Although we had always felt that the Grand Prix circuit would be better suited to the power of the Vipers and Porsches, the G-Tech team came to the Grand Prix meeting confident of a good result. But Motor Racing is a fickle sport........ Firstly the cutting-out problem which had first appeared at Croft decided to return in time for this meeting. The team worked flat-out to change everything that might affect the electrics and even resorted to fitting the old engine - but still it remained undiagnosed. Finally, on the Wednesday before first qualifying, Will took the car to an airfield and ran it flat-out without problems. Additionally, Graham's illness was proving increasingly stubborn to diagnose and (hence) treat. Nevertheless he had been present for the test day and as optimistic as ever about the team's prospects.
By the Thursday qualifying however, Graham had recieved a diagnosis that he was suffering from Hepatitis A - CAUSED BY EATING CONTAMINATED FOOD WHILST IN SPAIN. Not feeling too well, and with the GT2 session limited to 20 minutes, it was decided to give Ian the full session and he rewarded the team with 5th fastest time in GT2. The second qualifying was on Friday and with Graham feeling much improved, he decided to drive for 15 minutes to ensure he had no worries over his stamina. That test was successful and Graham emerged from the car with a sensible time recorded and looking so much better than a month before when he had completed his Snetterton race stint. Ian took the car out and was immediately fast. A series of impressive laps saw him finish the session 10th fastest overall, 3rd in GT2 and just 1/10th of a second slower than the second Viper. When the times from both sessions were combined, the Lotus would line up 13th on the grid, still 3rd fastest GT2.
Perhaps that should have read unlucky 13th for yet again the Privilege GT's were to be the victim of uncertain weather and the choice of permutations of tyres and settings were endless. Trying to guage the vaugaries of Silverstone weather for a 50 minute race when it was changing from heavy rain to sunshine in less than 10 minutes left everyone perplexed. After much consultation intermediate tyres were chosen, but Ian then thought that for outright speed, slicks could be worth the gamble and the change was made.
As always the Esprit made a great start and was 4th in GT2. Ian could so easily have been right with his tyre choice as the track seemed to be drying rapidly. But so much rain had fallen that under the surface was actually saturated. This led to a number of spins, including the Lotus, but to make matters worse Ian collected so much mud as he rejoined the circuit the car was sliding as if it had a puncture. Ian pitted just to make sure the car was safe but it was too soon for a driver change and so more track time was lost. From 11th place in GT2, Ian put in a strong run of consistently fast laps until Graham took over at 34 minutes.
The final results showed the Lotus to be 15th overall and seventh in GT2, which was poor reward for such an impressive show of speed in qualifying. Realistically it has ended Graham's hopes of the GT2 title but if ever Summer does arrive, and the Lotus races on hot dry tracks, it could still make a big impact.
As always, our thanks to all at Dutch Racing Promotions, G-Tech Motorsport and especially to Jill. For the usual excellent, comprehensive overall race report and the very best news of Sports Car and GT racing world wide please visit http://www.sportscarworld.com and read Malcolm Cracknell's pages.