QUALITY GT FIELD FOR SNETT


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The MTECH 430 Scuderia of Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin. Photo: Jakob Ebrey

After the success of the BRSCC run Silverstone two-hour endurance classic earlier this month, the Avon Tyres British GT Championship returns to its customary twin-race format at the Snetterton this Bank Holiday Monday.

Heading the entry for rounds nine and 10 of the championship is the David Ashburn/Glynn Geddie Trackspeed Porsche 997 GT3R, the victor at Silverstone and also twice at Rockingham last month. However, the duo’s success streak carries with it a literal burden in terms of success ballast, and the more nimble Ferraris, headed by MTECH’s 430 Scuderia for Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin, will start with a useful advantage.

“Three race wins in a row means the Ashburn/Geddie Porsche will be a heavy, heavy car at Snetterton,” says championship manager Benjamin Franassovicci. “Trackspeed will give it everything, as always, but they have a fight on their hands.” London-based Ashburn is currently 26 points clear in the overall standings.

In the ultra-competitive G4 class, season-long points leaders Christian Dick and Jamie Stanley will be racing a rather lighter Speedworks Motorsport Ginetta G50 following their twin defeats by the ABG KTM at Rockingham and their retirement at Silverstone, but they will still run at a major disadvantage at Snetterton when compared with class rivals such as the quick and exciting Piranha Motorsport Lotus 2-Eleven of Chris Bialan and Simon Mason and the Ginetta of Vibe Smed/Nathan Freke.

Fresh from race-winning success in the Ginetta G50 Cup at Silverstone last Sunday, Benji Hetherington returns at Snetterton with his brother, Freddie, to race their ultra-competitive Century Motorsport car in British GT. The duo led G4 for many miles in the Silverstone enduro and will be keen to underline their potential.

There’s a new entry in G4 from David Appleby Engineering: an Aston Martin to be shared by David’s son, James, and Aston GT4 Challenge series leader Ant Scragg. “We are dipping our toe in the GT racing water at Snetterton,” said James, a motorsport engineering student at Bristol, “with a view to a full season, in Britain or in Europe, in 2011.” James, 21, and 23-year-old Ant usually drive with their fathers and compete against each other in the Aston series. “We’ve had some fierce battles,” says James, “but we have great respect for each other and are well matched for speed. Joining forces and stepping up to British GT is an exciting prospect.”

Adds Franassovicci: “We welcome Aston Martin as the fifth different brand in the G4 class this season and look forward to James and Ant enjoying a great debut. We hope to see more of them, and further brands, during the rest of the season.”

Last year’s Snetterton outright race winners – the Rosso Verde Ferrari of Hector Lester/Allan Simonsen and the David/Godfrey Jones Preci-Spark Ascari – will be back in action and hoping to repeat the feat, and ranged against them will be a quality GT3 field of Ferraris, a Ford GT, Aston Martin and possibly as many as three Moslers.


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