NATIONAL NEWS CLUB AUTOSPORT
1 AUGUST 2019 AUTOSPORT.COM 65
GT CUP
G-Cat Racing embarked on an 800-mile
road trip to Spa and back to replace a £5 part
and almost earn victory in last weekend’s
GT Cup meeting at Snetterton.
The team’s Porsche 911 GT3 R was a
wildcard entry, but a throttle issue forced
the car to stop in Saturday practice. What
followed was a lengthy drive to Belgium for
team boss Greg Caton, who returned with
a replacement part acquired from Porsche,
which was competing in the Spa 24 Hours.
Repairs were made on Sunday morning,
driver Shamus Jennings fi nishing just 0.4
seconds behind winner Richard Chamberlain
in the second Snetterton sprint race.
“We went out for practice and had to
stop,” said Jennings. “We found out that
a small pin from the electric motor that
connects the mechanical linkage to the
throttle had sheared. It’s a £5 piece, but
the only place we could get one was in
Belgium where the Porsche teams were at.
“Our team boss drove over in the
middle of the night, which was a logistical
nightmare, met Porsche at the petrol station
outside Spa and drove back. In between
there were strikes and other chaos.”
DAN MASON
FORMULA 4
The National Court has ruled that British
Formula 4’s rain-abandoned Croft race does
count and half points will be awarded.
The second F4 race at Croft in June was
red-fl agged after two laps as rain intensifi ed.
But there was confusion as to whether
the result would stand as Motorsport UK’s
Blue Book states that a minimum of two
racing laps need to take place for a result
to be declared.
British F4 had intended to rerun the race
but referred the matter to the National
Court to decide what should happen and
the court ruled that the race does indeed
count despite the result being based on
a single lap after the red fl ag countback
rule was applied.
Promoter Sam Roach said: “It’s a bit
of a disappointment because no one feels
that was a true race. However, that is what
the National Court is for, to decide such
things. It’s exposed a bit of a grey area
in the Blue Book.”
The court’s ruling means that JHR
Abandoned Croft
race declared a
result by court
G-Cat’s Spa trip for £5 spare part
RENAULT CLIO CUP
Renault UK Clio Cup title
contender Jack Young was denied
another clean sweep of Clio Cup
Open victories after picking
up a track-limits penalty at
Hockenheim last weekend.
The 17-year-old won both races,
which supported the German
Grand Prix, on the road but was
handed a 30-second time penalty
in the second contest after he
was adjudged to have exceeded
track limits. This prevented
the MRM driver repeating his
Paul Ricard double, when he
won both contests by over 20s.
“I’d come to Germany
determined to make it a clean
sweep and it looked like I’d done
it until I came into the pitlane at
the end of the second race and
was informed of my penalty,”
said Young (below).
“It’s a shame as I didn’t feel
I had overstepped the mark on track
but I’ll take this one on the chin –
I still feel very proud of the job
myself and the team have done.”
Young’s penalty allowed
Ben Colburn to take a second
Clio Cup Open podium as the
Westbourne driver was promoted
to third place. Among the other
British drivers competing,
Colburn’s older brother James
and Brett Lidsey both took
sixth-place fi nishes.
STEPHEN LICKORISH
Young leads
Clio Open
charge again
Developments driver Josh Skelton has now
taken his maiden F4 win but scores just
12.5 points for it, rather than the full 25.
JHR team boss Steve Hunter said:
“It’s great to have a win in the bag but
we would’ve liked to have seen him fi nish
the race. Genuinely, I think he would’ve
liked the race to have been run through.”
The result doesn’t alter any of the top six
drivers in the standings but does give leader
Zane Maloney an extra point over Louis
Foster, taking his advantage to 55.
STEPHEN LICKORISH
ST
YL
ES
JE
P
JE
P
Skelton has been
awarded the win
Jennings almost took
win with new part