JordanSport – Brands Hatch
Britcar Round Eight

A highly entertaining and competitive (and, for CBT/JordanSport, successful) Britcar season concluded on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit on November 7th, but it was disappointing that the Production classes would not get to share the “Into The Night” aspect of the meeting; instead racing earlier in the afternoon. 

A month earlier, the CBT Racing Mustang had carried Stuart Scott, Steve Wood and Mike Jordan to victory at Silverstone, but the short Kent circuit was a very different kettle of scaley things and would require a completely different set-up.

So it was that on a dry but cold Friday, the team was to be found patiently lapping the 1.226 mile circuit in the hunt for said set-up. Various adjustments were made, particularly in the afternoon, with several tenths being found over the course of the day. By the time free practice was over, the FR500 had managed a 49.9; but, more significantly, the car could lap consistently at 51 seconds on old rubber. The next morning, there would be the opportunity to slap new boots on and see what the car could do in qualifying.

With the season-finalé only being of 90-minutes duration, Stuart would once again step aside and leave the qualifying and racing to Steve and Mike. Steve was out first in the half-hour session and he went out in the knowledge that Brands Hatch was generally unforgiving of errors and that the line between a good time and a mediocre one was a fine one.

The Mustang immediately announced to its driver that it was very happy with its new tyres and freshly bedded-in brakes, but a cold and damp track surface was not going to make this easy.

Steve’s first flying lap had to be aborted when the Barwell Motorsport Mitsubishi Evo X had a spin at the bottom of Graham Hill Bend, partly blocking the track and prompting the waving of yellow flags. The CBT driver was then radioed by Team Manger Adam and told that he had one more lap before the tyres were past their best; the next one had to be a good one. Steve gathered his thoughts and focussed on the next circuit, stopping the clock at 50.757.

Mike then took over; but while he was waiting for the tyres to come in once more, the team noticed that lap times were starting to come down and Mike reported that the track was starting to dry. He immediately decided to pit for five minutes and wait for the now-emerging sun to warm the track. This would allow him to save what was left of the tyres for one final effort.

When he re-emerged, the Mustang had slipped to fourth; but Mike was patient and didn’t go for his fast lap until he was ready. When he did, he got it absolutely bang-on and improved the car’s time to 49.654 and its grid position to third – meaning the Mustang would have the inside into Paddock Hill Bend later that day. After several more laps, it was clear to Mike that he would be unable to improve on this and called a halt to his session.

Three hours later, Steve found himself awaiting the start of the race, but not entirely happy with the conditions; “I was trying to get some heat into the tyres on the way from the assembly area,” he explained, “ and then while sitting on the grid I realised that we should have asked for two green-flag laps.” Steve’s fears were confirmed at the start of the green-flag lap, although fortunately it was not the Mustang that was to fall foul of the conditions; the pole-sitting Lotus Elise instead losing out when it spun on the way up the hill to Druids Bend. The good news was that the CBT driver now had one less car to worry about at the start.

Taking full advantage of the situation, Steve made a good start and slotted neatly into second place behind the Intersport BMW ; finding himself able comfortably to fend off the advances of the third-placed Torquespeed Beemer.

The race was just a handful of laps old when the safety car was deployed to enable the recovery of a dented Honda Civic from Graham Hill Bend. During this three-lap interlude, Steve reported that he could feel a vibration from the front left tyre and the team advised him to let the #60 BMW past and then concentrate on managing the tyre for the remainder of his stint.

Even with the vibration, the Mustang was able to pull away from the fourth-placed Honda Integra at a rapid rate, but was unable to do anything about the lead pair and they were quickly out of range.

On the 44th lap of an increasingly lonely race, Steve got the call to pit; but even as he received the news he began to experience problems with the gear-lever, finding it difficult to go up through the box. He managed to pit, however, and Mike took over for the run to the finish.

By the time the pitstops were complete, Mike found himself in fourth; the #54 Geoff Steel racing BMW M3 having found its way by in the interim.  It was now just a case of hanging on to the car’s current position and nursing it to the finish.

It probably goes without saying that Mike is just the man for such a job, and, despite the frustrating circumstances, the veteran driver did exactly that – finishing a lap behind third, but a lap ahead of fifth.

The Brands Hatch result meant that the JordanSport Mustang FR500 GT4 finished the season in seventh overall in the Production standings and third in Class One – just a point behind the JDR Lotus Elise.

And so ended the Mustang’s first season. It may have begun in disaster and ended in frustration, but in between there were many moments of satisfaction and joy; the Britcar 500 and Spa Three Hours being particular highlights. 

But the team has learned an awful lot about their new baby over the course of the season and the winter will allow further enhancements to be made. One thing is for sure – they’ll be back for more in 2010.