Rockingham Britcar Production Rounds 2&3

A month after Stuart Scott’s race ended on the Silverstone startline, JordanSport.co.uk arrived at Rockingham Raceway with a repaired Ford Mustang FR500 GT4. The team was upbeat and ready for the action that lay ahead.

It had not been an easy interval, with the parts required for the repair taking a long time to source and arriving only a short time before the race. This meant a hectic few days for the JordanSport.co.uk crew as they readied the Yank Tank for the two races, and there would be no time to test the car before arriving at the circuit; but the sheer fact that they were there lifted spirits considerably.

 

And things got even better very quickly, after all three drivers – Steve Wood joining the squad for this meeting – enjoyed a successful test at the circuit in fine weather on the Friday. Only one minor issue was detected during the day, but this was soon rectified and the car was back up to speed by the end of the final session.

 

The format of the meeting would see the Production class having two 90-minute races; with a half-hour qualifying session setting the grid for the first event, and the race-result determining the grid for the following day.

The very tight timetable – which had to accommodate more than three hours of racing for Britcar GT, Dutch Supercar and TVR Challenge, in addition to the Production race – meant that only 105 minutes separated qualifying from race. In other words – if you damage the car, you don’t race.

 

Stuart Scott was first out in the session and, after five laps, handed the car over to Mike Jordan to go for a time. The Brummie veteran went for it straight away, to get the best of the tyres, posting a 1:28.074 on his first flying lap. He backed off slightly the next time round before going for it again; falling just a tenth shy of his previous time. With that, he decided that no improvement was likely and he handed the car over to Steve Wood for the rest of the session, to bed some brakes in before the race.

Mike’s time was good enough for fourth on the grid (of 21) – a good solid result, given the lack of testing time, and testament to the team’s hard work.

But the Silverstone shunt was still having repercussions, with Stuart experiencing soreness in his neck and deciding to sit the first race out. As a result, Steve was handed the task of going first; and he stepped into the Mustang to start his first race in three years. Despite the layoff, he was relaxed and ready to race.

 

The first three cars had a considerable speed advantage over the Mustang, so Steve concentrated on maintaining his place; something he successfully managed. However, he was soon receiving some very close and very personal attention from the #71 JC Racing BMW; whose driver had adopted a very aggressive style for the opening laps – only Steve’s drifting skills saving the day at one point after a heavy blow from the Beemer knocked the car sideways at the last corner.

Just four laps in the safety car was scrambled while a car was recovered, and this gave Steve the opportunity to recover the ground lost to the lead trio. As the restart approached, he lined up the #66 Lotus Elise ahead and was confident of being able to get a good run at it.

Unfortunately for the Mustang, however, just as the cars approached the line for the restart, the Lotus driver missed a gear and the JordanSport.co.uk  car inadvertently crossed the line ahead of it.

 

The call went out from the team to give the place back, but the Stewards had noticed the incident and a stop/go penalty was rather harshly awarded.

The car pitted for its penalty on lap 13 and fell to seventh as a result.

Seventh very quickly became sixth, as the Mustang went past the #54 BMW and by the time Steve pitted on lap 24, to hand the car over to Mike, he was back into fifth; albeit a lap down on the leader.

 

In Mike’s hands, the car ran strongly for the remainder of the race and fourth place was reclaimed. By the end, the tyres were threadbare, but the car’s pace had been remarkably consistent – 25 of Mike’s 29 laps being within the 1:29/1:30 range.

Steve felt that his mistake had let the side down, but he was being a bit harsh on himself. His first stint in three years had been quick – Steve’s fastest lap being just four-hundredths lower than Mike’s – and he had handed it over to his team-mate in good condition.

 

By finishing fourth, the JordanSport.co.uk/CBT Mustang would again start from the second row on Sunday afternoon; and the car would again be shared by Steve and Mike after Stuart decided not to risk further injury to his neck – preferring instead to give it plenty of recovery time before the next races at Spa.

For the second race in a row, opening duties went to Steve; and this time he got it absolutely spot on – up to second after perfect timing.

Having analysed the tyre wear from the first race, the decision had been made to adopt a strategy of sticking to a certain pace in order to ensure a finish. This meant that a couple of places were conceded in the opening few laps, but the points were more important than silverware.

 

Coming out of Turn 1 on lap 16, however, Steve felt the rear end going loose and he suspected a puncture. However, when he pitted at the end of the lap, it was discovered that the wheel nut had worked loose. It was quickly retightened and the car was on its way once more.

After that, it was a case of sticking to the plan and Steve settled into the groove once more; handing the car over to Mike in good condition once more (and this time setting the car’s fastest lap). And, like he had the day before, Mike used his considerable experience and talent to stay in that groove and gradually brought the car up the rankings.

By the end of the 90 minutes the CBT Mustang was fourth in class and fifth overall.

 

Considering the circumstances of the team’s preparations for this meeting, the car’s performance and results were a huge fillip for CBT and went some considerable way to making up for the massive disappointment of the Silverstone ‘race’.

“Steve and Mike did an excellent job this weekend,” said a happy Stuart Scott, “as did the whole team; and I want to thank them for their hard work.

“We need to find some pace in the car, but this weekend has shown just how strong the Mustang is; and, more importantly, how strong the CBT /JordanSport.co.uk partnership is. We’re sure now that this car is a potential race-winner.”

 

Next stop for the JordanSport.co.uk Mustang is the classic circuit of Spa-Francorchamps at the end of June; the site of Stuat Scott's best result last year in the Jaguar XKR.

.