A potential race victory was snatched and the GT4 title slipped further away from Devon Modell in the penultimate round of the 2014 Avon Tyres British GT Championship at Kent’s Brands Hatch circuit (30-31 August).
Modell and teammate Andrew Jarman went as high as fifth in free practice and qualified in an underwhelming sixth position, with the rival Beechdean Aston Martin V8 Vantage setting the pace and lining-up on pole position.
The handling of the TF Sport-prepared Aston Martin wasn’t inspiring confidence and there was a continued effort to fettle the car’s setup in Sunday’s morning warm up, minor tweaks yielding more speed and confidence ahead of the headlining two-hour race on Sunday afternoon (31 August).
Jarman was first to pilot the 4.7 litre V8-engined machine and immediately made an impact, climbing four positions to be second in class by the close of the fourth tour of Brands Hatch’s Grand Prix configuration.
The 2013 Aston Martin GT4 Challenge Champion consistently lapped quicker than first-placed Ross Wylie, and, with each passing lap, shaved several tenths off his lead.
Unfortunately, a potential victory was snatched away from both Jarman and Modell when a poorly-executed Safety Car deployment saw the class-leading Beechdean team extend its advantage to nearly a full lap.
TF Sport responded by pitting Jarman and handing the reins of itsTXM Plant-backed V8 Vantage to Maidstone’s Modell, who, in a determined effort to reduce the deficit to Jake Giddings, put in a best time of 1m36.152s.
Despite having to yield to the faster GT3 contingent, it failed to slow Modell down and he continued to build a gap to the third-placed Ginetta of Jamie Stanley and shorten Giddings’ lead.
However, his best efforts were in vein and he crossed the line second in class to claim his fifth podium of the season.
With Wylie and Giddings able to extend their lead in the standings, Modell’s hopes of claiming the GT4 title in his debut British GT season is slowly slipping away, and a miracle will be needed at the series’ final round at Donington Park (13-14 September).
“The Safety Car error not only denied the fans a race, but also prevented us from winning and hindered our chance of taking the championship title, and it is the second time this season that this has happened,” said a frustrated Modell. “At Spa-Francorchamps, the Safety Car should have let us GT4 drivers through so we could get in the correct order, but it didn’t and that gave the race leader a lap over everyone else. We were able to make up half a lap on them by the end of the race, which shows that TF Sport had a very good chance of winning the race and strengthening its title bid.
“Nothing has changed for me going into Donington Park, I’ve still got to go out there and win the race. Jake (Giddings) and Ross (Wylie) need to finish eighth or lower for us to win the title, but it’s in other people’s hands now.”
Modell will now dust himself down and begin preparations for the next round of the Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup at Northamptonshire’s Rockingham Motor Speedway (6-7 September).
For more information on Devon Modell and his racing activities, please follow@Devon_Modell on Twitter.