2011 British Season set to be Replicated in 2012.

Having seen an average grid size of twenty seven cars in the 2011 Avon Tyres British GT Championship, the formula which the series organisers used to reignite interest in the series is set to be used once again in 2012, as all signs point towards a bigger and better season for the Championship in 2012.

The series peaked at thirty one cars at both Brands Hatch and Silverstone, the season finale. “Next year is looking even better,” says SRO’s championship manager Benjamin Franassovici. “Interest is running at very high levels, not just for GT3 but for GT4 also.”

The stability of the series, with the mixture of one hour, two hour and three hour races and the calendar is another reason for the health of the Championship, reckons Franassovici.

Seven race weekends totalling ten races at six British circuits and one overseas race have been announced on a provisional calendar, although no dates have been released. The 2012 British GT Championship will visit Oulton Park, Brands Hatch GP, Snetterton 300, Rockingham, Donington Park GP and Silverstone GP, plus a yet to be announced European outing.

Franassovici added: “Many exciting cars, like the Ferrari 458 Italia, the Mercedes AMG SLS, the Audi R8 LMS and Corvette Z06R, joined the championship for the first time in 2011, and I am expecting more for next year, headed of course by the McLaren MP4-12C. It is going to be another great season.”

Father and son team Jim and Glynn Geddie secured the 2011 title earlier this month at Silverstone and they expect to be back in 2012 to defend their title, despite their team, CRS Racing, withdrawing from the Championship.

“I think we will definitely be back in 2012,” said Jim. “We didn’t have the best of starts this season, so I’d like to come back properly prepared and having tested over the winter and be on the ball from the first race.”

Trackspeed secured the teams’ title for the second consecutive season after three race victories for the team with David Ashburn/Richard Westbrook and Gregor Fiskin/Tim Bridgman. Between the two Trackspeed cars, they also secured another four podium finishes.

United Autosports also secured a race win with Matt Bell/Mike Guasch in their Audi R8 LMS, while Beechdean Motorsport drivers Andrew Howard/Jonny Adam secured race victories in their Aston Martin GT3.

Ferrari’s also secured race victories in the hands of Michael Lyons/Charles Bateman in their Scuderia Vittoria 458, Duncan Cameron/Matt Griffin in their MTech 458 and Alex Mortimer/Andrew Tate for CRS Racing.

In the GT4 category, it saw a season long cliffhanger for the class victories between the Lotus Sport UK Evora, Scuderia Vittoria Ginetta G50, Century Motorsport Ginetta G50, and the ABG Motorsport KTM X-Bow and it was Peter Belshaw/Marcus Clutton who wound up the season as GT4 Champions.

“I would like to congratulate Lotus Sport UK for winning the GT4 championship team prize,” said Franassovici. “The team did a great job to win this in its first year of British GT; well done to the Lotus boys.”

Aaron Scott/John Dhillon secured the honours in GT3B for MTech while the GTC Class honours went to the Chevron of Anthony Reid and Jordan Witt.

“I would also like to congratulate Jim and Glynn, Trackspeed, Marcus and Peter, John and Aaron and Jordan and Anthony for their championship wins in what has been a very competitive and hard-fought season,” added Franassovici.

Season Finale for British GT Set to be Exciting.

Nine races down, one to go – the season finale for the 2011 Avon Tyres British GT Championship is all set as twelve drivers from six different teams, representing three different car manufacturers all head to Silverstone for the season closing two hour race.

Currently leading the way in the GT3 battle is the CRS Racing Ferrari 458 Italia of Jim/Glynn Geddie and they head into next Saturday (8 October)’s two hour finale with an eight point advantage and it would appear that their task is a relatively easy one – just in an endurance race with pit stops for the driver change, anything can happen.

The drivers in contention for the GT3 Championship Honours:

• Jim Geddie/Glynn Geddie – CRS Racing Ferrari
• Duncan Cameron/Matt Griffin – MTECH Ferrari
• Mike Guasch/Matt Bell – United Autosports Audi
• Michael Lyons/Charles Bateman – Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari
• David Ashburn – Trackspeed Porsche
• Gregor Fiskin/Tim Bridgman – Trackspeed Porsche
• Hector Lester – Rosso Verde Ferrari.

With twelve drivers still in contention for the Championship title, Benjamin Franassovicci believes the showdown at Silverstone will be gripping:  “To come down to the final round with 12 drivers able to win the championship is a great way to end the year. The unpredictability of the longer-distance race format, with the fuel stops, means that only real team work will come out on top. I have no idea who to put my money on.”

What does each driver need to do to secure the Championship?

Jim/Glynn Geddie:

• Victory Ensures the Championship.
• P2 secures the crown as long as Cameron/Griffin doesn’t win.
• P3 will do – relying on Cameron/Griffin, Guasch/Bell and Lyons/Bateman not taking the flag first.

Duncan Cameron/Matt Griffin:

• Victory secures the Championship.
• P2 secures the crown if Geddies are P4 or lower, Guasch/Bell, Lyons/Bateman and Ashburn aren’t victorious.
• P3 would do if Geddies finish outside the top 6, Guasch/Bell don’t secure a podium, Lyons/Bateman, Ashburn don’t win.

Mike Guasch/Matt Bell:

• Victory wins the crown as long as Geddies finish P3 or lower.
• P2 will do as long as Geddies finish outside top five, race victory not taken by Cameron/Griffin, Lyons/Bateman or Ashburn.
• P3 could do – Geddies finish seventh or lower, Ashburn doesn’t win, Cameron/Griffin, Lyons/Bateman behind.

Michael Lyons/Charles Bateman:

• Victory will win the crown if Geddies are third or lower.
• P2 good enough if Geddies outside top six, Cameron/Griffin fail to finish on the podium and Guasch/Bell behind.
• P3 will do if Geddies eighth or lower, Cameron/Griffin outside top five and Guasch/Bell, Ashburn behind.

David Ashburn:

• Victory will do if Geddies off the podium
• P2 if Geddies finish eighth or lower, Cameron/Griffin fifth or lower, Guasch/Bell, Lyons/Bateman don’t finish on the podium.

Gregor Fiskin/Tim Bridgman, Hector Lester:

• Have to win and then hope – Geddies finish ninth or lower, Cameron/Griffin fail to finish top six, Guasch/Bell fail to finish top five, Lyons/Bateman finish no higher than fourth and Ashburn not getting a podium.

In the battle for GT4 honours, there is a three way battle for the crown between season long Championship leaders Peter Belshaw/Marcus Clutton in the ABG Motorsport KTM X-Bow, Freddie Nordstrom/Leyton Clarke in the Lotus Sport UK Lotus Evora and Dan Denis/David McDonald in the Scuderia Vittoria Ginetta G50. Belshaw/Clutton arrives at Silverstone with a 26.5 point advantage.

The GT4 situation is:

Peter Belshaw/Marcus Clutton:

• Top Six finish ensures the title.

Freddie Nordstrom/Leyton Clarke:

• Class Victory will secure the crown if Belshaw/Clutton outside the top six.
• P2 if Belshaw/Clutton fails to score.

Dan Denis/David McDonald:

• Class Victory required with Belshaw/Clutton not scoring.

Rockingham Ready for British GT Season Resumption.

British GT Race Start at Spa last time out - the series heads to Rockingham this weekend.

September is all set for an adrenalin-fuelled kick start thanks to the resumption of the 2011 Avon Tyres British GT Championship, following the song summer break since the last round, at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.

The top Sportscar drivers in the UK go head to head in a pair of one hour races at the Rockingham Motor Speedway in Northamptonshire, driving supercars from Ferrari, Porsche, Corvette, Aston Martin, Mercedes, Audi and Ginetta. A field in excess of twenty two cars is expected, with sixteen cars entered in the GT3 Category.

Heading to Rockingham, the Championship battle couldn’t be any closer or exciting. Currently, the points are being led by Mike Guasch and Matt Bell in their Audi R8 GT3, run by United Autosports, but they only have a two point advantage over father and son pairing, Jim/Glynn Geddie in their CRS Racing Ferrari 458 Italia. The Scottish pairing has been a regular visitor to the podium in 2011.

Matt Griffin and Duncan Cameron in their MTech Racing Ferrari 458 are coming up the standings fast and they secured the victory out at Spa last time out. They secured a strong seventh place finish out at the Slovakia Ring recently in the FIA GT3 European Championship. That was despite some technical issues.

“It was a tough weekend in Slovakia,” said Griffin, “and I hope we can put all that behind us for Rockingham. We need a couple of good, solid finishes there to keep the ball rolling having turned our season around a bit. But it won’t be easy because British GT is so competitive and because Rockingham has historically suited the Porsches more than it has the Ferraris.”

Rockingham marks the last double header of the season for the British GT field. Their next outing, at Donington Park is a three hour endurance style race while the season finale at Silverstone is a two hour race. Benjamin Franassovicci believes that it will be a fascinating season finale:  “The three circuits coming up all offer their own unique challenges, as will the format of the races at each. The championship is wide open and will be, I think, all the way to the final round. We are expecting to see 27-plus cars on the grid at Donington, which is even more exciting.”

Also lining up in the GP3 Category will be reining Champion David Ashburn in his Trackspeed Porsche. He has secured two victories this season while the teams’ second 997 will be driven by Gregor Fiskin and Tim Bridgman, who secured victory at Brands Hatch.

CRS Racing will also have their second Ferrari 458 out, with Andrew Tate and Alex Mortimer. Both the Geddie’s car and the Tate/Mortimer car will have a striking new livery for Rockingham.

2009 Champions, David/Godfrey Jones will be out in their Team Preci-Spark Mercedes AMG SLS, fresh from coming seventh overall out at Spa during the Spa 24 Hours, while Oulton Park victors, Michael Lyons and Charles Bateman will be looking to secure yet more success for the young Scuderia Vittoria outfit.

Andrew Howard and Jonny Adam will be driving the Beechdean Motorsport Aston Martin while Corvette is also represented by Piers and Ron Johnson, who are piloting the Speedworks Motorsport car. The duo collected a season’s best sixth last time out.

Ginetta will be represented by three G55’s, at the hands of Century Motorsport’s Julien Draper and Freddie Hetherington.

In the GT4 class, the battle for the title is just as fearsome. Currently leading the way is the ABG Motorsport duo of Peter Belshaw and Marcus Clutton, in their KTM X-Bow. They have secured GT4 honours three times already this season.

Spa-Francorchamps saw maiden class wins for Dan Denis and David McDonald in the Scuderia Vittoria run Ginetta G50 and the Lotus Sport UK run Lotus Evora for Ollie Jackson and Phil Glew. Jake Rattenbury and Josh Wakefield have also secured a class victory in the Century Motorsport G50, during the second Oulton Park race. After their maiden GT4 Podium finish at Spa, Peter Erceg and Chris Holmes will be hoping to repeat the feat in their Secure Racing Aston Martin.

In GT3B, the class will be contested by MTech Ferrari drivers John Dhillon and Aaron Scott while the GTC Category will see Jordan Witt and Anthony Reid in their Chevron GR8.

The British GT Championship is sponsored by UK tyre manufacturer Avon Tyres and is further supported by Sunoco Racing Fuels, Anglo American Oil Company and OAMPS.

British GT Rockingham Schedule:

Saturday, 3 September:

09.00 – 10.00: Free Practice 1
11.45 – 12.45: Free Practice 2
16.20 – 16.55: Qualifying

Sunday, 4 September:

10.00: Warm Up
12.50: Round Seven (60 Minutes)
16.25: Round Eight (60 Minutes)

Picture Credit: British GT Media