MOTORBASE TAKES FIRST BRITISH GT WIN AT SNETTERTON

A superb race five of the 2013 Avon Tyres British GT Championship at the Snetterton 300 circuit was won yesterday by Oman Air Motorbase's Michael Caine and Ahmad Al Harthy, but it was Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen who were victorious for Trackspeed on the road; the result was later appealed and the Oman Air Motorbase Porsche 997 inherited the win, the team's first ever in the British GT Championship.

Following a post-race appeal, Jon Minshaw was adjudged to have overtaken under yellows and the race director subsequently awarded the #33 Trackspeed car a 30 second penalty, plus three penalty points added to his race licence.

Optimum Motorsport drivers Rick Parfitt Jnr and Ryan Ratcliffe dominated the GT4 class and claimed their first British GT GT4 victory of the year, having led every lap.

The Trackspeed outfit fared better in the second outing of the afternoon when David Ashburn and Nick Tandy clinched a thrilling second win in the 2013 Avon Tyres British GT Championship steering their Porsche 997 GT3 R to the flag with an advantage of just four tenths of a second over the #888 888 Optimum Racing BMW Z4 GT3.

A fantastic battle in GT4 emerged during the second half of the race as Optimum Motorsport's Rick Parfitt Jnr overcame a 20-second deficit to race leaders Matt Smith and Dan Eagling's Redgate Lifetime Racing Ginetta G50. Parfitt Jnr's team-mate Ryan Ratcliffe had a battling early stint, which saw the Welshman's Ginetta stop on track and require two re-starts before it fire back into life.