Two weeks after seeing its races at Lydden cancelled, the VSR V8 Trophy will bounce back with a vengeance at Brands Hatch this Sunday, when 6 of the monstrous V8 machines will take to the legendary circuit.
With only 2 cars expected to take to the grid at Lydden, the circuit organisers made the decision to pull the plug on the VSR Series races. The dismay was clear to see throughout the V8 Trophy paddock, with team owner and team’s representative Duane Kidd saying, “. “It’s obviously very disappointing not to have raced at Lydden. We had tested there and put in a very good, quick times – I think we could have had two very competitive races with the VSR Series”.
After the frustration of having the races cancelled so close to the event, series organisers set to work to make this weekend’s races a turning point in the season. Poor turnouts have masked excellent racing from the newly converted road course racers, who have managed just 2 cars at each race so far this season. This hasn’t stopped the drivers putting on fantastic performances at some challenging tracks, with the big, heavy V8s matching, and outperforming their Super Silhouette counterparts.
Now though, after a call to arms by the organisers, grid numbers will be well on their way to matching the quality of the racing. This season’s regulars CWS Racing and Revolution Racing will both up their entries from one to two cars. Tony Hurdle will once more lead the Revolution charge, but this time will be in his more familiar #98 car. Still early in his road course career, Hurdle was at Brands on Tuesday to learn the track on a track day. His black Chevrolet Monte Carlo has now been converted for the road circuits, Hurdle having driven the team’s #99 Pontiac Grand Prix at Snetterton in March. That car will be piloted this weekend by Portugal’s Miguel Gomes. An online racer of some repute, Gomes fell in love with the V8s after a stunning performance during Rookie Training at Rockingham last April. He would have raced in the series last year on the oval, but V8 Trophy’s ‘National A’ MSA license status was a prohibitive factor. With these issues now resolved, Miguel will finally get to take the wheel of a V8 Trophy car in anger at one of the UK’s most historic, and challenging venues. He will be proud to be driving with his traditional sim-racing #46.
Colin White will once more be the man to beat at Brands Hatch. His #78 CWS Racing Chevrolet has taken a victory at both of the first two meetings of the year, and so far has managed to extract the most out of the new-look V8 Trophy cars. His second road course car will be out on track, although the driver is yet to be formally announced. The entry list shows ex-Team Catchpole racer Phil Weaver in the car, known to be very keen to sample the cars on the circuits, and it will be good to see a former fan favourite make his comeback.
Team Networking also make their return to V8 Trophy competition at Brands Hatch. Following arrangements with Revolution Racing and former champions Torquespeed in previous years, the team have now formed a partnership with MGA Motorsport to contest the VSR V8 Trophy. MGA are proven winners in circuit racing, and will assist Team Networking with setting up the car at each race meeting, having already overseen the conversion of the team’s two cars from oval to road course spec. Team owner and driver of the #31 Ford Taurus Duncan Gray said, “These are exciting times for us and the VSR V8 trophy Series, our partnership with MGA Motorsport will be one that will go from strength to strength as the season progresses”. Gray is no stranger to the more traditional road circuits, having won several championships at international level, and perhaps given time to adjust to hustling the V8s round the circuits, and for the Team Networking/MGA partnership to gel, could be a possible challenger to Colin White’s current supremacy.
The weekend’s other debutant is Paul Bowman, driver of Team Netwworking’s #32 car. The Wellingborough man is no stranger to the V8 Trophy though, even if he is more used to looking at the cars whilst travelling backwards - Paul having been a paramedic on one of the Rockingham Safety Team rescue trucks for the past few years. “I’m looking forward to it!” He exclaimed when talking to V8trophy.com at Cadwell Park in April. “I had a mad plan last September to race in the V8s, so I spent the winter going to Silverstone going racing to get the signatures I needed for my licence and finally in the snow at Lydden in March, I got my last two signatures to enable me to race.” A fast-ambulance driver for the emergency services, Bowman will be hoping to use the remainder of the season as practice for the day job!
Team Networking/MGA will be testing at the circuit on Thursday in order to get to gain some knowledge of car setup, new tyres, and solve any teething problems with the cars in their new circuit trim.
Also making an appearance on the Brands Hatch entry list is Shane Brereton. The West Country racer is hoping to have his #48 car converted to road course spec in time for Sunday’s races.
If he succeeds in his task, Brereton’s presence will up the total of V8 Trophy entries to 7. Combined with at least a further eight cars from the other VSR classes it is hoped we will see over fifteen cars lined up to take the start and thunder into Paddock Hill Bend this Sunday.
As we hit summer the clouds finally look to be parting for the VSR V8 Trophy as the series reaches a turning point - don’t miss out on the action!
