18th June 2008
The VSR V8 Trophy was back in action on Sunday, with two races at the infamous Brands Hatch. The Kent circuit played host to the series’ first races since April at Cadwell Park - the rounds at Lydden Hill having been cancelled due to lack of numbers.
That was far from the minds of the organisers though; with 7 of the 5.7 litre V8 engined beasts taking to the track at the start of Qualifying Practice. Indeed, for the first time this season, the V8 Trophy runners numbered more than their VSR V6/V8/Super Silhouette class counterparts, with a total of thirteen cars on the grid for the start of Race 1.
This season’s regulars, the Revolution and CWS teams, were out in force with each now fielding two cars. Tony Hurdle was now back in his more familiar #98 car for Revolution, the process of altering the car for road courses now complete. Their second car has undergone something of an identity crisis this year, the Pontiac running as #99 at Snetterton, and then as #59 in Rob Compton’s hands at Cadwell Park. At Brands it appeared as #46, rookie driver Miguel Gomes’ traditional number when competing in online sim-racing events. The Portuguese racer took his V8 Trophy rookie test in April 2007, and passed with flying colours enabling him to race on the oval. Issues securing his ‘National A’ MSA license had prevented him joining the field until now. “I’ve wanted to race these cars since last year” He said. “I passed my rookie test but my license wasn’t sufficient to race in the V8 Trophy. I’ve been racing in the Speed Championship in Portugal in a Datsun so I can race here - I wanted to do at least one V8 Trophy race in 2008, so here I am. I’m under no illusions it’s going to be very different to the Datsun,” Gomes commented before qualifying, “but surprisingly it’s not so different to the sim racing [Nascar Racing 2003 Season], you still have to be very gentle and very balanced, but the experience is very realistic - especially on the ovals.”
Colin White would once again head up the CWS Racing challenge, this time joined by fellow V8 Trophy veteran Phil Weaver in the #26 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. The former Team Catchpole owner/driver last raced in the series in May 2006 at Rockingham, and was known to be keen to sample these cars in their new road course form.
Sunday also saw Team Networking’s return to competition. The team have been absent from the first 2 rounds of the year whilst converting their two cars to road course specification, a task made much easier by their recent partnership with MGA Motorsport. “They’re great”, commented Duncan Gray, driver of the #31 Ford Taurus and part owner of the team. “Obviously with running a touring car in Britcar they have more saloon car knowledge, which they’re now trying to transfer in the V8 Trophy cars. It’s a totally different outlook to what we have coming from oval racing, and that’s what we need really”. I’m looking forward to today, though a little apprehensive. The car is very loose - we need to sort out a small weight transfer problem, but it’s a lot of fun out there”. Driving the team’s second car was rookie Paul Bowman. The Wellingborough man spent the winter gaining signatures on his license in order to race in the V8 Trophy, succeeding at Lydden in early March. “Qualifying went well.” The #32 Chevrolet driver said. “I’m still getting used to the car, we only turned about 5 or 10 laps when we tested here the other day. The car is loose, but nice and controllable, the only problem so far has been a puncture during practice.”
The seventh V8 Trophy racer was Shane Brereton, the Glastonbury man just about getting his #48 TorTrucks Pontiac Grand Prix ready in time for Sunday’s races. Despite being a relative newcomer to circuit racing, Brereton looked comfortable during practice, the only setback earning him the dubious accolade of being the first driver to get a V8 Trophy car beached in a gravel trap.
Qualifying saw Kevin Clarke’s ex-Eurocar V8 go quickest, closely followed by Keith White’s Super Silhouette class VW Corrado GT. Best of the V8 Trophy runners was Colin White, instantly able to get the best out of the bulky Chevrolet round Brands Hatch’s tighter sections. The Kent track saw the largest performance gap between the fastest Silhouette runners and the quickest V8s, who whilst pulling out an advantage on the pit straight and out of Graham Hill Bend, couldn’t keep pace with their lighter, more nimble competitors through Paddock Hill Bend and Druids. The session also saw a number of spins, most notably by Shane Brereton’s #48 car, who before heading straight on into the Druids gravel trap (commenting later that “Something snapped”, lost it in spectacular fashion coming though Paddock Hill Bend and spun to the infield.
The reverse grid saw Duncan Gray on pole, followed by Gomes, Weaver, Hurdle, White and Brereton. By the end of lap one though, White had taken up his customary position at the head of the field, tracked by Jonathan Hoggarth’s V6 class Pontiac, who had made an excellent start from the fourth row of the grid. White would hold the lead until the end of the third lap, when Hoggarth went through. The man on the move was Kevin Clarke, who start from the back of the grid was up to 3rd within a few laps. Brereton survived a spin out of druids on lap 4, but Phil Weaver didn’t get much further in Race 1, pulling off the track a lap later with a mechanical gremlin.
Rookie Miguel Gomes was having an excellent race, learning to control the car under race conditions, but still keeping pace with his team mate, Hurdle. “The car was very loose, and quite twitchy but it was very enjoyable out there”, he said. “I was just trying to get to grips with everything and keep out of trouble, but it’s easy to slide the back end of the car”. Hurdle and Gomes were chasing Duncan Gray’s #31 Ford Taurus, struggling on its first road course outing. “We were battling clutch problems and a puncture out there”, said Gray after the race.
Hoggarth dropped back from the lead group on lap 6, before retiring a lap later leaving White back in the lead, but that didn’t last long either as a mistake dropped him to fourth and promoted Steve Barnard to the lead in his Audi TT. Two laps later and Kevin Clarke had taken the top spot, but it wasn’t long until smoke emerging from his Mercedes CLK prompted a black flag. A broken driveshaft was the cause, and it meant he wouldn’t stat Race 2 later in the day. Shane Brereton also pulled off the track mid race with a problem, deciding it best to save the car for the second race.
At the flag it was Steve Barnard who took the win from Keith White and Mick Robertson in their Corrados. Colin White was a distant 4th and the best V8 Trophy runner, followed by Tony Hurdle and Miguel Gomes, who had both overtaken an ailing Duncan Gray in the closing stages. Paul Bowman came home as the last classified finisher, clearly happy to have brought the car home in one piece in his first V8 Trophy race.
Shane Brereton took the VSR V8 Trophy win in Race 2, which saw his main challenger Colin White suffer two punctures. This didn’t stop him charging on though, laying huge black tyre marks out of Druids and through Clearways, setting fast laptimes even with air escaping from his left front tyre. Phil Weaver was second in the V8 Trophy class, with Duncan Gray third after a race long battle with Tony Hurdle - both drivers happier with their cars than they were in race one.
Another driver happy after Race 2 was Paul Bowman, who enjoyed a wheel to wheel battle with Rob de Ville’s Silhouette class Ford Puma. “It was great to be out there wheel to wheel in just my first race weekend” he said after the encounter. “We may not have been at the front of the pack but it was a valuable experience and helped me learn a lot about placing the car and what it can do in these situations”.
The only driver less than happy after the second race of the day was Miguel Gomes, who lost control of the #46 Revolution Racing Pontiac Grand Prix on lap 9. “I was coming through Paddock Hill Bend chasing Duncan and pushing as hard as I had all day. I didn’t do anything different, but the car just snapped sideways and it happened so fast I’m not sure there was anything I could have done.” The car spun into the infield and hit the tyre barriers hard. Gomes was shaken after the incident, but unharmed. “My arm hurts a little, but I’m more bothered about the damage to the car and I feel bad for Duane and his team.”
“The car hit square on so it hasn’t done too much damage - nothing is bent too badly” said Neil Hurle of Revolution. “It’s just panel damage mostly.”
Next up for the VSR V8 Trophy is the Farnborough International Airshow on the 19th and 20th of July, where the cars and teams will be performing a Pit Stop Challenge in front of a 100,000 strong crowd. The following weekend sees the V8s on track again for their trip to Croix in France, where the tight circuit will certainly put the powerful machines to the test.
Images courtesy of MAD Photography
