I wrote recently about going to Brands Hatch to see the BRDC F4 championship race there, and also that the British Formula Three series was at the same event. Both series were support races for the British GT championship 2014, with the GT3 and GT4 series both racing in the feature event, the Sunday lunchtime race at the Kent circuit.
Even the starting grid was an interesting spectacle, with a piper sounding the bagpipes before the race from the grid, and members of the Wycombe Wanderers football squad to be seen mingling with the teams. The events see two drivers in each car, with a change required during the two hour race, and each of the two drivers featuring for at least 50 minutes. The grid was led by car number one, the Beechdean Aston Martin of Jonathan Adam and Andrew Howard. Howard not only founded this team, but also the ice cream manufacturer of the same name. When the team originally entered the sport, it was called Beechdean Mansell Motorsport, with Nigel Mansell racing alongside his sons, Leo and Greg. The team now features Jonathan Adam, the former BTCC driver who is now in his fourth year in an Aston Martin for Beechdean.
The event was filled with action, with safety cars appearing, and cars stopping on track, needing to be recovered. The GT3 category saw the third win of the season for Trackspeed Racing, with Nick Tandy and David Ashburn in the Porsche 997 GT3 R taking victory, after the car they were racing for the lead, another Porsche 997 GT3 R from Trackspeed, this time with Phil Keen and Jon Minshaw at the wheel, suffered a puncture with only six minutes left to go.
Pole for the GT4 teams had also been taken by the Beechdean team, with Ross Wylie and Jake Giddings having a very different day to their team mates, keeping the lead through the race to the chequered flag, taking the top step of the podium.
Brands Hatch was the penultimate round of the championship, with the last race at Donington on 14th September. It seems that any article on the GT series this year should mention Sir Chris Hoy, the eleven times World Championship and six times Olympic gold winning cyclist, who since his retirement from two wheeled competition has moved to motorsport, in the form of GT3. Sir Chris’ best result of the season so far was in the previous race at Spa Francochamps which saw him score second place. Brands saw him finish in eleventh place, which he will no doubt to aiming to improve on at Donington.
Here are a few photos of the event.
