Cirtek Motorsport came up with a great sticker for the 911 GT3R. Shame that neither Adam or I could see it initially.

Qualifying – Saturday

It was the GTO's out first, Geoff Lister, Mike Jordan and Stephen Watson chasing each other round for ten minutes. Lister seemed to have pole wrapped up, until Watson went out for another crack once the GT's were out. The South African (left) followed yesterday's best time with provisional pole in GTO, a 1:09.853. Rob Schirle had hinted at the prospect, having been very impressed with testing work that has been completed recently.

Watson was only 29 thousandths quicker than Lister (now known as Geoff Lustre), who was less than three tenths faster than Mike Jordan. An excellent fourth was Kilian Konig in the HKM / Parr Viper, less than a tenth behind Jordan. The Viper gets better and better. "We've re-designed a number of pieces in the rear suspension," reported Paul Robe.

Ben McLoughlin in the #69 Mantis GTO was fifth, Marcus Fothergill sixth in the Phoenix / PK Porsche. The other Mantis GTO pulled off with no oil pressure - in its new V8, just fitted. Oh dear. The timing chain broke, it later transpired..

Stephen Watson had been looking forward to going quicker in the afternoon. "I did a 1:09.2 yesterday, and the pole lap included passing someone on the inside at the Bomb Hole, plus there was oil at Coram." The big improvement from this car was put down to a "much harder set-up," by Adam Simmons, whose recent accomplishment was recognised on the Cirtek Porsche GT3R (a large 'I'M A DAD' sticker).

Race - Sunday

The GTOs were at it though, with no sign of unreliability or contact-induced retirements. Not that there wasn't contact though. Adam Simmons used the class pole to lead from the off in the Cirtek Porsche, but he was feeling disgruntled within minutes. Terry Rymer, Rob Barff, Mark Sumpter and Marcus Fothergill made a great train behind, but the former motorcycle man wanted the lead. Riches on lap five saw a difference of opinion - "We touched on the exit and he spun" versus "He hit me" - and Rymer led. Simmons was down in 17th, and losing time among the traffic.  Geoff Lister described his partner's effort as a "tidy stint." It looked it past the pits, but round the back, Rymer was more like aggressively quick than tidy. He and Barff stopped after 17 laps, Simmons too, so Sumpter would lead beginning the second third of the race. Jordan should have led after the Paragon car's stop. Should have. Now that would be a pit-stop to end all pit stops.

Geoff Lister and Martin Short were at it again. They resumed after the stops with the TVR still ahead. Initially by a little bit after a slowish PK stop, but Lister homed in. "I got him round the outside onto the back straight (on lap 26)," said Lustre (sic). "I then banged in five hard laps, and pulled out three seconds." Back markers cost him half that gap, the two soon right together again. "I was quicker on the front half of the track, he was faster round the back." They were side by side on lap 43, but a dramatic GTO finish went west when Shorty pulled off with what was thought to be "clutch or gearbox," according to Rob Barff, when asked for an instant answer. It was the diff. That left Lister a wheel-waving ten seconds 10 seconds clear of Jordan.

What had happened at the Paragon stop? The door came off! "The mechanic stepped back, fell over the tyre man and kicked the door off its hinge," recounted the GTO Champion. "He was lying on the ground holding it. We lost 12 seconds. Mike rejoined eight behind, instead of four in front."

Jordan was therefore behind Paul Fuller, who had taken over from Marcus Fothergill on lap 23, but Jordan picked off the #44 car at Riches, then looked like a solid third in GTO. That became second when the green TVR stopped. Fuller had his moment with Euser, but probably looked out of reach of the rest in GTO, until a rear tyre blew on lap 43, "at the end of the Revett Straight." Stephen Watson had been closing in though, 12 seconds behind shrinking to eight in seven laps. It would have been close. Watson was happy with third, less so with his co-driver's spinning partner (Rymer), even less so with Piers Masarati. The #12 911 GT2 was a lap down on #59 at the end, but the two cars were lapping in similar times, and they both wanted first use of the same piece of track. Gestures were exchanged as they raced on, Watson finally putting a lap on the very hard-driven older Porsche.