Aston Martin GT4 Challenge - Round 7 Oulton Park

Qualifying report

The 30-minute session started with a dry track but with the threat of rain in the air all drivers were very conscious of putting some quick laps together early on. Chris Kemp driving car 91, the Stratton Motors entry, went off at cascades on cold tyres, hitting the barriers and damaging the front left hand side of the car, he managed to get the car back to the pits for the team to make temporary repair. The early pace was set by Hannes Van Asseldonk in the Nicholas Mee entered number 12 car setting a 1:47.4 on his third lap. Tom Black in the Vantage Racing number 24 car and Stuart Patterson in the EQ8 Racing 47 car were pushing hard and fighting over second spot with Lorenzo Fachinetti in the number 77 Aston Martin Lagonda entry fourth. On his fifth lap Hannes managed to post a 1:46.8, which would prove to be quick enough to take the pole position. The fight for second position then ensued with Alan Bonner, now driving the Vantage number 24 machine, Olivier Bouche in the Stratton Motors number 22 car and Marek Reichman now driving the Aston Martin Lagonda number 77 car all pushing hard, but it would be Alan Bonner who would find enough pace to take second place with Olivier third and Marek fourth. With four minutes left in the session Chris Kemp rejoined the circuit after the repairs to his car were completed, but there just wasn’t enough time for him to set a qualifying time. So it was Hannes Van Asseldonk and Karsten Le Blanc who would claim pole position for Round 7 of the Aston Martin GT4 Challenge with a fantastic lap.

Qualifying Result:

1. 12 Karsten le Blanc/Hannes Van Asseldonk - Nick Mee Racing – 1:46.890
2. 24 Tom Black/Alan Bonner - Vantage Racing – 1:47.962
3. 22 Pierre Mantello/Denis Tribel/Olivier Bouche – Stratton Motorsport – 1:48.374
4. 77 Marek Reichman/Lorenzo Fachinetti - Aston Martin Lagonda – 1:52.405
5. 47 Stuart Patterson/Mark Walker - Stratton Motorsport – 1:52:710
6. 5 Desmond Smail - Mardi Gras Motorsport – 1:53.285
7. 3 Alan Hudd/David Croft – Alan Hudd Racing – 1:54.578
8. 56 Richard Taffinder/Tim Eakin – Ultimate Speed – 1:56.288
9. 91 Chris Kemp/Stuart Hall - Stratton Motorsport – NO TIME



Oulton Park Race Report

Karsten Le Blanc, in the Nicholas Mee number 12 car, led the field round on the green flag lap and as they approached the start line the field were in perfect formation, the lights went out and it was Karsten who managed to hold the lead into turn one. Tom Black in car 24 held second position with Pierre Mantello in car 22 third, fourth was Marek Reichman in car 77 and fifth was Stuart Patterson in car 47. On lap 3 Chris Kemp in car 91 had to pit to repair the floor tray, which was rubbing on the surface of the track, this damage was the remnants from the qualifying incident, the Stratton Motors team managed to repair the 91 car and Chris rejoined the race all be it several laps down. By lap 4 Karsten Le Blanc had managed to gain a 11 second lead, Cars 24, 22 and 77 were fighting very hard for second with Tom Black in car 24 making his Aston Martin GT4 car as wide as possible to defend from Pierre Mantello, in car 22 and Marek Reichman in 77.

Desmond Smail in the Mardisgras Motorsport number 5 entry was having a very tightly fought battle with Stuart Patterson in the EQ8 Racing number 47 car, Stuart managing to get passed Desmond going into turn 1 with a great maneuver. Stuart was now chasing after Marek Reichman in the Aston Martin Lagonda number 77 car and bringing Desmond Smail with him so a three-way battle then ensued for fourth.

Marek held on well but a coming together at turn 6 forced him into a spin and he lost about 20 seconds in the process, dropping him to seventh. Stuart Patterson now held fourth with Desmond Smail fifth. 6th was Alan Hudd in the Alan Hudd Racing number 3 machine. On lap 6 Pierre Mantello, in car 22 passed Tom Black, in car 24 for second position.

With 14 laps completed it was Karsten Le Blanc leading with a very impressive 29-second gap, second was Pierre Mantello and Tom Black third. The pit stop window opened and the first to pit for their mandatory 2 minute stop was Pierre Mantello in car 22 handing over the driving duties to Denis Tribel. Next to pit was Mareck Reichman in car 77 handing over to Lorenzo Facchinetti, Tom Black in car 24 also pitted handing over to Alan Bonner, as did Stuart Patterson in car 47 with Mark Walker ready to take on the driving duties. Chris Kemp in car 91 pitted on the next lap handing over to Stuart Hall but as Stuart is classed as an FIA Gold driver he carried a handicap penalty of 50 seconds which had to be taken before the team could take their 2-minute mandatory stop, Chris had to remain in the car with the engine switched off for this 50 second period. Tim Eakin in the Ultimate Speed number 56 car pitted next to hand over driving duties to Richard Taffinder. Next down the pit lane was the leader Karsten Le Blanc who was handing over to Hannes Van Asseldonk, Hannes also carried a handicap penalty for being an FIA Silver driver so Karsten had to remain in the number 12 car for 30 seconds before the team could refuel in their mandatory 2 minute stop. Desmond Smail who was a solo driver for this race now led from Alan Hudd in car 3, but both cars were still yet to pit, third was Hannes Van Asseldonk in car 12, fourth was Alan Bonner in car 24 and fifth was Lorenzo Facchinetti in car 77.

News then came through that the safety car was being deployed as Hannes Van Asseldonk in car 12 had gone off at Cascades under breaking, it later turned out that Hannes had turned off the ABS system by accident which led to the car locking up and ending up in the barriers. The safety car was now on track gathering the field together, Alan Hudd in car 3 seized the opportunity and pitted to hand over to David Croft and on the very next lap Desmon Smail in car 5 pitted for his 2 minute mandatory stop.

The race was then red flagged as there had been severe damage to the barriers that needed repairing. The cars came round to the start line awaiting news of a restart; the decision was made by the clerk of the course to restart the race as the field had only completed 66% of the race distance. The new race distance would be for 20 minutes, the MSA Blue book states that any race stopped after the leader has completed more than two laps but less than 75% of its duration will be considered as the first part of a two part race. Cars will be restarted from a grid set out in the finishing order, which shall be based upon the order of crossing the finish line at one lap less than at the time of first showing the Red Flag. Only cars, which are under their own power at the showing of the Red Flag, will be classified. The result will be the order of finishing at the end of the restarted race.

This all meant that Desmond Smail in car 5 would be on pole with David Croft in Car 3 second for the restart, the field would be led round for one green flag lap behind the safety car and form up for the restart of this very exciting race. Desmond Smail led the grid into turn 1 but it was Alan Bonner in the Vantage Racing number 24 machine that would lead the field across the line at the end of lap 1, second was Lorenzo Facchhinetti in the Aston Martin Lagonda number 77 entry and third was the hard charging Stuart Hall in the Stratton Motors number 91 machine. Stuart passed Lorenzo on lap 2 and set about catching Alan Bonner. Fourth was Olivier Bouche who was now driving the number 22 Stratton Motors machine. Stuart Hall caught Alan Bonner and by lap 5 was less than half a second behind him, Stuart managing to set the fastest lap of the race in the process with a very impressive 1:46.519. Alan now had to drive very defensively to hold off the hard charging Stuart Hall. The battle for third was also being hardly fought over with Olivier Bouche in car 22 chasing down Lorenzo Facchinetti in car 77.

The lead battle was getting very tense with Stuart Hall pushing Alan Bonner very hard, Alan was making his Aston Martin GT4 car as wide as he could. But it was Alan who drove very professionally to hold off Stuart for his and Tom Blacks first win in the series. Stuart Hall and Chris Kemp finished second which was a very impressive result considering all of the dramas the car had gone through over the race weekend. Third were Marek Reichman and Lorenzo Facchinetti with another great result for the Aston Martin Lagonda number 77 entry.

Race Result

1. 24 Tom Black/Alan Bonner - Vantage racing –11 Laps
2. 91 Chris Kemp/Stuart Hall - Stratton Motorsport –11 Laps
3. 77 Marek Reichman/Lorenzo Fachinetti - Aston Martin Lagonda – 11 Laps
4. 22 Pierre Mantello/Denis Tribel/Olivier Bouche – Stratton Motorsport – 11 Laps
5. 3 Alan Hudd/David Croft– Alan Hudd Racing – 11 Laps
6. 47 Stuart Patterson/Mark Walker - Stratton Motorsport –11 Laps
7. 56 Richard Taffinder/Tim Eakin – Ultimate Speed – 1:56.288

DNC 5 Desmond Smail – Mardisgras Motorsport – 7 Laps
DNS 12 Karsten Le Blanc/Hannes Van Asseldonk – Nick Mee Racing