Aston Martin GT4 Challenge - Round 2 Snetterton

Qualifying report

The 40 minute session started with a greasy circuit and a hanging drizzle in the air, with less than two minutes completed the red flag was brought out for an incident involving Alan Hudd in car number 3 who went off at turn 4 in very slippery conditions. The car was damaged quite heavily at the front end and unfortunately wasn’t repairable for the race. The session was restarted after a 20-minute delay for barrier repairs, Richard Abra set the early pace in the Generation AMR number 8 car putting in some fantastic times as he mastered the tricky track conditions and on only his third lap set an amazing lap time which would give him and Mark Poole their second pole position of the season. The fight for the other positions on the grid ensued with Olivier Bouche, in the Stratton Motorsport number 22 car, holding second place for most of the session that was until Dan Dezille, in the Nicholas Mee Racing number 12 car, put in a flyer on his very last lap of qualifying to take the second place spot on the grid. In fourth was the Vantage Racing number 24 entry of Tom Black and Alan Bonner who were also putting in some top three times right through the session. With five minutes to go the heavens opened and put an end to a very exciting qualifying session. So it was two out of two for Mark Poole, Richard Abra and the Generation AMR crew.

Qualifying Result:

1. 8 Mark Poole/Richard Abra - Generation AMR –2:01.783
2. 12 Karsten le Blanc/Dan Dezille - Nick Mee Racing –2:03.165
3. 22 Pierre Mantello/Olivier Bouche – Stratton Motorsport – 2:03.488
4. 24 Tom Black/Alan Bonner - Vantage racing –2:03.716
5. 10 Jonathan Hartop – Aston Riviera – 2:03.747
6. 7 Mike Brown/Paul Cripps/Dave West - MB Racing –2:03.863
7. 23 Gaurav Burman/Matt Cummings - GMAC Racing –2:04.245
8. 91 Chris Kemp/Stuart Hall - Stratton Motorsport - 2:04.525
9. 47 Stuart Patterson/Paul Bartley/Mark Walker - Stratton Motorsport –2:05.728
10. 80 George Miller/Les Goble – Tiger Coffee Aston – 2:05.767
11. 77Gary Watkins/Andrew Frankel - Aston Martin Lagonda – 2:06.433
12. 5 Desmond Smail/Julian Reddyhough - Mardi Gras – 2:13.002
13. 3 Alan Hudd/Chris Scragg/Ant Scragg - Saudade Racing –NO TIME

Snetterton 300 Race Report

Mark Poole, in the Generation AMR number 8 entry, led the thirteen cars round on the green flag lap. As the grid approached the line, the tension grew, the lights went out and Mark led the pack into turn one but was passed by Karsten le Blanc in car 12 and Olivier Bouche in car 22 later in the first lap. Gaurav Burman, in the GMAC Racing number 23 entry, spun at the first corner due to cold tyres and then struggled to get the car back on the track, which brought out the safety car. Gaurav Burman managed to get the car going again and the lights on the safety car were extinguished allowing Karsten le Blanc to hold the lead as the race was restarted. On lap 3 Andrew Frankel, in the Aston Martin Lagonda number 77 car, made a move down the inside of Paul Cripps, in the Mike Brown Racing number 7 entry, at turn 9, there wasn’t enough room and he collided with Paul bouncing of the right hand side of the number 7 machine and over the apex curbing which in turn cracked the sump of the 77 car. Andrew, not knowing the car was dropping its engine oil, drove back to the pits and to an early retirement. There was now oil all through turns 11 and 12, the first to face the oil was Karsten le Blanc who spun on the exit of turn 12, the oil was causing mayhem with quite a few cars taking to the grass, inevitably the safety car had to be brought out again.

The new leader was Alan Bonner car 24 who navigated his way through the oil perfectly; Karsten le Blanc, Olivier Bouche, Jonathan Hartop car 10 and Mark Poole closely followed. The Marshalls did a fantastic job clearing up the oil, but there had been so much dropped that it took another 5 laps behind the safety car to make the circuit safe again. In the meantime the pit stop window had now opened. All teams had to take three mandatory pit stops during the three-hour race. The number 12 car was the first to stop taking fuel and front tyres but Karsten le Blanc remained at the wheel of the Nicholas Mee Racing machine. On the next lap Alan Bonner in car 24 pitted for fuel and front tyres but again no driver change. On lap 10 Jonathan Hartop car 10 and Chris Kemp, in the Stratton Motorsport number 91 entry, pitted. Jonathan took on new tyres and fuel but remained in the car as he would for the whole race, as he was the only solo driver on the grid. Chris Kemp took on new tyres and fuel and also a change of driver with Stuart Hall taking the wheel of the 91 machine. At the end of the next lap cars 8, 23, 5, 7 and 80 all pitted, the teams deciding that this was the best strategy for their cars at this point. On lap 13 the race was restarted with the new leader being Olivier Bouche, car 22, who hadn’t pitted in the safety car period. Olivier lead from Paul Bartley, in the EQ8 Energy number 47 entry, third was Karsten le Blanc and fourth was Alan Bonner. Stuart Hall and Richard Abra, now driving the number 8 car, were both making progress through the field. Stuart Hall being a professional driver, had been given a time penalty that was added to each of the three mandatory stops, so was keen to show his pace in trying to gain back the 42 seconds of penalty time that he and co driver Chris Kemp had been given. Olivier Bouche held the lead until lap 18 when Stuart Hall managed to pass going into turn 4. Stuart now led from Olivier with Alan Bonner third Richard Abra fourth and Karsten le Blanc in fifth. Stuart started to show his pace and put some fantastic laps together; on lap 27 Richard Abra passed Alan Bonner for second place and then tried to reduce Stuarts lead. On lap 38 Alan Bonner was the first to start the second round of pit stops, more fuel tyres and a driver change took place with Tom Black now taking the wheel of the 24 machine. On the next lap Karsten le Blanc was the next to stop handing over to Dan Dezille in the number 12 car. Next to pit was Stuart Hall who handed the driving duties back over to Chris Kemp, two laps later Richard Abra pitted from the then lead to hand over to Mark Poole, the next phase of the race was now starting to take shape.

On Lap 38 George Miller, in the Tiger Coffee Aston number 80 entry, had an engine problem and went off into the gravel on his own oil at turn 11, again oil had been dropped all through turn 11. Most of the field didn’t see the oil which led to a number of cars going off the track including Chris Kemp in car number 91, Mark Poole in car 8 and Tom Black in car 24. For the third time in the race the safety car was brought out, with the then leader being Mark Poole in car number 8. The third round of pit stops then ensued with all teams coming in for their final mandatory pit stops in the safety car period. After all the pit stops had taken place it was Dan Dezille in the number 12 car who now led from Tom Black, Richard Abra Third and Stuart Hall fourth. On lap 54 Richard Abra passed Tom Black for second and set about catching Dezille who still had a healthy lead. On Lap 70 Stuart Hall passed Tom Black for third and then the news came in that the Generation AMR`s number 8 car of Richard Abra and Mark Poole had to serve a penalty for exceeding the amount of time any one driver could spend in the car. The rules state that in two and three driver teams no one driver can exceed 67% of the race distance. The penalty decided, by the clerk of the course, was for a driver change to be made and on lap 72 Richard Abra pitted to put Mark Poole back in the car to finish the race.

With less than five minutes to go the heavens opened, all drivers deciding to drive round very gently for the last two laps on slick tyres in very slippery conditions. The race had a bit of everything with lots of drama but it was Dan Dezille and Karsten le Blanc in their Nicholas Mee Racing number 12 machine who crossed the line first to take a fantastic victory and the first for the team in the Aston Martin GT4 Challenge of Great Britain.

Provisional Race Result

1. 12 Karsten le Blanc/Dan Dezille - Nick Mee Racing –76 Laps
2. 91 Chris Kemp/Stuart Hall - Stratton Motorsport –76 Laps
3. 24 Tom Black/Alan Bonner - Vantage racing –76 Laps
4. 8 Mark Poole/Richard Abra - Generation AMR –76 Laps
5. 7 Mike Brown/Paul Cripps/Dave West - MB Racing –75 Laps
6. 10 Jonathan Hartop – Aston Riviera – 75 Laps
7. 22 Pierre Mantello/Olivier Bouche – Stratton Motorsport – 74 Laps
8. 23 Gaurav Burman/Matt Cummings - GMAC Racing –72 Laps
9. 5 Desmond Smail/Julian Reddyhough - Mardi Gras – 69 Laps
10. 47 Stuart Patterson/Paul Bartley/Mark Walker - Stratton Motorsport –63 Laps

DNF

80 George Miller/Les Goble – Tiger Coffee Aston – 37 Laps
77 Gary Watkins/Andrew Frankel - Aston Martin Lagonda – 3 Laps

DNS

3 Alan Hudd/Chris Scragg/Ant Scragg - Saudade Racing

AMR