Category: Motorsport Events

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  • Latest news from Time Attack

    Round Three Report
    Brands Hatch – 27th June 2010

    Last weekend’s round three of the fiercely contested Time Attack Series at Brands Hatch saw Steve Guglielmi claim his first outright victory of the season. Driving his ultra-quick Lotus Exige, he was able to keep the winner of the first two rounds Gareth Lloyd at bay, setting a time 0.617 seconds quicker than the Car Planet Racing Mitsubishi driver.

    Bathed in sunshine and with temperatures reaching 30 degrees, the midsummer Time Attack event saw 1000s of spectators descend on Brands Hatch last Sunday – despite the England World Cup match taking place in the afternoon. Utilising the ’Indy’ circuit, the day also featured the Pirelli European Drift Championship and the Modified Live ‘Summertime Special’ show, both adding to the spectacle of the occasion.

    Because of the hot weather, unsurprisingly none of the Time Attack Series lap records were broken, although it was interesting to note that all but one of the classes was won by a non-Japanese car – an unusual turn of events nowadays and a reflection of the current tuning scene in the UK.

    Pro-Class

    Having won two rounds out of two until last weekend, it was beginning to look as through Lloyd was unbeatable this season, but with Guglielmi posting a time of 49.031 seconds on his second flying lap, it was enough to secure him his first ever outright Time Attack Series victory of the year. However, with a 49.648 Lloyd wasn’t far behind and did his title hopes no harm at all by claiming second place.

    Third fastest on the day at 50.063 was the ‘one-hit wonder’ entry of Simon Norris in another of his distinctive Mitsubishi creations. But as he was ineligible to score points, the last place on the podium went to the second CPR Evo of Jamie Nicholls, who set a time of 50.757.

    Other notable performances in the Pro-Class came from Gavin Renshaw, who brought his Lateral Performance Impreza home in sixth and won the SIDC (Subaru Impreza Drivers Club) trophy, whilst Robin Duxbury made an impressive Time Attack Series debut driving his Redbrick Cyber Racing Mitsubishi by finishing eighth overall.

    “It’s great to finally win a round of this year’s Time Attack Series”, said a delighted Guglielmi at the finish. “It was a tough task against the two CPR cars, but I think the conditions favoured us today and although we didn’t break any lap records, I’m very pleased with the way things went.’

    Club-Pro Class

    In the category for cars with fewer modifications to those running in the Pro-Class, an inspired drive of 51.066 by Kevin Horsley in the Scooby Clinic Impreza not only rewarded him with fifth fastest time of the day, but it was more than enough to secure the Club-Pro honours this time around.

    Second in the category went to Shane Smith, the TR Racing Nissan Skyline GT-R on the pace with a 52.378 and looking like he could well be a class winner before the season is out, whilst Russ Paton was third fastest of the Club-Pro runners in his Mitsubishi at 52.631.

    Club Challenge

    With grip levels high and the twists and turns of the Brands Hatch ‘Indy’ circuit favouring cars with agile handling, the class for nearer-to-standard cars saw rear-wheel-drive machinery at the top of the time sheets.

    Jamie Wilson took full advantage of the conditions and put his nimble Lotus Exige in front of the rest with a 52.187. Just 0.336 seconds behind was the Toyota Supra of Steve Linton who in-turn lapped 0.751 faster than that of third-placed Matthew Webb in his Mazda RX7.

    There were also hotly contested battles in the other classes, with Warren Kelly bringing his Escort Cosworth home first in the four-wheel-drive category – his Imperial Blue supported car one of four Cosworths competing on the day. Another excellent performance from Fiona Kindness driving her R32 Skyline rewarded her with second in the 4×4 class, ahead of Scott Robinson who was third in his Impreza.

    The naturally aspirated class for non-turbo cars revealed a familiar podium, with Mark Pollard’s crowd-pleasing Metro first, Jeff Mileham in his Lotus Elise second and Paul Hughes bringing his Honda Integra home in third. Once again, Bo Neilsen proved he and his Astra VXR are the force to be reckoned with in the front-wheel-drive class, whilst behind him Nigel Brown and David Ward proved that Minis should not be under-estimated by finishing second and third respectively.

    Making a guest appearance on the day were the two awesome Nissan GT-Rs of the Sumo Power GT team. Taking time out from their busy FIA GT1 World Championship schedule, Jamie Campbell-Walter and Warren Hughes drove a series of demonstration laps, whilst in the paddock the crowds had the chance to see the 600bhp machines at close quarters.

    Also unique to this event was the launch of Cosworth’s Impreza STi CS400. This is the first time the iconic British tuning company has launched a new road car in 14 years and it was also the first time the 395bhp Subaru had been seen in public.

    Competitors now have a five-week break to prepare themselves for round four of the Time Attack Series, which takes place on 1st August at the technically demanding – and driver’s favourite – track of Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire.

    The Time Attack Series is sponsored by: Sumo Power, Kleers, Pirelli, Cosworth, K-Sport, SuperPro, Toyo Tires, BC Suspension, Speedhunters.com, HKS, HEL Performance, Samco Sport, Blitz and Santa Pod Raceway.

    For a full set of results click here

    To see photos from this event click here

    2010 Time Attack Series Calendar
    24 April: Oulton Park
    16 May: Knockhill
    27 June: Brands Hatch
    1 August: Cadwell Park
    10 October: Snetterton

    www.timeattack.co.uk

  • Latest news from Sumo Power GT

    3rd July 2010
    Paul Ricard HTTT Circuit, Le Castellet, France.

    FIA GT1 World Championship Round 4
    Qualifying and Qualifying Race report

    For the fourth time in succession, the Sumo Power GT team achieved a top-three position in an FIA GT1 World Championship race, when Jamie Campbell-Walter and Warren Hughes – driving car no. 22 – finished an impressive third in today’s Qualifying race, the first of two taking place at this weekend’s round four at Paul Richard HTTT (High Tech Test Track).

    Team mates Peter Dumbreck and Michael Krumm in car 23 were the quicker of the team’s two Nissan GT-Rs in the testing and qualifying sessions, but were slowed in the race when its tyres were affected by excessive wear. However, they fought back to score a hard-earned ninth place and hope that saving their new tyres until tomorrow’s main race will provide them with an advantage.

    Qualifying for the FIA GT1 World Championship took place this morning and was split into three sessions, with the fastest 16 going through to the second, then the fastest eight going through to the third and final session. Both Sumo Power GT Nissan GT-Rs ran superbly to make it into the final eight and with Krumm setting the fastest lap in Q1, he and Dumbreck went on to qualify third and Hughes/Campbell-Walter fifth.

    In the race, Dumbreck was first to drive in car 23, with Campbell-Walter in car 22 and, as the field streamed in to the first corner, Dumbreck found himself pushed back a place to fourth, quickly realising that his car was not handling as it should. He was hotly pursued by Campbell-Walter who squeezed by and into fourth at the end of the second lap.

    Much to Dumbreck’s frustration, his handling issues became worse and on almost every lap he was passed by one of the chasing pack, it soon becoming obvious that the Sumo Power GT driver was powerless to do anything about the loss of grip.

    The problem was later found to be the rapid degradation of the tyres in the hot conditions, as with only four sets allowed throughout the weekend, his team opted for previously used rubber to be able to run new tyres for the main race on Sunday.

    Dumbreck’s journey down the field meant that he became involved in a few less than courteous overtaking manoeuvres by his fellow competitors, but luckily the damage to his Nissan was only slight. Meanwhile, Campbell-Walter set about catching the leading trio of cars, which he did and, by lap eight, was right behind the third-placed Lamborghini of Peter Kox/Christopher Haase, which he eventually overtook on lap 12.

    Dumbreck was only too pleased when the pit-stop window opened after 25-minutes and, whilst in 12th place, went in to have a much needed set of tyres fitted and swap with Krumm. Car 22 pitted on lap 14 and, after a sub-30-second pit stop, Hughes realised the ignition master switch was off as he tried to re-start the engine and, loosing a few seconds in the process, rejoined the race in fourth.

    With fresh drivers and tyres, both Sumo Power GT Nissans set a blistering pace in the second half of the race, Krumm doing all he could to recover the earlier lost time and Hughes going on to set the fastest lap on lap 19.

    Krumm had battled his way up to ninth by lap 20, whilst Hughes was now on a mission to regain third. Then, with a masterly move on lap 25, he drove round the outside of the Corvette of Mike Hezemans/Xavier Maassen and pulled away during the remaining two laps to score the Sumo Power GT team’s fourth podium finish in as many races.

    The race was won by Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini in a Maserati, with Kox/Haase in second.

    Adding to the success of the day for the Sumo Power GT team, Hughes and Campbell-Walter were later presented with their first-place awards for winning round two at Silverstone in May. This was after the results were overturned when penalties were applied to the two cars that finished ahead of them.

    The team now prepares for this weekend’s main Championship race which takes place at 14.45 on Sunday, when Hughes/Campbell-Walter will start third and Krumm/Dumbreck start ninth on the grid and hoping that, with a better selection of tyres to chose from, their race fortunes will improve dramatically.

    Click here for a full set of results

    Team quotes

    Jamie Campbell-Walter – Driver Car 22
    “After getting past Peter (Dumbreck), I then drove as hard as I could to close the gap on the leaders whilst trying to manage tyre wear. However, I believe we had a really good set up for the conditions and, having started from fifth, it’s great to have finished third, especially as this gives us P3 on the grid for tomorrow’s main race.”

    Warren Hughes – Driver Car 22
    “Today was all about tyre management and the work we did before the race with set ups really paid off. The car was very strong and performed consistently and I was delighted that we were on the race-pace today, so we are in a great position for tomorrow.”

    Peter Dumbreck – Driver Car 23
    “I knew I was starting with a used set of tyres, but I had no idea they would deteriorate as quickly as they did. I thought they would reach a point and stay the same, but they just seemed to get worse lap-by-lap. It was very frustrating. I just hope that we will have the advantage when we use the new tyres in tomorrow’s race.”

    Michael Krumm – Driver Car 23
    “I really don’t know why we were so quick in practice and qualifying and then slower today. At first I thought something had broken, but it appears that it was the degradation of the tyres. I’m therefore pleased that we will be running on good sets tomorrow.”

    Allen Orchard – Team Manager
    “Another podium. Fantastic! Both cars have performed well this weekend: Car 23 in qualifying and car 22 in the race. I’m hoping that things will balance out tomorrow and car 23 will again have its day too.”

    James Rumsey – Team Principal
    “Third is a great result and to set the fastest lap of the race as well shows that our cars are right on the pace. I am therefore hoping that tomorrow we can achieve our goal of getting both cars at the front of the field.”

  • Latest news from Sumo Power GT

    This weekend sees the Sumo Power GT team head to the south of France for the fourth round of the 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship at the Paul Ricard circuit near Le Castellet on the Riviera. It will again field its two Nissan GT-Rs driven by Michael Krumm/Peter Dumbreck in car number 23 and Warren Hughes/Jamie Campbell-Walter in car number 22.

    Following a win in round two at Silverstone, round three at Brno in the Czech Republic saw car 22 carry 40 kilos of success ballast. Even so, Hughes and Campbell-Walter were still able to set competitive lap times and would have secured a top-ten finish if debris from the track had not ruptured a brake-line in the first of the two races.

    However, there were no such issues for car 23 and, having led during the first half of the Brno race, the team were delighted to see Krumm and Dumbreck claim an excellent third-place finish. This result put the score at two podiums out of three race meetings so far this season – not bad for a team that was only formed in February!

    With Sumo Power GT currently fifth in Team’s Championship, plus Hughes/Campbell Walter seventh and Krumm/Dumbreck ninth in the Driver’s standings, a good haul of points is an important factor this weekend. Therefore, the goal for the East Sussex-based operation is to see both of its Nissan GT-Rs at the front of the 24-car field, even with the 20 kilos of success ballast carried by car 23 following its round three result, whereas car 22 will have none this time around.

    To help prepare for Paul Ricard, the team tested last week at Snetterton, where a range of different set-ups were tried. Both cars ran well and, with hot and dry weather prevailing throughout the test, the team was pleased that track conditions were likely to replicate those found in the south of France.

    Adding to the team’s pre-race build-up, both of its Nissan GT-Rs went to Brands Hatch on Sunday, where Hughes and Campbell-Walter drove a series of demonstration laps around the ‘Indy’ circuit during a meeting for the popular Time Attack series.

    Built in 1969 by the drinks magnate who bears the same name, the character of the 3.8 kilometre Paul Ricard track differs greatly to that of the undulating nature of Brno. Although having attended a group test with the FIA GT1 World Championship there earlier this season, the move to another style of circuit will provide yet more challenges to all of the teams.

    This weekend’s timetable sees the GT1 cars first take to the track on Friday at 09.50 for Free Practice, followed by Pre-Qualifying at 15.00. Qualifying takes place on Saturday at 10.45 with the first race scheduled at 17.30 and the main Championship race at 15.45 on Sunday.

    Team quotes

    Michael Krumm – Driver Car 23
    “We tried lots of different set-ups in last week’s test, so I’m pleased that we have a number of options we can use at Paul Ricard. As I live in Monaco, for me this is a local track. I’ve tested but never raced there, so I’m really looking forward to this weekend.”

    Peter Dumbreck – Driver Car 23
    “As well as doing the FIA GT1 World Championship test earlier this season, I raced at Paul Ricard in April, so I’ve done a few laps there already. I think we stand a good chance of running at the front, but you need that little bit extra to win and it’s difficult to say if this circuit will favour us or not until we get there. However, it’s points that count for the championship and therefore a good finish is important.”

    Warren Hughes – Driver Car 22
    “I’m pleased we’ve lost the success ballast for this race, but obviously not pleased this was because we didn’t get the result we were looking for – and capable of – at Brno. We’ve been on the pace at different types of track so far this season and, with Paul Ricard being different again, it will be interesting to see if we can maintain our level of performance.”

    Jamie Campbell-Walter – Driver Car 22
    “When you consider we were carrying 40 kilos of ballast at Brno, the car still performed really well and we set lap times not far off the pace of the leaders. I think there are parts of Paul Ricard that will suit our car more than others. However, if we can find that ‘sweet-spot’ with the set-up, then I’m confident we can be back challenging for the top places.”

    Allen Orchard – Team Manager
    “Having scored two podium finishes already this season we are obviously delighted with the way things have gone. However, you can’t stand still and we carried out a lot of work during our recent test and learnt even more about the cars. We now need to put that additional knowledge into practice this weekend, as it’s difficult to say how well our cars will be suited to the Paul Ricard track.”

    James Rumsey – Team Principal
    “Now we have the momentum to run at the front, the team are working really hard to make sure we stay there. It would be great to see both – rather than just one – of our cars challenging for the leading positions and that will be our target this weekend. We are currently a close fifth in the Team’s Championship standings and it would be great to improve on that.”