Godzilla Braves Brands Showers As Tilley and Tregurtha Triumph
Mother Nature played her part in a frenetic first day of GT Cup Championship action from Brands Hatch GP circuit, with Grahame Tilley and Will Tregurtha sharing success with Abba Racing’s Sam Neary.
Neary batted off fellow GT Cup returnee Michael Igoe in a sprint race chase, before both cars took up the fight to one another in a thrilling endurance outing later in the afternoon. Rain came late on with Tregurtha chasing, passing Igoe to grab the Nissan GTR's first win of the season.
Double group wins came to Top Cats Racing’s Marcos Mantis in GTB and Adam Lucas in his GTA Ginetta G55, while Team HARD fought to a brace of GTH triumphs thanks to Josh Jackson and Simon Orange.
Qualifying
Abba Racing staked their claim early on in qualifying, Sam Neary’s best effort of 1m27.133s suffice to seal the deal around the GP circuit, beating fellow GT Cup returnee Igoe (WPI Motorsport) by just under 0.2s. Tom Webb took driving duties of the team’s Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo and took GTC pole in fourth overall, while GTB went to the flying Top Cats Racing Marcos Mantis of Sander Mortensen. GTH was topped by the JMH Automotive McLaren 570, Team Hard’s Ginetta G55 topping GTA with Kris Prosser behind the wheel.
Sprint Race
Sam Neary was quick to convert pole position into the first victory of the weekend in Kent. Holding the lead from a chasing Igoe, the pair built up a healthy early lead cushion over the flying Tom Webb who would be untroubled on his way to GTC honours.
Igoe would drop back in the second half of the race, easing the pressure on Neary who could calmly grab his and Abba Racing’s first victory of the season in their Mercedes GT3. Igoe recovered to second ahead of fellow Lamborghini driver Webb, the GTC winner beating Shamus Jennings’ G-Cat Racing GTO Porsche.
A fine performance from Sander Mortensen ensured the Top Cats Racing Marcos claimed GTB spoils ahead of MAS Motorsport’s Porsche 911, while a battling Team HARD suffered mixed fortunes. Prosser’s car retired at Druids which resulted in a race stoppage, but the second G55 grabbed GTH victory late on thanks to Josh Jackson's overtake on Steve Ruston. Adam Lucas enjoyed GTA success meanwhile in his similar Ginetta G55.
Endurance Race
Rain threatened to interrupt the 50-minute endurance race from the warm-up lap, but it evaded long enough to allow the Abba Racing Mercedes to continue its battle with Igoe early on. The latter attacked, but the pair tripped over one another lapping backmarkers at Graham Hill Bend, which meant Richard Neary spun into retirement.
A safety car period was followed by heavy showers after mandatory pit stops, leaving Igoe hanging on from the charging Nissan GTR of 2016 Ginetta Junior champion Tregurtha - taking over from Tilley. The rain played to Tregurtha’s favour, and meant the Tecserve UK team grabbed a first overall and GTO win with ‘Godzilla’ ahead of Igoe and Jennings/Greg Caton.
A switch to wets saved FF Corse late on as Dan de Zille and father Graham de Zille took GTC in their Ferrari 488 Challenge, while GTH again went to Team HARD and Jackson, sharing with Simon Orange.
Top Cats Racing secured a GTB double with Frank and Sander Mortensen in their Marcos, surviving the late shower despite a brief moment. GTA was once again won by the Ginetta of Lucas, who finished an impressive seventh overall.
#6 Grahame Tilley
"It’s fantastic, and really unexpected for me! We lost most of Friday testing because of a clutch issue, so I really felt on the back foot. With Will’s help; he’s coached me and trained me, and we’re now getting quicker and quicker each time we go out. It’s the most powerful thing I’ve ever driven, and especially round here I wanted to keep it safe for Will to get in and bring it home.”
#6 Will Tregurtha
“I loved every second of it. It was really good fun and a big thanks to Grahame for the opportunity. Wheel-spinning in sixth gear is a bit interesting in the wet, and the cars are really hard to drive with that much power underneath you. We were able to come through it and take the win, which is a great feeling for us.”
#19 Dan de Zille:
“It’s been interesting today to say the least. Driving the Ferrari around the GP is very challenging, but good fun. In the first race, we did okay, just kept tabs on what the Webbs were doing and then the same in the second race; Dad then got in the car and I’m glad to see he was bang on the pace straight away. Unfortunately Laki had a power steering issue, but we’d have been there or thereabouts whatever happened to the Webbs.”
#3 Sander Mortensen:
“It’s been another great day. The car here has felt good, so in the first race we were just trying to work out a few things about it. We had a few issues, but Top Cats figured it all out and we took another win. When the rain came, it was ok at first, but then started pouring and with no ABS or traction control, we were just managing it home.”
#21 Josh Jackson:
“I did the sprint race and it wasn’t too bad from our side. It was a bit of a chase to get up to the [JMH] McLaren, and I’ve never driven this track before. I did my first lap in a golf buggy, which is a bit different! We started catching the McLaren and they made a bit of a mistake heading into the first corner, and then in the endurance we had another great battle too.”
