The Scuderia Ecosse pair of Andrew Kirkaldy and Nathan Kinch won both rounds of the British GT Championship at Snetterton last weekend. Kirkaldy took victory by just 39-thousandths of a second in Round 5, fighting back from a big deficit following the driver change-over period to hunt down the Porsche 911 GT3-RSR of Sugden, which was carrying 60kg of success ballast. He took the lead six laps from the chequered flag when he dived up the inside of the Porsche at Riches corner. His hard work was almost thrown away on the final lap charge to the flag when the Ferrari chose neutral between gear changes, allowing Sugden a last .php chance of the win. “I really didn’t think it was going to be possible after the pit-stops,” said Kirkaldy. “Nathan lost some time on his in-lap and the handicap we have meant that Tim was a long way up the road. I just had to keep pushing and wait to see what happened. The Donington win was exciting but this was even better,” he added. The pair had things somewhat easier in Round 6 with Kirkaldy making a good start to lead the opening lap and was helped as main rival Tim Sugden was battling for second place with Kirkaldy’s team-mate Tim Mullen. With Sugden pre-occupied, the Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari was able to pull out a lead at the front. When Kirkaldy dived into the pits to hand over to Kinch he had a lead of just over 25 seconds, the extra time that the Ferrari is handed for the driver handicap. A swift changeover by the team allowed Kinch to leave the pit-lane just six seconds clear of Sugden’s team-mate Jonathan Cocker. Cocker pushed hard for a handful of laps and looked for a way past Kinch. However, the Ferrari had taken on fresh tyres during its stop and the extra weight and punishing pace was causing Cocker to struggle with the brakes and for grip, giving a jubilant Kinch the win. Tim Mullen and Rob Barff bought the second Scuderia Ecosse 360 home fourth in Round 5 and sixth in Round 6. In the "Cup" Class DRM's Adam Wilcox and Ni Amorin finished third in both races in their 360/Ch and the Damax pair of PMFC regular Marco Attard and Nick Adams were 15th and 12th in the 360GT. The next rounds take place at Castle Combe on 19th June.
Click here to return to the Ferrari Happenings page.
|