake (probably for that reason), Ginetta G50 driver, and Oulton Park race instructor Christian Dick, who would go on to take 1st and then 2nd in the GT4 class in Monday’s two, one hour races. Imagine my embarrassment, and everybody else's confusion, as, during a quiet moment after his Ginetta had roared past us and up clay hill, when Christian loudly exclaimed, “Dad, I absolutely love Dick”. Even the super sensible ear defender wearing family sat next to us turned to give a disapproving look.
After an extortionate lunch and a trip to the stalls for some discount Lewis Hamilton merchandise (which I craftilly got away with buying as this seasons as Lewis is #2 again) we stumbled across one of those 1990's simulators that looks like an airliner cockpit, which was playing a flying lap of Silverstone with Michael Schumacher (in a manual Benetton, so not exactly cutting edge), Christian persuaded me to take him on it, during which we were nearly reacquainted with my hot dog, although I'm sure I enjoyed the ride more than the small boy in front of me who ended up face down in the footwell.
We took advantage of the pitwalk, where we met some more F3 drivers and the now almost legendary Christian Dick (right), and got some rather nice free stuff from the United Autosports Audi team, before heading off to cascades to watch a great Abarth 500 race, in which Benny Simonsen, brother of GT ace Allan, confirmed what we thought on Saturday, that he is a hugely talented young man. Amazingly, we stayed at Cascades and watched Jean-Eric Vergne dominate the 40 minute F3 feature race, before heading back to our car, in cooling conditions, for the second GT race of the day. We saw the Barwell run Aston Martin crash head on into the tyre wall right in front of us, although that was the last action we did see from our fantastic vantage point as some fool in an orange VW transporter drove around the cordon and parked his tango'd monstrosity right in our eye line. We manoeuvred around the emptying embankment and found a spot which was almost as good to watch the MTECH Ferrari team take their second win of the day, and to witness the evergreen David Ashburn drive the wheels off his GT3 Porsche to take a great third place, rivalling Benny Simonsen for the drive of the day.
All in all another great day's racing at one of the best circuits the UK has to offer, we will be back here in June for the BTCC, but our next adventure of note will be to watch the GT1 World Championship at Silverstone in early May, I'll keep you posted.
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This weekends photos are now on our Flickr page: ifitsgot4wheels

2010 British GT Championship Preview

I visited Oulton Park last Easter for the opening round of the British GT championship, and although suitably impressed, it was a little disappointing to see just 13 entries spanning both classes. The Rollcentre Mosler dominated proceedings, before it was later disqualified from the championship as an ineligible entry. We watched Astons, Ferraris and a Viper battling against the Jones brothers Ascari, which would go on to take overall GT3 honours at the final round at Brands Hatch, and a clutch of Ginetta G50s battling for the GT4 class win, but it could not quite compensate for the depleted grid. In fairness, the recession was at its deepest and these machines don’t come cheap, although this may make the fact that this year’s entry list is bustling with new names even more remarkable, as most of the 2010 entrants will have been putting their budgets together for this campaign against the same, bleak economic backdrop. What then, are the factors attributable to the rise in numbers, with some 23 cars showing on the provisional entry list which was released by promoter SRO last week?
There has been a tweaking of the classes, leading to more cars being eligible to compete in GT3; due to the fact homologated models of superseded FIA GT3 spec cars are now permitted. GT4, whose 2009 winner Jody Firth has not yet committed to a 2010 programme, will now incorporate the Supersport cars from last term. 2010 also marks the return of the Cup class, where amateur drivers get the chance to participate in the UK’s top GT series in either a Carrera Cup spec Porsche 911, or a Ferrari Challenge standard 430. Only two Cup class entries appear on the provisional list, including Carrera Cup GB star Glynn Geddie, however expect greater fluctuation of the numbers in this category due to teams and drivers dovetailing programmes with other series’.
SRO has also concentrated this season on attempting to avoid any clashes with other top series, something which has hindered its turnout in previous campaigns, and a comprehensive, delayed highlights package will be shown on Channel 4 and Motors TV in the UK, making sponsorship a more attractive proposition.
Last seasons front runners will all be chasing glory in the GT3 class, alongside champions Team Preci-Spark, the Viper of Aaron Scott and Craig Wilkins will again be near the front, as will the eye catching US entered United Autosports Audi R8’s, which are entered into a part programme, including the season opener in Cheshire this weekend. Leading the GT3 Ferrari charge will be the Rosso Verde entry, again teaming up Hector Lester with Danish GT stalwart Allan Simonsen, MTECH’s Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin, and Chad Racing, whose three car 430 squad features some of the most competitive driver line ups that the series has ever seen, while the Barwell-Cadena entered Aston Martin DBRS9 will expect to be in the mix.
Nine confirmed entries in the GT4 class will include a two car works Ginetta Cars squad, whose drivers are as yet unconfirmed, along with another five G50’s, whose drivers include G50 Cup graduates, 2009 champion Nathan Freke, and regular front-runner Christian Dick. The category will also feature a KTM X-Bow and a Lotus 2-Eleven.
So lets look forward to Oulton and the prospect of a good grid, there is no sight, or sound, in British motorsport quite like that of a good field of supercars roaring around one of the UK’s top venues. The fans and drivers will be hoping for a dry one, however, so there is no repeat of the carnage that wiped out half the field in the 2006 rain soaked meeting. A dry weekend is probably too big an ask, you can’t have it all.
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