JordanSport Racing – Snetterton As the Britcar circus took up residence in a sunny Norfolk, it was hard to believe that the majority of the season was already in the past and that just three races of the 2009 Britcar Production Championship remained. It was also hard for the CBT backed JordanSport team to remember just how grim things had been in the early days of the season, after the startline shunt at Silverstone and the injury to Stuart Scott. Now, however, the team’s Mustang FR500 GT4 had proven its pace and reliability, with two successive podium-finishes achieved, and hopes were high for the hat-trick.
Steve Wood and Mike Jordan would again make up the driving squad, with Mike having the luxury of being able to concentrate on the Mustang for the whole of the two-hour race - the GT and Production classes running separate races on this occasion, meaning there would be no need to exit the Mustang and climb aboard the JordanSport Ginetta G50.
And this wasn’t the only difference between the Snetterton round and the previous two races. While the timetables at Spa and Castle Combe had seen long periods of inactivity between sessions, the schedule this time would see testing on Friday, followed by qualifying and the race on Saturday morning. In other words, it would all be done and dusted by lunchtime! Stuart was, of course, on hand to follow proceedings from the pitwall and garage – at what is essentially CBT’s home track; it being the closest circuit to Cambridge – and the atmosphere in the CBT racing camp was as genial as ever. Stuart’s default setting is ‘chilled’, but perhaps on this occasion his mood was enhanced further by the thought of his participation in the Tour Britannia, just a few days away.
The Friday test day was broken down into three sessions for the production runners; one each of 60 minutes and 70 minutes in the morning, and then a 60 minute session shared with the Ford Fiestas (also on the billing that weekend) in the late-afternoon. While the new gearbox was now due to go in for the Britcar 500 in October, the heavy rear wing had been replaced by one donated from Stuart’s V8 Star Jaguar; and the focus of the test day was around this. Things went smoothly and this meant that the team could look forward to qualifying the next day without major issues to work around.
The half-hour session began, as planned, at nine o’clock, and Mike spent the first eight laps dialling the Mustang in to the early morning conditions. He then pitted for final tweaks before coming out to set a time. His first flying lap was a 1:16.614, followed by a 1:15.957; but the team’s senior driver knew that there was more to come and kept his foot down – and stopped the clock at the end of the next lap with a 1:15.469, good enough for seventh on the grid. Six minutes remained of the session, but Mike felt that that was enough and he headed for the pits. While seventh may seem a bit disappointing, the team knew that it could not match the BMWs for outright pace (four of which lined up ahead of the Mustang on the grid), but it did know that its driver pairing was fast and consistent; and that the FR500 was nigh-on bullet proof.
Less than an hour and a half later the cars were on the tarmac once more awaiting the start of the race. The weather was glorious – dry and sunny – with not even a hint of rain in the air, but this time it was Steve who would be given the job of starting. As the cars approached the lights, Steve took note of who was around him and what their intentions were and acted accordingly; demoting the #52 Torquespeed BMW while not allowing anyone else to pass him.
By the end of the second lap, Steve had closed onto the rear of the #52 SG Racing SEAT Leon, but it soon became apparent that the Spanish car was the quicker of the two and it began to pull gradually away. The Mustang driver stayed on the pace in an attempt to keep in touch – setting the car’s fastest lap of the race, 1:15.308, on the fifth lap – but it was to no avail. But while the SEAT was too fast for the Mustang, the Yank Tank was not coming under threat from any challengers from behind and Steve’s stint started to become a lonely one; the Ford only having the company of lapped cars. He did, however, rise to fifth place following an early pitstop for the KG Motorsport Beemer. It was soon apparent, however, that all was not well with the Mustang, and Steve found fewer and fewer gears available to him; just third and fourth remaining before too long.
The CBT driver adopted a pace that averaged around 1:16 and the car pounded round quite happily, despite the gearbox issue. To add insult to injury, however, he found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time when the safety car was scrambled after 45 minutes; “I saw that the Safety Car was waving people by, but when I came up to the car in front of me, it was Kevin bloody Clarke’s BMW, the leader, so I was stuck” By the time Steve stopped after 47 laps to hand over to Mike, the car was in fourth place; although this was due to the pitstop cycle.
The car’s new driver quickly settled into a pace that was almost exactly the equal of the previous occupant’s efforts and adopted a level of concentration that was needed to get the job done. The gearbox problem only got worse. However, and it needed a great effort to keep the car going.
By the time the pitstops were completed, the Mustang was back in fifth place. There was nothing to be done about catching the cars ahead, but, as before, there were no immediate threats from behind. But the race was not yet done, as the leading #58 BMW was to discover. Having led the race for the last 37 laps, the #58 Geoff Steel Racing BMW blew up in spectacular fashion with just seven minutes remaining and was out on the spot. This allowed the Mustang to pass the stricken car in the time remaining and Mike was pleased, in the circumstances, to take the flag in fourth place.
While the team finished off the podium this time around, fourth place had been quite an achievement given the not-insignificant gear-selection problems; and this was testament to the fundamental pace and quality of preparation of the car.
JordanSport now had four weeks to fit and test the new gearbox before the big race of the season – the Britcar 500. With a new box and the new wing – and with the addition of Stuart to the driving squad – there is every chance that the Mustang will shine on the Silverstone GP circuit. |
