Ruhan on top in GT Cup opener

The 2011 GT Cup Championship began in fine style at a sun-drenched Silverstone last weekend, with a varied and colourful grid delivering up two great races to entertain the crowd.

Both of the 25-minute events were characterised by close racing throughout the classes, and by several duels that went down to the flag.

Andy Ruhan ended the day with two Group 1 wins to his name in the #6 Porsche 997 GT3 after overcoming concerted pressure from the Ferrari 430 GTC of Gary Eastwood in both races. Michael Saunders had taken the flag in race one in his bright yellow TVR Cerbera after a flawless run from pole, but a technical issue led to his disqualification after the race. The same fate befell the TVR Sagaris of Danny Winstanley after he had delivered an excellent charge from last on the grid to sixth.

Eastwood closed rapidly on Ruhan in the closing laps of race one, but just ran out of time before being able to challenge for the lead; while a mid-race problem prevented him from doing the same in the second race, leaving Ruhan home and dry.

The Ferraris of Leon Price, David Tomlin and Toby Tarrant-Willis and the BMW of Don Grice provided much entertainment in both races as they fought each other for track position.

Group 2 saw a fine win for Tom Andrew on his debut in the class as he took his newly-acquired Morgan Aero 8 GT from pole to the flag at the head of the field, despite a determined attack from the KTM X-Bow of Benjamin Harvey.

Harvey was again challenging for the lead in race two, but this time was up against the Porsche 996 GT3 of Colin Broster after the Morgan retired. Broster’s first race ended on the opening lap with suspension failure, but the repaired car was up to the job in the second and the GT Cup veteran took the win by just over a second.

It was a good day too for Barclay Dougall in Group 3, the Scot guiding his BMW E46 home to two wins despite a pickup-induced vibration in race one and maximum success ballast in race two.

The highlight of the second race in the group was a three-way fight between the two orange BMWs of Adam Hayes and Mark Radcliffe and the diminutive Chevron GR8 of Andy Yool; the latter managing to eventually overcome his bigger counterparts and get to within striking distance of Dougall at the end.

GT Cup Championship results – Round 1, Silverstone

Race One

Group 1

#6 Andy Ruhan Porsche 997 GT3 12 laps 26:49.514
#8 Gary Eastwood Ferrari 430 GTC 12 laps 26:50.034
#14 Don Grice BMW M3 GTR V8 12 laps 27:14.625

Group 2

#7 Tom Andrew Morgan Aero 8 GT 12 laps 27:54.135
#45 Benjamin Harvey KTM X-Bow 12 laps 27:55.115
#16 Colin Simpson Marcos Mantis 12 laps 28:24.393

Group 3

#37 Barclay Dougall BMW E46 12 laps 28:29.753
#83 John Thorne BMW 12 laps 28:30.527
#9 Adam Hayes BMW E46 M3 12 laps 28:48.506

Race Two

Group 1

#6 Andy Ruhan Porsche 997 GT3 12 laps 26:57.295
#66 David Tomlin Ferrari 430 12 laps 27:17.750
#88 Leon Price Ferrari 430 GTC 12 laps 27:28.725

Group 2

#15 Colin Broster Porsche 996 GT3 12 laps 28:04.877
#45 Benjamin Harvey KTM X-Bow 12 laps 28:06.065
#16 Francis Galashan Porsche 996 12 laps 28:27.312

Group 3

#37 Barclay Dougall BMW E46 12 laps 28:26.300
#53 Andy Yool Chevron GR8 12 laps 28:28.522
#9 Adam Hayes BMW E46 M3 12 laps 28:34.871

Next round: 14 May, Oulton Park

Watch GT Cup highlights from Silverstone on Friday 29 April at 7:25pm (BST) on Motors TV.

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