Indholdsfortegnelse for 15/08/19 i Autosport

It’s not often we get to put a 50-year-old sportscar on the cover of Autosport, but the Porsche 917 has always been a special case. From the very start of the project it was a step into the unknown for Porsche, setting a theme that continued through the 240mph long-tailed Le Mans monsters all the way to the ground-breaking turbocharged Can-Am dominators. Whether or not you think the 917 is the greatest racing car of all time, the story is a remarkable one, which we tell in this week’s special issue with the help of some of those who were part of it. Porsche will be taking its expertise to Formula E this year and is likely to become a serious challenger sooner rather than later. It will join a…

FORMULA E Ferrari Formula 1 simulator driver and Toyota World Endurance Championship regular Brendon Hartley will compete for the Dragon Racing ABB FIA Formula E team in the 2019-20 championship. Ex-Toro Rosso F1 driver Hartley, who is set to contest the 2019-20 World Endurance Championship in Toyota’s LMP1 car, is the American FE squad’s first confirmed signing for the next campaign. The factory Porsche driver was a candidate for the manufacturer’s own 2019-20 line-up – and Hartley drove for Porsche in the initial stages of its FE manufacturer-allocated private testing programme – before Andre Lotterer was signed up to partner Neel Jani. “Formula E is totally different from any other race series I’ve been in,” said Hartley. “I am hoping my experience in many categories with energy management will pay…

EX-FERRARI ENGINEER TO WEC Ex-Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Formula 1 race engineer Dave Greenwood has joined United Autosports as technical director ahead of its full-time graduation to the World Endurance Championship next season. The team has also recruited former Audi factory LMP1 driver Oliver Jarvis, who will step into the car at Fuji later this year. DALY BACK FOR INDY FINALE Conor Daly will return to Andretti Autosport for IndyCar’s 2019 season finale at Laguna Seca. He drove for Andretti at the 2019 Indianapolis 500 and finished 10th on his first outing for the team. He then subbed for Max Chilton at Carlin for the oval races after the ex-Formula 1 driver opted against racing on the speedways. FIRE HITS E-BIKES AGAIN MotoE suffered another fire-related incident in Austria as points…

It’s one of the largest prizes in UK motorsport. A two-year programme of extensive support – that includes financial backing, bespoke physical training, and technical advice – and a wealth of unique opportunities are available to the winner of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Junior shootout. And it’s a scheme with a proven track record of success. Previous winners Josh Webster and Charlie Eastwood both claimed the Carrera Cup championship, while current Junior Dan Harper is firmly in title contention this year. It’s no wonder these drivers have achieved such success – with Eastwood on course to land a factory GT deal. Porsche meticulously assesses who would make its best junior from the dozens of applications received through a series of interviews and an intense shootout that tests everything from…

When the Porsche 917 hit the track for the first time 50 years ago, there was something gravely amiss. The handling (or lack thereof) was a colossal problem for the first generation of the 917, and Porsche took time to get to the bottom of the issue. Arguably, the development paths Porsche took throughout 1969 were a case of barking up the wrong tree; initially, the engineers surmised there was too much chassis flex, and the car couldn’t cope with the weighty 4.5-litre flat-12 engine mounted in the back. Although the frame was beefed up, the car’s wayward and unpredictable behaviour continued to make it a handful. It wasn’t until Porsche elected to tie up with sportscar guru John Wyer to run its works outfit for 1970 that the instability…

MOTOGPRED BULL RING (AUT)11 AUGUSTROUND 11/19 As Andrea Dovizioso readily admitted after the race, his final-corner Austrian Grand Prix triumph over Marc Marquez didn’t have major championship ramifications. It did yield a 10-point swing between the pair, but because Marquez had already assembled such a comfortable lead in the standings this alone was not enough to rejuvenate the title race. But the symbolic value of Dovizioso’s win was far more significant than the small dent it made in Marquez’s points lead. After several races in which Honda was beginning to look unbeatable, the Red Bull Ring stood as perhaps Ducati’s last stronghold on the calendar – a horsepower track where it had won each MotoGP race since the event was reinstated in 2016. A defeat in Austria would have hurt…

MASTERS HISTORIC RACING A Historic Formula 1 double for Martin Stretton headed a crop of victories for British drivers in Masters Historic Racing categories at the Nurburgring Oldtimer Grand Prix event last weekend. The Tyrrell 012 driver led from the front in the opening race to beat Mike Cantillon’s Williams FW07C, but Stretton had to fight his way through the field to triumph in the second contest. Another double winner was Andy Wolfe. He took the Masters Historic Sports Car spoils with Jason Wright in their Lola T70, passing leader Michael Gans’s T290 shortly after the pitstops. Wolfe also triumphed in the Masters Gentlemen Drivers race, sharing a Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe with Julian Thomas after a close fight with the Ferrari 250 GTO of Nicky Pastorelli. British Touring Car…

DONINGTON PARKBARC10-11 AUGUST For Will Gibson, wins in National Legends are like buses. Arriving at Donington Park without a victory to his name in 2019, he subsequently left with two, sharing heat honours with Sy Harraway and Miles Rudman. “We’ve been in need of some luck,” said Gibson, who snatched his first with a bump-drafting boost from Sean Smith heading into the final chicane, then came through the pack the following day to win again after dodging the spinning Jonty Norman at the Craner Curves. “I was one row away from a massive crash,” he added. Mickel Motorsport starred in both finals, and series leader John Mickel’s slipstreaming partnership with team-mate Paul Simmons was timed to perfection as the former won a nine-car chess game at the final chicane. From…

SNETTERTONBARC10-11 AUGUST Father-and-son pairing Richard and Sam Neary were handed a windfall in the Britcar Endurance round at Snetterton when a pitstop under a safety car gave them an entire lap on their closest rivals. Neary Sr was at the wheel of the Team ABBA Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 with a healthy 14.9-second lead before the pit window. The JPR Motorsport Saker RAPX had been in second after Chris Hart handed over to Steve Harris, but broke down on the straight – causing a safety car – at half-distance. Since Richard Neary had yet to stop, the “mega lucky” Team ABBA car benefited from pitting under the yellows and catching up to the rest of the field before the green flags flew, gifting son Sam a full-lap lead as the race…

BOOK RAPID RESPONSE: MY INSIDE STORY AS A MOTOR RACING LIFE-SAVER RRP £25.00 A young medical student called Stephen Olvey was waiting anxiously next to a hearse. It was doubling up as the only ambulance present at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during practice for the 1966 Indianapolis 500. Then, an alarm sounded to signal an incident on track. Olvey hesitated momentarily, then grabbed the back-door handle as the hearse driver – the embalmer of the funeral home it was borrowed from – floored the throttle. Having bundled himself into the speeding vehicle, Olvey was bloodied when he arrived at the scene of his first on-track rescue, where a bemused Graham Hill was more concerned by the condition of the future CART medical director. “I’m fine,” the 1962 world champion told…

Ricardo Rodriguez leads his Ferrari team-mate Phil Hill in the plunge to Eau Rouge during the 1962 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. Although Rodriguez and Hill qualified seventh and fourth – with Willy Mairesse sixth and Giancarlo Baghetti 14th – the four-car Ferrari squad faced slim pickings in this landmark race. The iconic 156 ‘Sharknose’ was no longer the class of the field and the monocoque Lotus 25 of Jim Clark was already well up the road after qualifying 12th. It was the first GP victory for a monocoque chassis. For classic Formula 1 DVDs head to dukevideo.com/F1 For more great photographs, visit motorsportimages.com…

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WRC Craig Breen will reunite with Thierry Neuville and Andreas Mikkelsen at Hyundai after securing a drive for Rally GB. Breen made his first WRC start since being dropped by Citroen for 2019 in Rally Finland earlier this month. He impressed in the third i20 Coupe (left), fighting for a top-five finish for the majority of the event before dropping back to seventh in order to boost team-mate Neuville’s result. He is also thought to be in contention for more Hyundai outings, and for a seat next season. Meanwhile, Ott Tanak looks set to end speculation surrounding his future by signing a renewed deal with Toyota. An announcement is expected after this month’s Rally Germany. Tanak left M-Sport to drive for Toyota in 2018, and narrowly missed out on the…

Last September Alex Albon thought he was signing up for a very different kind of electric career to the one in which he now finds himself. He had secured a deal to race in Formula E with e.dams, tacit acceptance that his Formula 1 dream was probably over. Yet in less than three weeks he will make his debut for one of the big three teams in grand prix racing. Nobody has found themselves in a winning car so soon after their F1 debut since Lewis Hamilton 12 years ago. There’s always a counterweight to such startling progress, in this case Pierre Gasly. While all the noises emanating from Red Bull suggested that the beleaguered Frenchman would stay on for the remainder of this season, his struggles in the race…

Some cars have scored more victories. Others have had longer careers. But few – if any – can match the impact of Porsche’s first Le Mans 24 Hours winner, the 917. Being the greatest in anything means more than just numbers. How do people feel about something? How did it move the game on? Does it still stop people in their tracks? The 917 wasn’t just a milestone car for Porsche, it was a seminal machine for motorsport. The project, started in 1968, ended up encompassing many new motorsport technologies or cutting-edge ideas, from drilled brake discs to turbocharging via the use of exotic materials. There also can’t be many cars that have essentially been banned from two international categories. Before success a big hurdle often needs to be overcome…

The shot of the first 25 Porsche 917s lined up in Zuffenhausen on 21 April 1969 is one of the most famous in motorsport history. Against an incredibly tight timeframe – the green light for the project had only come the previous September – the relatively small German firm had produced the required number of vehicles to homologate the 4.5-litre groundbreaker into Group 4 (later to become Group 5) for the world sportscar championship. It was a statement to the sport’s governing body. Heading the line was 917-001 and it was to have an unusual future, spending most of its first 50 years pretending to be one of its stablemates. But now it’s back. Chassis 001 was the car that announced the 917 to the world at the Geneva Motor…

Transposing the design of a racing car, however great, from one era to another might sound outlandish today. But that’s what the German Kremer Racing squad did for the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1981. It hatched a plan to field a born-again Porsche 917 in the French enduro and remarkably carried it through with a car that was quickly dubbed the ‘Post Box’. The nickname can be partly explained by a bright yellow livery that was perhaps only a Pantone shy of the colour of post boxes in what was then West Germany. Maybe Kremer’s slab-sided take on the 917 aerodynamics played a part. But there was another reason for the slightly disparaging nickname, and it stemmed from a failure to interpret the regulations properly. No one needs reminding…

Unsurprisingly, given their rarity and value, Porsche 917s are not common sights in historic motorsport. Sometimes, however, one does pop up, normally towards the front of series such as the Masters Historic Sports Cars, or Classic Endurance Racing events. Historic ace and preparer Gary Pearson ran one for Carlos Monteverde earlier this decade. Monteverde, who also owned (and still owns) the 1970 Le Mans-winning car, bought a 917 from David Piper. Although not an original chassis, the car was built with lots of original parts and the duo put it into competition against cars such as the Lola T70s, which have moved on a long way since they were regularly thrashed by Porsche and Ferrari in period. “I’d worked on 917s before because I’d done some work for David Piper…

When Sebastien Buemi triumphed in the first race of the New York double-header finale, he ended a run of disappointment that stretched back over two years to his previous Formula E victory with what was then the Renault e.dams squad. This season, e.dams was partnered with Renault partner Nissan in what was a tumultuous campaign. Before anything had even started the team was in trouble, with new signing Alexander Albon suddenly off to join Toro Rosso in F1, and Oliver Rowland coming in as a late replacement. Then the season opener was a disappointment, and further early strife came with Buemi’s crash while leading from pole in Santiago and both Nissan drivers retiring thanks to a dramatic energy-management miscalculation in the Mexico City thriller. But the overriding saga of Nissan’s…

NASCAR CUPMICHIGAN (USA)11 AUGUSTROUND 23/36 The NASCAR Cup race at Michigan was defined by fuel conservation, which placed Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick on the right side of an equation many of his rivals miscalculated. It was an innocuous spin from Cup debutant Spencer Boyd which triggered a critical final caution, but with 50 laps – a quarter of the race – remaining, it backed teams into a corner. Since a full tank of fuel was likely to last just 48 laps, heavy fuel saving would be required to reach the finish. Despite locking out the top three positions after the restart, Penske was one of several teams to fumble. First, polesitter Brad Keselowski dropped out of a provisional third place, pitting with 12 laps to go after the team…

PORSCHE CARRERA CUP GB Sam Brabham and the Brookspeed Motorsport squad will return to the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Thruxton this weekend. Brabham, the son of three-time Le Mans 24 Hours class winner David, will make his first outing since a one-off appearance in the Porsche category at Silverstone last year. The 2016-17 scholarship finalist and British Formula Ford race winner now plans to contest the remainder of the season in the Pro-Am class. GT regular Brookspeed will also be making a return to the category after last fielding Jayde Kruger in the series in 2015. The squad powered James Gornall and Jon Barnes to the 2008 British GT title in a Dodge Viper and has more recently fielded Porsche Cayman GT4s in a variety of endurance categories. “It…

EDGERTON QUITS GINETTA JR Ginetta Junior driver Theo Edgerton has left the series after a difficult start to the season. The Total Control Racing driver took a best result of third at Donington Park, but felt a lack of straightline speed was hampering his efforts. He contested the first two races of the four-round Snetterton weekend earlier this month, then decided against racing in the other two. TCR team boss Lee Brookes says Edgerton is now looking at alternative categories. CLASSIC DATE SET FOR 2020 A provisional date of 31 July-2 August has been given for next year’s Silverstone Classic. The 2020 meeting will be a special event to mark the 30th birthday of the historic racing festival. For logistical reasons, the Classic normally runs two weeks after the British…

BRITCAR ENDURANCE Races 1 & 2 Richard Neary/Sam Neary (Mercedes-AMG GT3) MICHELIN CLIO CUP Race 1 Ronan Pearson (below)Race 2 James Colburn CITROEN C1 CHALLENGE Declan McDonnell/Joe Wiggin/Simon Walker-Hansell MG OWNERS CLUB Races 1 & 2 Steve McDermid (ZR) CLASSIC FORMULA FORD 1600 Races 1 & 2 Rick Morris (Royale RP29) UK SPORTS PROTOTYPE CUP Race 1 Rob Wheldon (Revolution A-one)Races 2 & 3 Jon Macrae (Radical SR3) MAX5 RACING CHAMPIONSHIP Races 1 & 2 Paul Roddison (Mk4) For full results visit: tsl-timing.com…

A virtuoso solo drive by Lotus Cup UK convert Joe Taylor trumped 48 rival teams to land his first 750MC Club Enduro victory last Saturday. If dodging constant traffic for two hours from the low sightline of his Elise’s cockpit wasn’t exhausting enough, leaping out at the mandatory three-minute stop and refuelling the car he prepares with mates Chris Cox and Tiff Pedley made it extra special. “I’m spent, but couldn’t believe the car,” said the Walsall warrior. “We didn’t have the pace [to win] but it ran faultlessly as the quickest cars hit trouble.” Rob Baker (Honda Civic Type R) and Luke Sedzikowski of race sponsor Tegiwa (BMW M4) out-accelerated Chris Brown’s M4, which son Mika qualified on pole, at the rolling start. Abreast into Stowe, the duo made…

1) Who, what, where, when? 2) Who is this? This superstar-in-waiting never had a chance to show what he was truly capable of. From pedal power to horsepower, he was a winner right from the off and a national champion before he left school. He kept it in the family for a ride on a stallion and this test of endurance would ultimately make his name. Having upped sticks and hit the road he demonstrated great versatility, but what should have been a joyous homecoming ended in tragedy. After deciding to carry on he hit the beach in style, while after a series of false starts his career started to blossom. He barrelled into a winning drive but was delayed by a former great losing its touch. But when he…

INDYCAR McLaren has chosen the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team as its partner for a full-time IndyCar entry for 2020, and launched Arrow McLaren Racing SP. After its humiliating failure to qualify for the 2019 Indianapolis 500 with Fernando Alonso, when it was operating largely independently bar a logistical alliance with Carlin, McLaren prioritised finding an established IndyCar team to partner with for its long-mooted full entry. The deal means Schmidt’s team will end its long relationship with Honda to run Chevrolet power in its two-car attack. SPM co-owners Sam Schmidt and Ric Peterson will remain involved, but McLaren is drafting in its current sporting director Gil de Ferran – a double CART Champ Car champion and the 2003 Indy 500 winner – to lead the project. He will “helm a…

MOTOGP KTM’s once-marquee signing Johann Zarco will vacate his seat at the end of 2019, as the two parties agreed to an early termination of his two-year contract. The Austrian manufacturer had courted the two-time Moto2 champion following his breakthrough MotoGP debut on a satellite Yamaha in 2017, and Zarco ultimately snubbed interest from Honda and Ducati to become a KTM rider. Yet having starred on the user-friendly Yamaha M1, he has been unable to make his smooth riding style gel with the KTM RC16, and has so far been roundly outperformed by team-mate Pol Espargaro. He has amassed just over a third of Espargaro’s points tally, and also trails rookie Miguel Oliveira, who rides an RC16 run by the satellite Tech3 operation. The impeding split was announced on Monday,…

F1’s fundamental problems remain Yes, the past few races had their moments, but the problems in Formula 1 remain obvious: 1) Even the tight races are not photo-finishes between several competitors – like Monza in 1971 – comparing poorly with, say, MotoGP (right), horse racing and athletics. In fact, even Hungary was only an actual wheel-to-wheel dice at the front for one lap, as opposed to a tyre and DRS assisted pass four laps from the end. 2) It is barely road relevant, even looking forward, in a world where hybrids and carbonfibre are hardly cutting-edge and Formula E is attracting big manufacturer investment. 3) The audience for both F1 and even high-performance cars is ageing and gradually diminishing. 4) It would be hard to imagine a circus less in…

1 PRDRO RODRIGUEZ Of the 917’s 15 world sportscar championship victories, Rodriguez was at the wheel on eight occasions. And those included several of the most virtuoso 917 performances, such as almost single-handedly defeating Ferrari at Monza in 1970 and charging back to win at the Osterreichring in 1971. Rodriguez, who normally had a small edge over his rival and team-mate Jo Siffert, also put in one of the greatest wet-weather drives of all time in a 917, dancing to a five-lap victory with superb finesse at Brands Hatch in 1970. 2 MARK DONOHUE The Penske team and Donohue in particular were instrumental in making Porsche’s turbocharged Can-Am programme a success. Donohue was denied the chance to reap the rewards of his efforts in 1972 by a huge crash, instead…

To honour the anniversary of the launch of the 917, the Porsche Museum has gathered together a pack of 917s – including the restored 001 – for a special exhibition. After arranging the cars at Porsche’s Zuffenhausen headquarters to recreate the famous 1969 shot of the first 25 917 chassis built, the 10 models have been arranged inside the museum on the same site. The exhibition, ‘Colours of Speed’, is running until 15 September and includes four additional car exhibits, as well as various stands and information stations detailing the transfer of technology from the 917 to subsequent Porsche racing and road models. Here are the nine 917s that have joined 001. 1969 917 PA SPYDER Porsche developed the 917 Spyder to compete in the final two thirds of the…

PORSCHE AND LE MANS GO TOGETHER LIKE WINE AND CHEESE. They share a long history, complement each other perfectly and work best in refined company. There is arguably no Porsche model more iconic than the 971, and there are probably few people more passionate about Porsches at Le Mans than Paul Stephens. Stephens is an independent Porsche specialist who had his first drive behind the wheel of a 911 in 1974, aged nine. He went to Le Mans in 1984 to witness Henri Pescarolo and Klaus Ludwig win the race in a 956, and won the BRSCC’s Porsche championship as aracing driver in his own right in 1994. For 25 years he’s specialised in restoring and developing old 911 s. His 2007 Clubsport was followed by a Series 2 edition…

The 2018-19 ABB FIA Formula E Championship season could have represented the electric series’ time-honoured ‘difficult second album’. As horribly cliched as that is, FE faced real danger as it entered a new era with its second-generation car, with questions ahead of the campaign about its reliability and ability to create close racing. Not forgetting that switching to a new machine has killed other championships in the past. But by most measures, the season just gone was a success – despite what FE’s (mostly) Twitter-based, tribalist detractors would say. This isn’t cheerleading – 2018-19 was intriguing and engaging in many different ways, from exciting racing to tech bust-ups and final-round controversy. There are a few main takeaways from the first season of FE’s Gen2 era. First, the mid-race pitstops are…

W SERIESBRANDS HATCH (GBR)11 AUGUSTROUND 6/6 Jamie Chadwick headed to Brands Hatch last weekend having already claimed one title this year in the MRF Challenge, signed a contract to become a development driver for the Williams Formula 1 team, and was on the cusp of claiming the inaugural W Series crown too. It’s safe to say that 2019 has already been a particularly impressive year for Chadwick. And her career looks set to gain even more momentum after she left the circuit on Sunday night with the W Series championship trophy, $500,000 of the $1.5million total prize fund and a guaranteed drive in the series next year – when it will have superlicence points on offer. But Chadwick’s drive to title glory didn’t quite pan out according to plan. Although…

LEGENDS Successful British Superkart racers Paul Platt and Chris Needham have lined up outings in the National Legends Championship ahead of next season, when they intend to join fellow karter Daniel Clark. Five-time Superkart champion Platt has agreed to share a Clark Motorsport Legend with 2017 MSA Superkart champion Clark, potentially prior to the end of this season. Clark returned to Legends this summer after 13 years away, and also hopes to expand into a two-car entry for 2020. “I’d sold all my karts and bought two Legends in about 24 hours,” said Clark. “It’s so much fun, and it’ll be great sharing with a few old friends in something a bit different.” Platt intends to dovetail racing in Legends with further Superkart outings, adding: “By sharing a car, only…

HOT HATCH Club saloon car ace Gary Prebble switched horses to a Honda Civic for last weekend’s 750 Motor Club Hot Hatch races at Silverstone, recording encouraging third and second place finishes despite its engine being down on power. The successful Castle Combe racer bought the car to replace his Peugeot 205 and hurriedly prepared it for Silverstone. “Last time out at Cadwell Park, Billy Oakley made me an offer I couldn’t refuse for my Peugeot 205,” explained Prebble, who still has his SEAT Leon. “Then it dawned on me that I’d have nothing to race in the remaining rounds unless I found something to replace it. “I hunted around and a 1996 Civic sort of found me. It was road legal but had been part-converted for trackdays. It had…

For those who can get properly excited by something as humble as a Citroen Saxo with a rollcage and bucket seats, the spectacle and sound of 18 near-prototype DTM cars charging through Paddock Hill Bend at Brands Hatch is something to truly behold. But without question, it was the two Mini races for the combined Miglia and Se7en grids that provided the best wheel-to-wheel action of last weekend. Aaron Smith was twice victorious, but he was made to work hard to seize the spoils thanks to the relentless pressure from pursuers Rupert Deeth and Kane Astin. What’s even more pleasing is that the battles for A-series honours played out in front of a crowd that appeared far larger than the one to have graced the circuit last season when Brands…

Paul Rivett’s name has become synonymous with the Renault Clio, so it takes a bit of time to get used to the sight of him driving anything other than the French hatchback. But this year he has had a very different challenge on his hands as he’s been competing in Division 2 of the British Truck Racing Championship. Having secured an unprecedented fourth Clio crown last season, Rivett decided to move elsewhere for 2019. That ‘elsewhere’ proved to be trucks, as the man dubbed Mr Clio Cup had previously contested a one-off outing in 2017, driving the truck of his WDE Motorsport team boss Wayne Eason. “It was always going to be hard to make a decision on what to do,” said Rivett, who competed in Ford Fiestas and stock…

SILVERSTONE750MC10-11 AUGUST Scott Mittell’s maiden Bikesports victory presaged a stunning five from five for Southampton-based Mittell Cars as Ian Mittell’s continuously evolved Suzuki GSXR-powered designs scaled new heights at the 750 Motor Club’s annual International Circuit weekend. “It was a fantastic team result,” beamed Scott. One year after his breakthrough RGB Sports 1000 win here, Chris Wesemael closed on the title with another double in his MC-53 – the second a marque 1-2 over Danny Andrew, third behind Spire’s Richard Morris on Saturday. That spurred Scott Mittell on to complete his Bikesports treble in the slick-shod centre-seater. A fortnight’s toil by Mittell Sr creating a larger rear diffuser for the lone MC-41R enabled Scott to scream through Abbey flat and shake off ex-Formula 3 racer Charles Hall (Radical SR3 RSX)…

Michael O’Brien cut a pretty deflated figure following the recent British GT meeting at Brands Hatch. In sharp contrast to Spa two weeks earlier, where a second GT4 Pro-Am victory of the season put him and Balfe Motorsport co-driver Graham Johnson just half a point behind class leaders Beechdean AMR in the standings, O’Brien had closed to within half a second of the Beechdean car when persistent engine problems with his McLaren 570S forced his retirement. A yawning 29-point deficit can now only be overturned by victory in the final round at Donington Park next month, with Beechdean’s Martin Plowman and Kelvin Fletcher not being classified, if O’Brien is to avoid landing in the runner-up position he has been all-too familiar with in recent years. But that he should have…