SV Racing collected several pieces of silverware at the conclusion of a sensational season, a one-two-three in the Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup and a trio of podiums in the Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup the highlights of a superb weekend on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit (11-12 October).
In its maiden season under the sole ownership of Danny Buxton, the Wettenhall, Cheshire-based outfit has notched up some remarkable successes, sealing the UK Clio Cup Teams’ title on its first attempt, taking Josh Cook and David Pittard to second in their respective championships and helping James Dorlin to top honours in the Junior Saloon Car Championship (JSCC).
SV Racing concluded a superb year of racing at Brands Hatch over the weekend (11-12 October). The Kent circuit was slow to dry out in Saturday’s low ambient temperatures after heavy overnight rain and the damp, but drying conditions made tyre selection a conundrum in the crucial red-flag affected qualifying session.
After starting on Dunlop’s grooved rubber, it took a while to bring the dry weather tyres up to temperature and countless times were disallowed as the slick-shod runners pushed beyond the limits of grip and the track itself.
Title contender Josh Cook hit the top of the times during a frenzied final six minutes and would take pole position for the weekend’s second race, but the session culminated with Ash Hand going fastest overall (1m41.504s), Cook third, Alex Morgan fifth, Ant Whorton-Eales eighth, Rochester’s Simon Horrobin 11th and UK Clio Cup newcomer Paul Donkin 15th.
Dark clouds descended upon Brands Hatch and the rain returned as drivers sat on the grid, which resulted in a delayed start to race one, although the conditions helped produce a fascinating contest.
A sluggish start saw Hand tumble to fourth, while Cook made the most of a strong launch to lead into Surtees, with Morgan and Whorton-Eales occupying top six positions.
The Safety Car bunched up the field once again and tough but fair racing followed the restart. KX Akademy teammates Whorton-Eales, Morgan and Hand all pounced on Mike Bushell in a fraught and robust four-way battle that persisted for laps on end.
One-by-one they muscled their way past the Team Pyro racer in a superb display of teamwork that allowed Cook to stretch his legs out front and conclude a shortened race at the head an SVR one-two-three.
There was an end of term feel about the final round of the season on Sunday. Fireworks began at the very first corner of the very first lap and synchronised slides for Cook and James Colburn ultimately resulted in a race-ending collision with the Armco for Whorton-Eales.
Cook continued on his way, determined to maximise his slim title hopes but, sadly, the Bristol racer turned spectator when a lunge on race leader Paul Rivett saw him exit stage left into the Paddock Hill gravel trap and end the year as UK Clio Cup Vice Champion.
Picking up the baton as the lead SVR contender, Morgan fought hard to maintain second in a feisty tussle with eventual Champion Bushell following a grassy moment, while teammate Hand recovered admirably from an opening lap spin to finish seventh.
Horrobin and Donkin, meanwhile, circulated together for the duration of race one and comfortably rounded-out the top ten on Saturday, although Donkin would cap off a hugely impressive weekend in the Kent countryside with a ninth-place result on Sunday afternoon.
Mixed conditions meant it was impossible to draw any conclusions from the timesheets at the end of Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup Friday practice, although it was clear that KX Akademy scholar David Pittard was on great form once again.
The Letchworth Garden City racer was pleasantly surprised with the grip he had on both used Michelin wet weather tyres and slicks in fluctuating conditions and ultimately went half a second quicker than his rivals to take a sensational pole position at the conclusion of qualifying.
Brands Hatch was bathed in sunshine as the grid formed for the first of three races. An even getaway forced Watson to tuck in behind Pittard into Paddock Hill Bend, although the leaders were nose-to-tail after a brief Safety Car intervention and it was on lap eight that the Douglas Motorsport driver made a move for the lead.
Liverpool’s Declan Jones acquitted himself well and, having gone as high as sixth in free practice, produced a storming drive through the field, snatching fourth position from Jamie Orton on the rise to Druids and relentlessly pursuing championship leader Charlie Robertson for the final podium spot in Saturday’s opening race.
Drivers lined up for the second contest in the order they finished the earlier race, therefore Pittard started from second and Jones fourth. The top four all got away evenly and Pittard had an uneventful run to second place, as Jones drove an untroubled race to fifth after being defeated in a fight with Tom Oliphant.
The top four finishers were reversed for race three on Sunday. Watson got the better of Pittard away from the second row of the grid, but the KX-backed racer retaliated with a lunge at Surtees to take back third position before passing Oliphant for second at Paddock Hill Bend on lap five.
There was a gradual lap-by-lap reduction in newly-crowned Champion Charlie Robertson’s lead as Pittard set three consecutive fastest laps, but the Hertfordshire driver was unable to bridge the gap.
He once again crossed the line in second place and was later demoted to seventh,while Jones impressed again by racing to an eventual third place. For Pittard, the result was sufficient to snatch second in the final Drivers’ classification.
SV Racing Director, Danny Buxton, said: “What a year! What a weekend! This weekend had capped off a fantastic maiden season for SV Racing, as it’s brilliant to have won the UK Clio Cup Teams’ title. All of our drivers have performed superbly and to have all four of our full-time Clio drivers in the top eight of the standings is testament to this. In Ginettas, David Pittard has been exceptional. He blew everybody’s doors off in the latter half of the year and he hasn’t even realised his full potential. I have to say a special thanks to Declan Jones, as his results this weekend, plus the way David has carried the team, helped boost SVR’s position in the Ginetta GT4 Supercup Teams’ standings. Now we move on to next year and I’m sure we will come back bigger and stronger, because we didn’t win everything and that’s what I want.”
For more information on SV Racing, please visit the www.svracing.co.ukwebsite, ‘like’ the team’s Facebook page or follow @SV_Racing on Twitter andInstagram.