Disappointment at Thruxton for Oliver Bryant
The Ascari had been forced to run an even harder tyre compound than usual at Thruxton due to concerns about safety from the tyre manufacturer. This made the car very difficult to drive over the fast and bumpy turns of the Thruxton circuit.
Oliver started the car from 11th for race 1 and battled with the Aston Martin of Tom Alexander over the initial laps before bravely passing him at Church corner! Oliver was amongst traffic and opted to pit as he was being held up. Phil resumed the race and was lapping well but the car just did not have the pace of its rivals and he was passed by the Ferrari of Adam Wilcox and the Jones’ brothers Ascari!
The car crossed the line in a disappointing ninth place, much lower down the order than the Oliver and Phil, both quick and proven GT winners, deserved.
“Something needs to be done to equalise the performance of these cars… the fastest car lapped 2 seconds a lap quicker than us! That’s not equal!” commented Bryant after he and Phil had driven great stints without putting a foot wrong. A high points finish should have resulted!
On Sunday morning, the Damax team decided to prove to the organisers that the car would be competitive if the 120kg of ballast, imposed in FIA tests on Michelin Tyres, was to be removed. The car was quickest in the warm up with a 1m16.7s lap. Still a full 1.1s off the Barwell Aston’s qualifying time for Sundays race so clearly not the fastest car but at least in with a better shout!
After lengthy discussions with the organisers and the scrutineers, nothing was to be done about the situation and Phil and Oliver had to start Sundays race with the weight onboard. (Equivalent to a 19 stone passenger!)
Phil made the most of an uncompetitive car and was the leading Ascari after starting 9th on the grid. Unfortunately, 15 minutes in to the race, the suspension failed and the car was out of the race. Oliver did not get to drive and left Thruxton in the knowledge that the 2007 British GT Championship was now out of his grasp.
“It’s a shame because the Porsche and the Ascari are both rendered uncompetitive due to the inequality in the performance of the cars. The Aston’s second lap of the race today was a full 1.5s faster than our qualifying time and that was with 160 litres of fuel on board! It’s clear to see that the cars are not equal but the organisers are not willing to change the situation with would enable close and competitive racing throughout the field with the best driver combinations coming out on top.”
- Categories: 2007 Season, News
- Tags: Ascari, Thruxton
