With the recent fine 6th place at Snetterton in the other 2 hour race of this year's British GT campaign the team headed the short distrance to Silverstone in good spirits. With regular co-driver Paul Fenton at Brands Hatch closing in on the Production S1 championship, Mike Gardiner drafted in experienced kiwi GT and LMS racer Neil Cunningham.
Working with Neil the car's pace through the fast corners was immediately apparent, but given the tight stadium section at Silverstone, a solution to getting a big heavy viper to handle in the slow corners was proving elusive. Each session brought more pace, but it was apparent that the pace of the Ferraris and other mid-engined cars would prove superior at this round.
As work continued on the race set-up and running reasonable fuel the team qualified a lowly 16th, using many years of experience in endurance racing to concentrate on what matters.
Mike Gardiner started for the team and quickly rose from 16th to a solid 7th position after the opening laps. The car was then hit on the offside rear wheel on the exit of Luffield which damaged the rear suspension necessitating a lengthy 5 lap pit stop for repair.
Once Mike rejoined he continued to maintain a pace that would have retained 6th to 8th place without the delay. At the hour point a very professional pitstop allowed driver change, fuelling and a full set of new tyres in the time most teams took to fuel and change drivers. With Neil Cunningham at the wheel the car was rarely out of the four fastest cars on track. Clearly a case of what could have been.
Photos courtesy of Ben Parkes
