Britcar at A1 GP, Brands Hatch 3-4/05/2008

 
 
 
 


 
 
 
 


 
 
 
 

In support of the A1 GP series, 47 top-line GT and saloon cars assembled at Brands Hatch to do battle on the full GP circuit. Team regulars Mike Gardiner and Alex Mortimer returned in the Class 1 Viper. After a successful first outing as a pair at Snetterton, Paul Fenton and Rob Hedley rejoined forces to drive the team's newly acquired Maserati Trofeo.

Qualifying saw the Viper once again comfortably into the top 10 and the Maserati, which had very little running, qualifying in a lowly 37th place with Rob not getting a clear lap and Paul driving the car for the first time.

Saturday's first 50 minute Britcar race was run in beautiful sunshine. The Viper made a strong start and ran as high as 5th before sensor issues brought a halt to proceedings. Rob Hedley led off in the team's Maserati and ran consistently to the end of the pit window at 35 minutes. The hoped-for late safety car did not materialise so Paul jumped in to finish off the last 15 minutes and fortuitously avoided a large finish-line crash by a few seconds. The Maserati had steadily picked its way up to 23rd overall and 5th in class.

For Sunday the script played out in a similar way. Mike Gardiner, charged hard in the teams Viper, only for an oil pressure warning to lead Alex Mortimer to park the car to prevent any further damage. Paul Fenton, in the Maserati, held off a swarm of Porsches in the opening laps but once a Porsche got past the less than ideal setup on the Maserati meant they could not be re-passed. After 35 minutes of steady progress Paul handed over to Rob in 17th place for the run to the flag. As the pitstops unwound this became 23rd on the road and with only a few minutes remaining Rob could do no more than get up to 21st place.

Once again a weekend where the second car (the Maserati) had a clean run, whilst the Class 1 Viper had more than its share of bad luck.