THE CAT SHOWS ITS CLAWS AT SILVERSTONE
In the opening round of the 2008 FIA European GT3 debut at Silverstone last weekend, the Apex Motorsport Jaguar XKR GT3 had an extremely impressive and competitive showing, and counted a top five finish amongst its final tally.
Two of the stunning, gunmetal-grey, 4.2 litre-engined Jaguars were competing in a closely levelled 43-car field. The Cats were fast from the word go, despite the fact that it was the first race outing for all four drivers with both the team and the car, and both the qualifying and race results demonstrated very clearly just how much work and development had gone into the car over the winter period.
QUALIFYING
Phil Quaife, driving the no. 33 Jaguar XKR, did an outstanding job in qualifying and put the Silverjet-CBT car on the front row of the grid in the first session, just one tenth of a second off pole position. Paired with Stuart Hall, the young British duo posted almost identical times in the two qualifying sessions, though Hall’s session produced a far tighter grid and he ended up starting from 15th place. For much of the session Quaife was the provisional pole-sitter, just losing out in the closing moments to the Prospeed Porsche.
Stuart Hall said afterwards: “It’s my first ever time in a front-engined GT car so it’s taking me a bit of time to adjust. I’m very pleased to have matched Phil’s time this early on, despite having very little track time yesterday and there is a lot more to come from the car. Pole would have been great but we are very hopeful of a good result for the team in the race.”
Ben Clucas and Robert Hissom, piloting the no. 32 Apex entry, were also able to show not only how quick the Jaguar was but also how drivable it was. Hissom, a semi-pro driver, placed the car in a lower midfield position in his first FIA GT3 qualifying session, while Clucas did a sterling job to take 8th place – his time of 1m52.531 being the fastest of all the Jaguar laps times going into the race.
RACE ONE
A gripping 60 minutes of racing started saw Phil Quaife taking a storming and commanding lead at a grey, slightly damp Silverstone on the Saturday afternoon for the first European GT3 race of the season. With oil being laid down on the track, Quaife was conscious of keeping the Jaguar on the black stuff and sacrificed his lead rather than finish up in the gravel. He was soon back on the pace and challenging again, holding 3rd by the time the mandatory pit stop window opened.
With Stuart Hall now taking his first turn at the wheel under a green flag, and in increasingly bad weather conditions, the MSA British Race Elite driver took a wisely conservative approach and aimed for a solid points finish rather than all-out glory. He survived a spin on fluid leaked from another competitor but brought the car home to an extremely encouraging 5th place. Hissom and Clucas were 19th out of the 30 finishers.
RACE TWO
With grey skies but a reasonable crowd staying on after the main Tourist Trophy event on Sunday, the cars emerged to form up the grid for the second GT3 race of the 2008 Championship.
After its high flying display on Saturday, the Apex Motorsport Jaguars hoped for another good home ground result but these hopes evaporated all too quickly. Ben Clucas in the no.32 XKR ran wide at Priory from seventh place and dropped back in the classification, while Stuart Hall suffered a front left puncture in the no.33 that would effectively finish his afternoon. The Jaguar hobbled back to the pits for replacement rubber, having to complete almost a whole lap at a frustratingly slow speed. The two cars eventually finished in 23rd (Clucas/Hissom) and 31st (Hall/Quaife).
Despite the results of race two, the team were delighted with the pace of the cars and their consistency. “We were as fast as anyone in the field, and once the drivers had got to grips with their new surroundings they were able to really show what the car is capable of. It’s a shame we weren’t able to start the season with a pole position, but I think Richard [Lloyd] would have been very proud of what we achieved this weekend and that – in the end – is all that matters.”
28th April 2008
