Donington Park National | Saturday Sprint Race | 2021 Season Opener

[Music] [Music] be [Music] [Music] be [Music] [Music] be [Music] [Music] [Music] be [Music] [Music] be [Music] [Music] hmm [Music] [Music] well good afternoon everybody welcome along to dollington park for the opening rounds of the 2021 gt cup championship we've got two races coming up for you today the first of which is the sprint race and then later on this afternoon we'll have our first pit stop race of the weekend we will also repeat that and they will all be shown live over the course of both today and both the sprint and the pit stop races that we will see tomorrow so it seems an age since we were last back here at donington park celebrating our 100th racing weekend with the gt cup we can add another weekend to that one now start to the season has seen lots of new entries as well a bumper grid of 38 cars which is the largest ever entry list that we've had for a race meeting in the gt cup championship for donington park as a racing circuit and well we've got some familiar names we've got plenty of new names in the mix as well so before the day got underway it was time to one drop and down the pit lane and chat to some of the drivers that we've got in the field this weekend yeah we have the lamborghini hurricane evo this year so it's a big step up from the markers big learning curve for both me and warren but so far so good yeah it's been a lot of fun so far we did a little test at silverstone um it was very cold we couldn't get any temperature into the tyres um and this weekend's been very similar with the temperature but so far so good yeah we're looking forward to it we're looking forward to it gt cup last year was great fun um it was no brainer for us we knew where we wanted a race this year and obviously with the new car as well it was it just fits into gtc really well the grid here this weekend is fantastic so we're really excited we've managed to push a couple of the gt3 cars yes thursday which was fun but just being in a big grid and as always gt cup running a good show so yeah really excited really excited yeah yeah i'm really excited to be back to gt cup it's obviously a much busier weekend two sprint races two endurance races and that will be with my pro driver who is ross wiley this time round and we're really looking forward to getting out there at this fantastic gp but in fact we're not doing the gp we're doing the national and then later on in the season we're coming back here again and that's great because i really love donington i i really like the way that gkt cup is run i've run a number of cars we've obviously won the top class in the aston martin and then i won the gtc class in the ferrari and it's always been a very professional organization lots of entries lots of competition close racing but but low levels of contact and that's something you always want when you're racing in a non-contact sport we've had a technical issue with the brabham which is receiving attention so we either have to decide to run the ferrari in the gtc class for the season or run it today in the gto class come last in class because it's um in completely out of class and then bring the brabham back to brands so i'm going to have a conversation with the team and we'll make that decision obviously before qualifying yeah i've joined uh feathers motorsport and james guess in the in the car in number 82 but yeah it's my first time uh racing in gt cup and i've had three days testing with the team it's a small team completely different from what i'm i'm used to but i'm i'm sure it's going to be entertaining out there you know the the time when i get in the car the second part of the race so i'm really sure it's going to be some great battles all the way through yeah we thought we'd try something different we had a good season with the radical first year of the radical last year uh but you know jason copeland two-day format seemed to fit with us so we thought we'd try to try it this year yeah we've both risked great stranded calls for the last eight nine years now so yeah we're very familiar with the products and uh it's a cracking bit of kit really so yeah looking forward to it yeah we had we're testing on thursday's busy grid plenty of variety on the track um yeah i'm looking to see how we perform against other cars um you know within the gto class there's the uh brabham and the porsche i think they've got a lot more brake horsepower than us but uh you know we can carry some good corner speed i think we'll keep with them oh definitely so i'm really really excited about the opening weekend and to see where we're going to end up on the grid and yeah it's all new to us but hopefully we'll be at the sharp end so great to catch up with some of the drivers before racing really gets underway here at donington park well we're going to see the cars heading out onto the circuit very shortly indeed it's cold it's chilly but it's dry out on circuit there is the forecast of a few spots of rain later on throughout the course of the day but it's not looking at the moment as though the skies are going to suggest for this slightly shorter sprint race 25 minutes it will be held over but we are going to see anything other than just cold and blustery conditions opening round of the championship hasn't attracted a bumper entry as i suggested with uh gth group gth which is for the gt4 homologated specification cars proving to be the most popular but we've got something like 11 different manufacturers represented on the grid with the likes of mercedes and lamborghini and porsche the radical rxc as we just spoke to steve burgess and ben dimmercom we've got the nissan gt-r as well adding to the fact that we've got mclarens and ferraris and ginettas and there's a lotus we've got enormous variety and you can see there uh here as the cars are poking their noses out of the garages right at pit lane exit 10 that is a mclaren gt3 now that is the first time we've had a gt3 specification mclaren join the championship and that is father and son pairing stewart and louis proctor that share that 750s gt3 car over the weekend that's another new car to the championship as well that is the number nine lamborghini super troffeo specification car that uh jensen lund will drive in this race sharing the car with warren gilbert it's top caps racing team we saw warren and jensen partnered up last year when they were at the wheel of the venerable marcos mantis well they have will not retire to that marcus mantis car it's been put in the garage and they bought this newer super truffeo specification car so things to learn from that one it's not the first time though that top cats have raced a lamborghini gt cup they ran neil huggins and a gallardo a few seasons ago we spoke to darren turner that's the car that darren turner will be sharing with james guess in group gth this year so as uh darren is classified as a pro driver the pro drivers cannot take part in the sprint races they can only take part in the pit stop races so james guest will get the opportunity to drive that number 82 car new car for him for this season we saw him going really really well last year in the gt cup championship at the wheel of a group gth geneta where overall he finished as a drive that was third in the gt cup sprint cup chan standing she finished third in group gth in the gt cup overall so he'll be hoping for good things at the wheel of a a slightly more modern specification car that still runs to gt4 homologation he's dropping himself in there that is a newly liveried car for this weekend that's the car that james kellett is scheduled to share over the course of the pit stop races so it's alex stevenson who is the driver who finished third in group gta in the gt cup championship back last year nice to see that alex and james are back in the championship at the wheel of that ginetta now that runs in group gta so that really is a genetic g55 that runs to super cup specification ie the genetic super cup that you would see supporting the british touring car championship so it runs exactly to that specification so group gta is for those cars i'll give you a quick rundown of how it all works in reality so group gt3 is for gt3 homologated cars group gto is open specification car so that's for low volume manufacturers it could cater for gt2 or gte cars or modified challenge cars group gtc is for later modded challenge cup specification cars where performance balancing is required so things like a ferrari 488 european challenge spec car would drop into gtc but so would um things like the lamborghini hurricane super trofeo would drop into group gtc and they would uh adjust those cars with some balance of performance group gtb is for early year challenging cup cars so maybe things like ferrari 458 and ferrari 430s would all sit into group gtb or things like the marcos mantis challenge cars sitting there group gth as we say is for gt4 homologated cars through gtas for lower specification cars and we'll make series cars so the likes of bmw 3 series that have been modified we're seeing there we see the little lotus exige in there as well so that gives you an idea as to how the various groups are identified in the gt cup championship we briefly saw the number 66 mercedes there in the garage now we are expecting that car to come out onto the grid but it's not necessarily the car that they started the weekend with i think there were problems with that one following practice this morning which means that the car qualified out of session so it will have to start all the way at the back of the grid and there's an important driver there's somebody that's been with us since the very first ever gt cup race uh craig wilkins who celebrates happy birthday his 50th birthday this weekend so craig wilkins being run by scott sport went well in group gth last year at the wheel of that ginetta they've moved it from gt4 specification to super cup spec so it drops into group gta for this year but at the wheel of his car he's hoping the 50 year old who has run in other uk championships that cater for similar cars in the past where he was a champion in one of those we've seen in things like um uh the british gt series international gto but did a bit of blonde pam and also did some porsche club championship racing as well craig wilkins man from west midlands so he'll be hoping to run at the sharp end of group gta another lamborghini this is a car that runs in greek gto for this weekend that is abby eaton there that is sharing the car with john seal this weekend quick way from abby who's scheduled to be racing in the w series very very quick lady racer is abi eta driver who herself claimed things like the mazda mx-5 super cup championship in 2014 back in 2009 she was the champion in the dunlop sport max cup but again as a pro driver she's not able to take part in the sprint race that's coming up so it will be the car's owner uh rather rapid john seal that will jump behind the wheel and i say he's rather rapid that's because he's lined up on the outside of the front row of the grid we will go through the grid in a short while but you can see donington bark looking rather sad really we are not open to spectators unfortunately due to the governmental restrictions and advice there are limited uh people able to come to the race circuit in terms of team members there are no spectators allowed so this meeting is being run behind closed doors hence why the spectator bankings and grandstands which would usually be full of people wanting to enjoy this 38 car grid for gt coupon looking rather empty at the moment but that's not to say that the racing action isn't going to be anything other than absolutely superb another couple of cars there so that is the jmh automotive pairing or partnership that's been uh formed between orange racing that's simon orange who is the reigning champion himself for josh jackson from last year won the overall championship well they are now working as orange racing powered by jmh automotive so that is a partnership that's being put together we're looking at the number 67 car which is one of two cars that simon orange and josh jackson share over the course of this weekend the number 67 car for this particular race is josh jackson that's behind the wheel of that one whereas the number one mclaren will be simon orange because that's the sister car to it so they will sort of both race in the sprint races come the pit stop races i think the idea is they're both going to race in those but they just need to choreograph the pit stops in reality so that was one car comes into the pit lane the other car comes in on the same lap and driver jumps out of one car drops into the other and vice versa that's going to take a bit of choreography as to whether that will physically work or not but they will absolutely try it so there is the number 66 card the replacement carter this morning that's morgan tilbrook that's on board thumbs up from morgan so happy that having to swap over the cars has put them on the back foot slightly it does mean that they have lost track time as well but that group gth specification mercedes gt4 homologated carp that he shares with marcus clutton over the course of this weekend is being readied to head out onto the circuit now marcus clinton again is the pro driver so he's not able to jump behind the wheel for this particular race so it'd be morgan toolbrook who uh made his debut in the brand's hatch round of the gt cup championship last year but has done things like fun cup racing in the past which is the volkswagen beetle clones so he's done a couple of seasons in that in 2019 2020 including taking in the big endurance race that they have for the fun cup cars as well which is the 25-hour race at spa frankischen in belgium so morgan will be working with his pro driver marcus clutton to build up his understanding and pace at the wheel of that mercedes amg gt4 but as we say with having missed qualifying we will see that number 66 car off the back of the grid you can see pace car ready start marshall's ready cars not as yet have been given the green flag to work their way out of the pit lane you can also see just how overcast it was as well now that is another car i would expect to be going well this weekend the number 18 car michael i go the uh irishman who's been racing in the british gt championship irish by birth but lives up in sort of cheshire welsh border nowadays has been running in the british gt championship took in some rounds of gt cup last year in particular snetterton where he was very very quick indeed he's partnered with three times runner up in the british gt championship phil keaton for this weekend the driver he will also be racing with in british gt had a quick chat to michael earlier on as well suggesting that he's doing this round here he's certainly going to be doing bran's hatch he would like to do walton park because it's his local circuit but the team were encouraging him to drop into the other meetings as well so he's back here at donington park later in the year and takes in the two races at snetterton so it's going to be plenty of appearances one would have thought from lamborghini another new car to the series we keep rattling them off as well the number 15 century motorsports uh aston martin vantage gt4 that we just saw there that was a car with it sort of black and gold flashes which david holloway who was runner-up in group gth in 2018 in the gt cup championship shares with a former champion in gt cup which is adam hatfield he secured that championship overall in 2018 but now the cars are just starting to roll their way out of the pit lane and green flag is wave they will then work their way around onto the grid so this is just the the lap to get them onto the grid with they will then have time just to sit on the grid and the last few checks and balances to be done by the mechanics before then they will start on their green flag rolling lap for what will be a rolling start not a standing start in these cars it will be typical endurance racing uh a rolling start even for the sprint races so the car is filing their way out of the pit lane it's gonna be a heck of a queue as they work their way around the park national circuit so first quarter they will get to is this right-hander here exit which is redgate corner and then from there they will dive their way downhill along hollywood and then start to descend down daunting crane occurs and then flip left and flip right again there it's into the right hand corner which is the old hairpin [Music] very easy to run wide though coming out of that corner so there is the grain of curves that they dive their way down through you don't really get an impression of the gradient but you certainly get an impression of the change of direction from that shots the cars flip one way and flip the other and that's just guide you through at the starting grid then the pole position goes the way of team abba racing at the number 88 car which should be sam neary we believe for this race and alongside his j make sure to devoted the lamborghini of john seal row two of the grid for simon green motorsport it's lucky kiera with his lamborghini and for company it is the porsche 935 of richard chamblin nice to see richard back in the championship the next row of the grid is row number three that's where we see the 61 car of john dillon his lamborghini alongside them is raw motorsport which is the radical rxc which will be steve burgess for this race and row 4 of the grid is number 18 michael i go with his lamborghini alongside number four which is graham tilly with the nissan nismo gtr or godzilla as it's also known row five of the grid that is going to be the first of our bath motorsport cars that we've got but that's the gt3 spec mclaren that is stuart proctor and alongside is the number nine top caps racing lamborghini which will be jensen love for this race the sixth row of the grid as we move on to row number six will be the number 96 car from stanbridge motorsport chris kemp and alongside his number 34 which will be richard marsh with his porsche and then we move on to row number seven row seven is standard motorsport fraser smart will start and alongside his number 35 for luger motorsports which is uh nick phelps the eighth row of the grid is 67 that's orange racing powered by jmh that will be josh jackson at the wheel of the ginetta and alongside car number 28 hopefully it will be there i hope so because it had a little bit of contact early on in qualifying which broke the drive shaft and that is we saw the interview from him earlier on paul bailey who's already had to swap from the brabham that he was hoping to race this weekend into the ferrari and the question marks as to whether the ferrari would even make the start of the race we'll have to wait and see uh and then the next road really really is row nine which is 52 deranged motorsport holly brown and two one two which is make it happen racing and stephen walton the tenth row of the grid is 82 uh james gas for feathers motorsport and alongside is number one the reigning champion which is uh simon orange at the wheel of the ginetta next to the grid is scott sport with alongside 24 7 motorsport the 12th through the grid is paddock motorsport and the second of the both motorsport cars we move on to the next row of the grid which is fox motorsport and the century motorsport machine veluga and signature rv paddock motorsport liner up there in 32nd position on the grid on the outside of row number 16. row number 17 we still keep flicking through them all very very large grid that we've got here over the course of this donington park weekend and on row 17 of the grid it should be white bridge motorsport number 72 car alongside 29 which is germany motorsport and andy roby he had problems though in qualifying so that could have caused him a few issues then it's century motorsport before we then see greystone gt another new team to the championship uh the marcos mantis of charlotte gilbert had problems in free practice so only did a few laps in qualifying and then the back row of the grid problems for both of those peter jackson in the vector motorsport lotus elise lost his brakes and didn't take part in qualifying and as we mentioned the replacement car for endura motorsport and morgan tilbruck season number 66 car lineup at the tail end of the field so that's the way that they all line up there is the pole city car in the hands of richard neary i said i thought it was sam neary but no that is sam that is uh down there talking away two father thumbs up from both uh they have been competing in the british gt championship for the last year or so now that is john seal that sits alongside it's a group gt3 car on pole group gto car for this weekend of john seal that sits alongside john another driver who we saw racing in the british gt championship last year and originally his car was potentially going to run in the gt3 category due to various conversations that have gone on he has opted to run it in group gto for this weekend so it's a mercedes and a lamborghini on the front row of the grid there is the number 22 car which is one of three cars we've got from greystone gt in the championship for this year each one of the greystone drivers is paired up with a very very capable pro driver so that was richard mason's car who is paired up at the wheel of the number 22 car with john lancaster that's the richard chamberlain porsche 935 returning to the championship that car is a real hybrid of cars there's not a lot left of the original porsche that was built on uh and it's great to see richard back in the championship it's also good to see that car in the championship as well which is the radical rxc of ben dimmick and for this race at least uh steve burgess at his local track as well steve bourne leicestershire lives in nottinghamshire multiple radical champion as well moved over from uh another championship in the uk to race in gt cup for this season i think they were third overall in that particular championship last year but i've opted to race in gt cup this year and have brought that radical rxc in for the very first time be interesting to see how they go i think they were hugely impressed with the strength in depth that was on the grid for the course of this weekend we've got numerous drivers who have raced at le mans including champions in the european le mans series we've got two former formula one test drivers as well with the likes of darren turner and adam carroll but of course most of those are the pros and therefore they can't take part in this sprint race so buzzer goes off countdown continues won't be that much longer before the grid is cleared there is the car that will line up third on the grid which is the simon creed motorsport lamborghini huracan gt3 of lucky kiera lucky who raced with us last year in a mixture of uh european cup specification ferrari 488s also took in a couple of races at the will of his porsche as well but it's a lamborghini gt3 for him hopefully oh please don't tell me there are more problems with the number 66 call that is already as i said earlier on the spare car because of the problems that befell morgan tillbrook in qualifying so that car qualified out of session over the course of the lunch break hopefully that's just precautionary lift the bonnet check but whatever went wrong with the other car is not going to go wrong with this one and yet the number 66 mercedes ushers its way up towards the tail end of the field so that is good news indeed for morgan hasn't had a great deal of luck so far this weekend a bit like paul bailey really with the rabbit breaking and then the ferrari having contact and broken drive shafts hopefully that ferrari has made it up to the ground just looking to see whether i can see the ferrari not the easiest because they start in something like eighth row of the grid so it's really just the roof of the car that you'd be able to spot so i'm not entirely sure that the ferrari has made it out one two three four five six seven eight yes the ferrari is out yeah the ferrari has made it out onto the grid i can just go through my commentary position pick out that the hard work has been done by the team and therefore we are indeed going to see the sb race engineering ferrari out onto the field so countdown continuing the slave batteries have just fired the engines into life the last few team members and the other drivers that cannot take part in this race in the case of the pros in the case of where they are not the pro you decide which driver is going to take part in this sprint race we are about to very shortly get the first rolling lap underway for the start of the 2021 gt cup championship season here at donaldson park on the national circuit so it's 1.9790 miles long and they'll have 25 laps this colossal grid of gt specification cars we'll keep you up to date on who all of the group leaders are as well at any one individual point because of course it is the point you accumulate in your respective wanting to claim the overall win but they will both be scoring their own individual championship points in that respective group row two of the grid as a gt3 current a gto row three of the grid is a gt3 current a gto row four is two gt3 cars row five is a gt3 in the first of the cars from the gtc category row six is a gtc car and the first of the cars from the gtb category so they really are mixed up as the rolling lap gets themselves underway so we will see just one rolling lap and then the safety goal as long as he's happy that the field is correctly formed up behind we'll peel its way to pit lane and we'll get the 2021 gt cup championship season underway with the first of two races here today both of which will be shown live a further two races shown live tomorrow that's what the whole season be available to you to watch live the second event of the season we'll see us down at brands hatch on the grand prix circuit on the 1st of may which at the moment is scheduled to be a capacity grid i think the capacity grid is something like 42 or 44 cars at brands hatch on the grand prix circuit but there are already four five six reserves that cannot make it onto the grid so full is that one going to be after brands hatch we then move in early june to the third race weekend of the season where we go to snetterton in norfolk on the 300th circuit then early july for event four of the seasons to alter park on the international circuit and then in august we head to silverstone on the bottom three circuit back here to donald park on the ground pre-circuit in late september for the sixth race weekend of the season and we round the season out back in norfolk that's that is another 300 so there's plenty of racing coming up seven racing weekends four races in total over each one of those so 24 rounds for the championship and the total from all championship rounds count as well there are no drop scores in this series so you have to remain consistent all the way through so we'll be trying to weave from side to side to try and build the temperatures in those brakes in particular and the control pirelli slick tyres that they will all be running in these conditions control fuel as well they all run sunoco fuel but the lights are still illuminated on the safety car it's slowing the pack up now as it starts to work its way down the straight and in towards the breaking area for the robert chicane the lights go out which means we are going to be good to be going racing this time through for 25 minutes for our first of two races here today at donington park on the national circuit it is richard neary and john seal on the front row of the grid the mercedes and the lamborghini respectively and as we get the 2021 season underway for the gt cup championship the lights will go out and they now charge their way up towards redgate corner for the first time richard neary in the mercedes on the left of your screen but john seal almost a bit of contact between the pair of john seals tries to squeeze the mercedes but it is richard neary who sticks his elbows out there and has the early lead of the race joint seal slops her into second position but he's on the brush from lucky ciara who's looking to try and sneak through the top of hollywood and down through the crane of curves but john seal got that move covered off so it's still lamborghini's two and three john seal from lucky kiera richard chamberlain on his return to the championship since they're in fourth position at this stage but everybody is by the look of things safely through the first couple of corners in this enormous field that we've got but problems for john seal i'm afraid was that a spin coming out all right john sill and lucky kiera must have made contact coming out of the old hall corner of the old hairpin i should say rather because john seals slowed and look at gear his back was in the gravel by the look of things so that could possibly bring about the requirement for a safety card early on in this one and that would be an enormous shape what he has done surely has really ate the cause of richard neary the lead of the race who should have been able to pull away quite substantially with the cars in second and third place sort of tripping over each other in the early stages of the race so hope the start finish line will go the race leaders here's john seal you can see trying to pick his way at the wheel of that lamborghini back through the pack but there was a waved yellow flag on the approach to the asses so he needed to make sure he got that job done before he got to that yellow flag so [Music] they charged their way in towards red gay corner there is the number 41 car also with problems that's fraser smart that's had a spin that's coming out of the robert chicane at the will of his lamborghini so a couple of the lamborghini gt3 cars and that car the super trofeo car all having problems in the early stages of this one but the race still continues and has everybody made it through at the end of the first lap lucky kiara's car i do fear might not have come through yes it did a long long way down off the order michael i go going side by side with graham tilly's nissan should sneak through the inside as he turns his way into coppy's corner so michael i go goes through at the wheel of the gt3 number 18 lamborghini and he can now set his sight around trying to close in on the blue and dayglow green lamborghini of john dillon that lies ahead john very quick driver great to see him back in the series john dillon and certainly was a force to be reckoned with last year he won the gt cup sprint championship gtc title overall [Music] right on the rear bumper off the porsche of richard chamberlain so richard chamberlain running in second position now because of the problems of those lamborghinis john seal and lucky kira he's a hugely experienced driver has been racing for a great great number of years didn't quite grab the apex there though down at the old hairpin and that is now going to put him under pressure from john dillon john dylan's car is a gt3 spec car so richard chamberlain's still leading group gto even if the lamborghini gets past him he will still be in the lead of that group and in fact even if john dylan gets through michael i go gets through and graham tilly gets through he would still be leading he'd fought to lose three places overall in the reds would still be leading his group richard chamblin so he's got a bit of a buffer between himself and the black radical that sits behind because that's the car that's second in the group so down the street into robert chicane chamblin has enough grunt in a straight line to see off the gt3 spec lamborghinis that sit behind the first of which is john dillon who gets a better exit this time coming out of the robert chicano might try something on the run down in towards redgate corner chamberlain i think again in a straight line just has enough power michael i go throw some up the inside of john dylan as they fight for what his third and fourth place can't quite make it through though michael i go didn't compromise his run too much coming out of redgate down onto so he's still right behind the lamborghini that lies ahead and not so much under the pressure from the big nissan in the hands of grand tilly that sits behind towards redgate corner this is craig wilkins in his group gta car fighting away with the number 67 car which for this race is josh jackson that's actually for the lead of group gt a as well so those two cars needing to keep pressing on the 35 car also involved in a great great battle right behind him is the reagan champion from last year the wheel of the number one mclaren which is going to be simon orange after 25 minutes we've got just over 20 that remain at the moment one simon orange is feeling the pressure here he's got the number 26 car right behind him really asking a few questions is mo ritzen good to see mo ritzen going so well simon orange if anything just sort of bottled up isn't he behind the number 35 porsche in the hands of nick phelps in a straight line the porsche should have the legs over the gt4 spec mclarens but our reigning champion well that's uh steve burgess that's off at the wheel of the radical his local circuit the radicals a long long way off into the gravel trap he's gonna be able to dig the car back out here that looks like that's down at the old hairpin so not what steve burgess wanted that car will also be tumbling down through the order as a result of that the battle's out on circuit still raging the difficulty is with so many cars and we're on the national circuit it's a busy old track here at donnington park hollywood so there's no overtaking down through the crane the curves it does make me wonder as to perhaps whether the radical has not made it out of there it was it was redgate corner i think the problems for the radical there it is it's now finally back on the tarmac in the hands of steve burgess will have dropped all the way down almost towards the tail end of the field and we've also got some quick cars that started at the tail end of the field trying to fight their way back up now this is the fight for second third fourth fifth and sixth position all together richard chamberlin at the head of the queue being shadowed by don john dillon michael i go then uh graham tilly and last of which will be the number 36 car enhanced to a prop to the mclaren who almost almost was able to capitalise on a very slight mistake there from graham tilly coming out of redgate corner as the nissan ram wide so from all five being together it's sort of a trio and then the pair isn't it now all of a sudden as they tumble their way for the sixth time through the old hairpin and start to accelerate their way back up through schwan's curve richard chamberlain still leading group gto still lying second in the race and keeping the gt3 machines behind him and this porsche can trace his troops back to what the early part of the 1970s probably as a chassis it's hugely developed since then there's not much of the original car that's left but with a continuing state of development and really taking a year out last year richard chamberlain to try and fettle the car it is working beautifully well at this stage and cars that are stuff substantively newer than it yes they run in a different class yes they have different arrow packages but in a straight line richard chamberlain just has the grunt to see off the gt3 cars doesn't quite have the arrow through the corners but overall there's very little to choose michael i go having another little go at john dylan flashes the lines john dillon tried to turn in saw that the other car was alongside and michael i go now through up into third place overall that puts him second in group gt3 now so good overtake there for riker i go who has only been racing what for three years i think now michael i go since we first saw him out on circuit and has really come on leaps and bounds over the last few years with the help of the pro drivers that have been supporting him in the various championships we've seen him in what's he going to do now about trying to attack richard chamberlain and trying to squeeze his way through richard will be calling on all of those many many years of experience but michael i go gets a slightly better exit coming out of mclean's can't do anything as they head up towards coppice can you swipe try and switch back on the exit yes he does so it takes a wider line in works his way back through but then the extra power of the porsche might just tell for richard chamberlain as he comes down the straight chamberley trying to attack and defend from the same time he's got john dillon right behind him so he covers off the lamborghini behind doesn't worry as much about the lamborghini that's ahead that slows john dylan's entry into roberts didn't really compromise the exit again though so i think he is still going to be good enough to be in fourth place by the time they get towards redgate corner graham tilly's big nissan can he outbreak the lamborghini he's going to go you know yeah up the inside through goes graham tilly great move and now all of a sudden john dillon has slipped from what was third down into fifth position and he's still under pressure for that as well because the sixth place car of stuart proctor is not too far away [Music] mclaren 750s gt3 of stuart proctor at the tail end of this battle that we've got there's a big big big spin and you're not going to recover from that i'm afraid to say and that is the number 34 car of former british touring car racer richard marshall that's in the gravel so that is the team hard porsche didn't quite see the start of it but we certainly saw the end of it and that's it for the number 34 car richard marsh who spent a few years in the touring cars what's in 2003 through to 2007 in the british touring car championship then moved through to british gt [Music] firmly in the gravel trap in the middle of the crane a curve so that car is going to be going nowhere great deal of assistance on that side of the circuit to try and hoist it out of harm's way so just under 15 or just over rather 15 minutes of the race to go battles on track still raging as well this is the porsche that's just bumped a little bit wide by the mclaren there so rally crossing to try and recover onto the circuit the lightest of touches as well it wasn't a great deal that nick phelps could do and that's going to drop him down through the order there as a result of that very slight contact and through go for a quartet of mclaren's but i do fear yep safety car is coming out so safety car looks as though it's coming out now yellow flags at the marshalls posts down the straight i think we might be going full course caution probably because of the porsche that sits in the gravel in the hands of richard marsh yeah there's a safety car on standby at the end of the pit lane it is purely now waiting for a gap in the traffic to head out onto the circuit and i'm afraid to say weekend goes from bad to worse for poor old paul bailey his ferrari in the pit lane looking rather battered and bruised was that car apparently that's the car that they weren't even expecting to be racing this weekend so safety car is out it has not picked up the race leader it has come out picking up the car in something like 23rd position there is the race leader now so all of the hard work that he'd done to build what was about a four second advantage has evaporated to not a great deal now he was able to build that advantage because of the titanic battles that were going on between michael i go and richard james graham tilly john dillon and stuart proctor but all of that will evaporate not a great deal one good thing for richard neary his car is there where's the car in second well he's got one two three four four back markers between himself and the lamborghini of michael i go so when we get the race back underway there will still be a little bit of safety margin between richard neary and the pressure for the lead of the race now the cars between richard neary and michael all look like gt4 spec cars so it shouldn't take too long really for michael to work his way past them once we get the safety car period out of harm's way and then the one thing he's then got to do is try and really attack for the lead of the race if he wants it so just to run you down through who is leading the various groups at this stage leading the race overall and leading group gt3 is the number 88 mercedes of richard neary uh leading group gto was the car that's in third position overall that's the all orange porsche 935 the number five car in the hands of richard chamberlain said the safety car is waving all of the gt4 spec cars by as well so we are going to have michael i go right behind richard niri when we get the safety guard done and dusted leading group gtc at the moment is jensen lund down in eighth position car number nine the lamborghini that's new to him and the team for this year the venerable marcos mantis that top cats have run for so many years they've still got one out in the hands of charlotte gilbert but for warren gilbert and jensen look it's the lamborghini super troffeo spec car uh carnival nine in eighth place at leeds group gtc leading group gth at this stage is the number 52 mclaren which we have seen a little bit of in this race that is the deranged motorsport number 52 of olly brown for this particular race holly brown is classified as a pro sport driver which means he can take part in a sprint race he can also affect the qualification of the car whereas the pros can't even qualify cars so pro sport is a new category that's been introduced for this season tell me a little bit more about that over the course of this weekend but that number 52 car leads group gth at this stage and leading group gta is birthday points craig wilkins carnival 80. uh leeds group gta his ginetta so that picks up on all of the group leaders other than group gtb which is still the number 35 for porsche we saw it sort of get nudged off a little bit wide at mclean's corner with nick phelps still leads group gtb despite the fact that his car had that little issue up at mclean's corner and lost two or three places to the mclarens and the genetics that were able to sneak their way through so that's the order of the various groups in fact there is the group gtb leading porsche they're just heading around through shot and the car that's second in group gtv isn't that far behind it's marcus mantis the silver car with the light green stripe so that could be another battle to watch as and when we get the safety car done and dusted and out of harm's way so richard marsh's porsche will be getting dealt with the difficulty with where it ended up there on the inside of the old hairpin the bottom of the crate the curves is that there's no snatch vehicle that i'm aware on that side of the circuit so usually what has to happen is they throw the safety car to get the circuit vehicle the tele loader from one side of the track to the other to then get the car out of harm's way so that's what they're doing now they're dragging it into a gap that exists in the concrete wall uh part the way down through the crane of curves and then once the car has been unhooked from the tele loader and that vehicle need to get back to its regular position and only once it's back behind the wall we get things going so we're gonna have at least one further lap behind the safety car all this time whilst the clock is still ticking down there are now just over 10 minutes of the race to go as for the top ten number 88 richard neary leads second is the brady michael i go third is number five richard chamberlain fourth is number four conveniently enough graham tilly fifth is 61 john dillon who say was right up there but seem to get picked off by a few cards sixth place is number 36 which is stewart procter in the mclaren seventh is number 55 john seal well considering he's spun almost to the very tail end of the field that's a great drive back through the field for the number 55 car in the hands of john seal so no ill effects for whatever happened between himself and lucky here and even that little bit of contact at the start with richard neary as they went down towards red gay corner so second down to the back of the field and back to seventh or within 15 minutes a busy old race eighth place is the number nine car which is going to be jets at lunt for this particular race ninth place is 96 which is chris kemp at the wheel of the sunbridge motorsport lamborghini and completing the top 10 uh is number 52 as i said which is the gth leader which is the aston martin of ollie brown so that gives you the top 10 as well as the safety car is working its way around through schwan's curve light's still on at this stage now it would usually be down the exhibition straight up to robert chicane where the lights will get extinguished on the safety car and that's the sign to all the competitors that we are going to go green at the end of a lap now are we going to see the safety car on this slap i do fear it might be yeah there's in the background just see the tele handler moving off from one side of the circuit back to the outside again has the call been made in time now the difficulty is that telehandler has got to get behind the wall i don't think we're quite going to do it on this lap which means they'll be i suspect one further lap behind the safety guard i'd like to go out in the safety car so just in the nick of time the internet is cleared which means that we are going to go back racing single file restart no overtaking until you reach the start finish line but richard neary gets his foot down and gets the race back underway round one of the 2021 gt cup championship but michael i go is not that far away from a little bit slower away was richard chamberlain so he sits there in third place michael i go using all of the tarmac at pit lane exit as well to try and take as a wider line in towards redgate corner and carry as much speed mid corner speed as he possibly can down through the order that's a good fight that's going on that's for the lead of group gth i think there is it yeah the two aston martins together ollie brown fighting away with james guess that could be something that's well worth watching out for as the leading pack head down through the old hairpin where the two has departed there they are white cart leads group gt8 right behind it is the white and blue car with its dayglow orange flashes so that is a fight for the lead of group so that will be what 10th of the 11th place is overall the leading pack up towards mclean's corner turning their way in towards the blind entry double apex right-hander difficult corner is mclean's corner there go the two acids yes still fighting away lamborghini is trying to side their way past them which i think is another car that's coming up from the tail end of the field looking kira after his spin all the way down towards the tail underfield he's got himself involved with those two aston martins but he's cleared both now which means the battle for the leader group gth the gt4 spec cars is back on once more ollie brown under pressure from james guess whilst for the lead of the race richard neary is under pressure and michael i go just 0.5 of a second separated them as they came over the start finish line to chalk lap number 13 into the book seven minutes still remaining as they tumble their way back downhill into water breaking area for the old hairpin now longer races the pit stop races tomorrow have that extra dynamic of not just the pit stop but also the fact that the cars will be handed over to separate drivers we'll see that over the course of the pit stop race later on this afternoon and the pit stop race tomorrow i thought richard neary and michael i go they could sort of size each other up for the remainder of this race and try and understand as to where their car might have a slight advantage over the other great fight going on for third fourth fifth and sixth place still richard chamberlain has done a really good job at the wheel of that porsche of keeping at bay the aspirations of the gt3 cars that are really cute behind now richard chamberlain leads group gto the open spec cars but then he's got four gt3 spec cars right behind him first of which is graham tilly the next of which is john dillon and then stuart proctor who's now coming under pressure from a rejuvenated john seal having spun the ball to tail end of the field the number 55 lamborghini looks at the inside of the mclaren can he squeeze his way through and take position away yes he has so john seal now back inside the top six and what can he do from there graham tilly also attacks richard chamberlain and all right problems problems i'm afraid to say for the porsche because grant tilly goes through and ahead of richard chamberlin and richard chamberlain all of a sudden didn't put up a lot of fight did he holding those gt3 cars forever but all of a sudden graham tilly john dillon stuart proctor john seal all are through and ahead now and i do fear that the body language of the car if british champions porsche suggests that all is not well and yeah he's lost a further place there as well as jensen london goes through lookie kiera might pick him off also by the end of the race as well or the end of this lap even so yeah there is lucky kiera already right away i've gone to terms with the porsche and again no defense put up by richard chamberlain he'll be destined for the pit lane i'm afraid to say i think at the end of this one and that would then put into the lead of group gto john seal's car the number 55 car there's a gt3 spec lamborghini he's opted to run it in group gto it's the white car that's just coming up towards red gate corner now be trying to hunt down this guy here the number 61 in the hands of john dillon so that lamborghini now takes up the lead of group gto at this stage james say crawling his way around the circuit and tumbling all the way down and has indeed yeah come into the pit lane at the end of the lap [Applause] less than five minutes remaining graham tilly up into fourth uh third position i should say john seal up into fifth position and now leading group gto 55 lamborghini fantastic soundtrack they make as well these big gt cars as they thunder their way around the donated park national circuit now how much further up through the order could john seal get we know the car and the driver's got the pace because say he qualified outside of the front row this morning it was a stellar lap that was put in by sam neary who is not racing in this race it's father richard that's opted to take the first racing so sam was the best part of 1.6 seconds quicker than anybody in qualifying but john seal was the best of the rest uh and that i'm afraid to say is well there a loose wheel has fallen off and that looked like the number 96 lamborghini that's the stanbridge motorsport car of chris kemp that's gone into the gravel up but cop his corner he felt something was wrong yeah and there's the wheel it's the front left isn't it that's come off the lamborghini so there is going to be nothing chris kemp can do about that he is out of the race with three and a bit minutes to go up towards the breaking area for redgate corner that's craig wilkins now this is for the lead battle of group gta again once more the two genetas both of them run to super cup specification but craig who celebrates his 50th birthday this weekend the number 80 car that red car with its dayglow yellow flashes coming under enormous pressure from the number 67 ginetta of josh jackson that sits directly behind josh jackson remember is a reigning champion in gt cup the overall championship he grabbed last year when he was partnered with simon orange the two of them working together again this year they set up this new team as well orange racing powered by jmh their technical partners and at the moment the orange powered by jmh geneta is asking a few questions of the scottsball prepared car whilst those two are battling for the lead of group gta james guess who's ahead of them at the wheel of the aston martin is desperate to try and close back up on the leading current group gth which is the number [Music] 52 aston martin that he's just dropped away from over the course of the last few laps so two and a half minutes to go john seals progress continues up to fourth position now the wheel of the number 55 lamborghini is still less than a couple of seconds adrift of the third place car of graham tilly so might not be done and dusted yet for john seal you know [Music] till brook who started the real tale end of the field still working his way through but the race leader has now got all of this traffic to try and deal with richard neary bouncing over the curbs catching up with some of the gt4 specification cars he's going to have to weave his way through and pass them is he going to clear them all by redgate corner michaligo goes one side of one back marker one side of the other richard neary splits the pack and then tries to get around the outside of fort until box gt4 spec mercedes at the middle of his gt3 car the extra power the extra air hotels so richard neary now has got at least three more back markers between himself and michael i go so still a couple of seconds separated them as they came over the start finish line but richard neary has managed the traffic well there and has made sure that he cleared it all before they got towards redgate corners it wasn't compromised on the run through crainer curves which is not the easiest places to try and overtake even if you are in a more powerful and more aerodynamically efficient car with greater levels of downfalls so that would have aided the cause of richard neary who will be heading over the start finish line to start what is now likely to be the last lap of the la the race next time through so down the straight up towards the breaking area for redgate corner james gas and craig wilkins both of whom raced together in group gth cat at the category last year craig's move through to group gta and he's already side by side with the group gta chastity martin desperate to try and hang on to the lead of the group but it's aston martin from geneta mclaren from geneta those are cars running both group gt h group gta group gth and group gta at the order that those cars are on in so it's not all for position that quartet that you see there as for our race leader should now be on to the final lap of the race can we usher john seal the number 55 car any further up murray needs to try and get past he's going to be graham tilly's nissan you can see that third of the andeglo nissan working its way through the hordes of group gth cars there the aston martin the two mclarens and then the group gtb porsche which i think david franklin for this race i think might just have enough to try and fend off the aspirations of john seal and hang on to what will be third place overall at the moment is group gt3 cars first second and third place the clock ticks to zero richard neary works his way for the final time up towards the breaking area for the robert chicane flicks right flick lefty still might have uh andy roby's marcus mantis to deal with on the sprint to the line but richard niri has done enough to claim top honours in the first round of the 2021 gt cup championship here at donnington park michelino comes through and finishes in second position who's gonna be third it is graham tilly who's just gonna hang on to third position john seal has got involved with one of the gt4 cars i'm afraid to say and that charge back through the field is not going to happen for john seal and the car that he made contact with i think might have been mark hopkins car mark having his first ever motor race here today and yeah john seal's car has come to rest backwards in the gravel trap at the very final corner mark copton who i think was involved limped his car immediately in towards the pit lane and therefore didn't take the chequered flag so it's going to be graham tillian third position john dylan in fourth place it's going to be stuart proctor and fifth lucky kiera who also have problems on the first lap who finishes in sixth place uh we'll pick up on the rest of the group winners as the battles still continue over the start finish line that is the lead battle for group gt a sorted as uh through comes craig wilkins to claim top on as if not just outside of the top ten but there's still cars to take the checkered flag and it will run you down through the full order but what a start to the weekend for father and son pairing richard and sam neary they claimed top earners in the first race of the weekend for the gt cup championship michael igo finishing in second place and graham tillian third making it a gt3 category one two three here at donington park which is nearly trembling his way down the pit lane and of course all of these cars will be spanner checked and prepped and will be ready again for the pit stop race that is scheduled to take place later on this afternoon we are going to be going live on the stream around about uh ten past five there or there about but maybe just keep your eyes a little bit earlier because if we run efficiently to timetable they will start the race that little bit earlier so cars struggling their way down the pit lane we should hopefully be able to rattle through some results with you just to confirm the results for our first race the provisional results of which of course they are at the moment the official results will all be confirmed a little bit later on so the results are team aber and richard neary take the win second place is michael i go for wip motorsport and third place is the triple m motorsport tech speed nissan in hands of gray and tilly fourth place goes the way of john dillon for scottsboro fifth place is uh motorsport and stuart proctor in sixth place is uh lucky kira for simon green motorsport then it was the radical pairing of steve burgess who shares that car with ben dimmick that were in seventh place top caps racing lamborghini was eighth and the deranged motorsport aston martin was in night position head of feathers motorsports range motorsport taking the group gth honours with that one that gives you the top 10 in 11th place it was the leading car home in group gta which was the scott sport geneta in the hands of craig wilkins then it was the two uh orange racing powered by jmh cars the mclaren ahead of the ginetta for luger motorsport and the porsche in 14th place in the battlefield gt4 mclaren in 15th mclaren's in 16th and 17th for paddock motorsport pairing uh with fox motorsport in their ginetta finishing in 18th place the top cat's marcus mantis of charlotte gilbert was 19th and veluga racing porsches came home to finish in 20th position to make it happen racing ginetta was there in 21st head of gemini motorsport which is andy roby's marcus mantis in 22nd and i think that was the last car that sort of remained on the lead lap in reality or just got pipped on the way to the line we saw the jmh automotive car have that spin john seal but he will have been still classified and unfortunately hopefully there's not too much damage to that car we should be able to get him back out for our pit stop race a little bit later on this afternoon but for gt cup as the cars are making their way back into the pit lane that is all for the moment from the gt cup here at donington park we'll make our way down into the pit lane and catch up with some of the stories so we can bring you updates on some of the cars that have problems later on we are scheduled to get the next stream underway at a roundabout it's gonna be 20 past five so 1720 will be back on live stream for our pit stop race so from all of us here at donnington park at the gt cup team hope you enjoyed the first race of the season we'll catch you later on today till then [Music] goodbye [Music] you

Channel: GT Cup Championship

Views: 10,618

Rating: 4.9423075 out of 5

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Id: RvdF38lAzMc

Length: 61min 46sec (3706 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 10 2021