2006 British GT - Rockingham

[Andy Downes]

The 2006 British GTs return to Rockingham this weekend after a 3-year absence - racing on the new 1.94 mile Super Sportscar Circuit without the chicane at the end of the pit straight so on the banking all the way round past Turn 1 !

As usual I can do no better than quote from the http://www.Dailysportscar.com preview :-

"It may only be three years since the last visit, but the field is almost entirely different. Just one car and four drivers that took part in the 75 minute race in ’03 return in ’06, those being Keith Ahlers and his Morgan Aero 8, Steve Hyde, Graeme Mundy and Michelangelo Segatori."

"Keith Ahlers and Oliver Bryant continue to wring every ounce of performance out of the remarkable Morgan Aero 8 and are never less than hugely entertaining. It’s worth repeating that Ahlers and the Morgan have been the one consistent in four years of the British GT Cup class and the series owes the Jersey driver a huge debt of gratitude for his loyalty. Team Aero’s championship challenge is still alive, with the pair being on 40 points each."

Race 1 is Saturday at 16:35 for 60 minutes.

Race 2 Sunday at 14:25 for 60 minutes.

Keith has been in Germany racing TOK with Rick Bourne at the Nurburgring today (Friday) taking 6th Overall and 1st in Class at the Gentleman Drivers meeting but will be back in time for Race 1 Qualifying on Saturday morning !

In free practice today Oliver Bryant was the quickest of the GTC runners so Billy and Jack have obviously prepared the Aero to their usual high standard.

Friday Afternoon Practice
1 1 GT2 SCUDERIA ECOSSE Ferrari 430 GT2 1:21.537
2 57 GT2 TEAM LNT Panoz Esperante GTLM 1:22.086
3 34 GT3 TECH 9 MOTORSPORT Porsche 997 GT3 1:24.303
4 19 GT3 LOTUS SPORT CADENA Lotus Sport Exige 1:24.950
5 18 GT3 LOTUS SPORT CADENA Lotus Sport Exige 1:25.424
6 15 GT3 TEAM RPM Porsche 997 GT3 1:25.970
7 11 GTC TEAM AERO Morgan Aero 8 GT 1:26.705
8 12 GTC JMH AUTOMOTIVES Ferrari 360 Modena 1:26.805
9 20 GT3 LOTUS SPORT CADENA Lotus Sport Exige 1:27.361
10 96 GTC TEAM RPM Porsche 996 GT3 1:27.453
11 5 GTC TRACKSPEED Porsche 996 GT3 1:27.782
12 99 GTC BEECHDEAN M'SPORT Ferrari 360 Modena 1:27.913
13 3 GTC TRACKSPEED Porsche 996 GT3 1:27.938
14 70 GTC DAVID DOVE RACING Ferrari 360 Modena 1:28.076
15 28 GTC RSS PERFORMANCE Porsche 996 GT3 1:28.821
16 6 GT2 EMOTIONAL ENG Vauxhall Monaro 1:29.543
17 8 GTC HAWTHORNS M'SPORT Porsche 996 GT3 1:30.139
18 44 GTC RICHMOND RACING Ginetta G20 1:30.851
19 46 GTC TEAM SKATER Marcos LM500 1:31.554
20 16 GTC MOTORBASE P'FORMANCE Porsche 996 GT3 1:31.828

Best of Luck Team Aero.

Have (roundy roundy) Fun

[Mary Lindsay]

Good to see that Keith's dedication and persistence is being recognised. Let's hope that they have a trouble free run so that they can show the others a clean pair of heels.
Good Luck Team Aero!

[Andy Downes]

Race 1 Result from Rockingham - 9th Overall & 6th in Class.

No further news at the minute - eye-witness report tomorrow all being well.

1 1 GT2 Scuderia Ecosse Chris Niarchos Tim Mullen Ferrari F430 GTC 42 laps 1:01:01.426 80.48 mph 1.23.241
2 34 GT3 Tech 9 Leo Machitski Jonathan Cocker Porsche 997 GT3 41 laps 1:01:44.556 77.65 mph 1.26.947
3 5 GTC Trackspeed Jonny Lang Matt Allison Porsche 911 GT3 41 laps 1:01:54.462 77.44 mph 1.26.794
4 3 GTC Trackspeed Phil Keen Ryan Hooker Porsche 911 GT3 41 laps 1:02:05.035 1.26.780
5 12 GTC JMH Phil Burton Adam Wilcox Ferrari 360 41 laps 1:02:11.619 1.28.055
6 28 GTC RSS Performance Graeme Mundy Mark Cole Porsche 911 GT3 40 laps 1.28.067
7 17 GTC RPM Nigel Redwood Phiroze Bilimoria Porsche 911 GT3 40 laps 1.26.953
8 18 GT3 Lotus Sport Cadena Paul Whight Russell Treasure Lotus Sport Exige 40 laps 1.26.921
9 11 GTC Team Aero Keith Ahlers Oliver Bryant Morgan Aero 8 40 laps 1.27.221
10 20 GT3 Lotus Sport Cadena George Mackintosh Sam Blogg Lotus Sport Exige 40 laps 1.27.206
11 19 GT3 Lotus Sport Cadena Barrie Whight Gavan Kershaw Lotus Sport Exige 40 laps 1.25.703
12 8 GTC Hawthorns Motorsport Rod Barrett Jan Persson Porsche 911 GT3 39 laps 1.29.657
13 44 GTC Richmond Racing Nick Marsh Richard Hollebon Ginetta G20 39 laps 1.29.951
14 6 GT2 Emotional Engineering Steve Hyde Anthony Mott Vauxhall Monaro 39 laps 1.29.810
15 96 GTC RPM Alex Mortimer Bradley Ellis Porsche 911 GT3 37 laps 1.26.919
16 4 GTC Trackspeed Miles Hulford Matt Harris Porsche 911 GT3 37 laps 1.26.737
17 57 GT2 Team LNT Tom Kimber-Smith Luke Hines Panoz Esperante GT-LM 36 laps 1.23.353
18 81 GTC Team Tiger Chris Beighton Jon Finnemore Marcos Mantis 34 laps 1.27.566
19 99 GTC Beechdean Motorsport Nigel Greensall Andrew Howard Ferrari 360 22 laps DNF 1.30.512
20 16 GTC Motorbase Performance Terry White Gary Eastwood Porsche 911 GT3 20 laps DNF 1.28.883
21 46 GTC Team Skater Stephen Keating Marcos LM500 8 laps DNF 1.30.318

Have (GT) Fun

[keith.ahlers]

Even better today being 7th overall and 3rd in Class to be back on the podium. Another classic drive from Oliver culminated in our moving from 5th to 3rd in class on the last lap.

Thanks to Andy for the on track support today and earlier reports.

See you on Saturday at Silverstone I hope.

Best wishes, Keith.

[Andy Downes]

Even better today being 7th overall and 3rd in Class to be back on the podium. Another classic drive from Oliver culminated in our moving from 5th to 3rd in class on the last lap.

The result though only tells half the story.

Having qualified 14th Overall and 10th in GTC class things did not look overly promising, however the loss of two competitive class runners after Race 1 on Saturday (Dove/Lockie Ferrari + Bieghton/Finnemore Marcos Mantis) helped move the Aero8 in the right direction.

Keith was to start the car and after lap 1 was 13th Overall and 10th in Class, a lap later he was up a place and running 1m 29s laps, after 20 minutes 12th and 8th respectively. At 25 minutes the Driver-change window was open and Keith was one of the first to stop - textbook - Oliver was out and the chase was on.

A 1m 41s out lap and then Olver was immediately runiing 1m 28s lap after lap. At 40 minutes the Aero8 was up to 9th and 5th in GTC (16 seconds behind the Porsche in 4th) closing in on the others in the class at the rate of over a second a lap - this could get even more interesting.

Oliver continued to chase down the Porsche in 4th and the Ferrari in 3rd which was going slower and slower at 1m 31s - the Morgan meantime was still down to 1m 28s. One lap to go and Oliver finally got on the Porshe's tail and we just knew he would find a way past as they went off the banking and out of sight to the infield. The entire Team Aero crew strained their eyes on the last corner waiting to see the Morgan come back into sight ahead - it did ! and then the Ferrari was slow to pick-up and Ollie nipped by for 3rd and a podium finish by a mere 0.13s - just FANTASTIC !

Credit as always to Keith, Oliver and a superb team effort by Billy and Jack Bellinger, not forgetting Sue Ahlers and Adam Rutter, it was a pleasure to see it first hand.

Have (podium) Fun


Footnote. It was coincidentially Keith's birthday - what better present.

1 1 GT2 Niarchos/Mullen Ferrari 430 GT2 1:01:15.471 42 80.17 1:23.045
2 57 GT2 Hines/Kimber-Smith Panoz Esperante GTLM 1:01:16.165 42 0.694 80.16 1:22.872
3 19 GT3 Kershaw/Whight Lotus Sport Exige 1:02:02.545 42 47.074 79.16 1:25.781
4 34 GT3 MacHitski/Cocker Porsche 997 GT3 1:01:50.145 41 1 LAP 77.53 1:25.505
5 96 GTC Ellis/Mortimer Porsche 996 GT3 1:01:52.328 41 1 LAP 77.49 1:27.027
6 3 GTC Keen/Hooker Porsche 996 GT3 1:02:04.164 41 1 LAP 77.24 1:26.823
7 11 GTC Bryant/Alhers Morgan Aero 8 GT 1:02:16.563 41 1 LAP 76.98 1:28.078
8 12 GTC Burton/Wilcox Ferrari 360 Modena 1:02:16.698 41 1 LAP 76.98 1:26.834
9 5 GTC Lang/Allison Porsche 996 GT3 1:02:17.496 41 1 LAP 76.96 1:27.321
10 17 GTC Redwood/Bilimoria Porsche 996 GT3 1:02:28.216 41 1 LAP 76.74 1:28.214
11 20 GT3 Blogg/MacKintosh Lotus Sport Exige 1:01:47.991 40 2 LAPS 75.69 1:29.216
12 18 GT3 Whight/Treasure Lotus Sports Exige 1:02:02.912 40 2 LAPS 75.38 1:28.448
13 99 GTC Howard/Greensall Ferrari 360 Modena 1:02:40.408 40 2 LAPS 74.63 1:28.195
14 44 GTC Hollebon/Marsh Ginetta G20 1:02:02.682 39 3 LAPS 73.50 1:30.394
15 16 GTC Eastwood/White Porsche 996 GT3 1:02:05.670 39 3 LAPS 73.44 1:29.856
16 46 GTC Keating/Keating Marcos LM500 1:02:25.645 39 3 LAPS 73.05 1:30.610
17 6 GT2 Hyde/Mott Vauxhall Monaro 53:12.346 34 8 LAPS 74.72 56.834

[Mary Lindsay]

Brilliant! Well done Team Aero!