The
2010 RAC Tourist Trophy
was an
auto race
held at the
Silverstone Circuit
,
Northamptonshire
and
Buckinghamshire
,
Great Britain
from 30 April?2 May. The event, the second round of the
2010 FIA GT1 World Championship season
, was among the first to use the revised 5.900 km (3.666 mi) Arena layout of the Silverstone Circuit that was completed in early 2010. The GT1 series was part of the larger
Silverstone Supercar 2010
event, sharing the weekend with the
FIA GT3 European Championship
,
GT4 European Cup
, and the
British Formula 3 Championship
.
[1]
The Championship race also served to award an annual champion for
RAC Tourist Trophy
, awarded by the
Royal Automobile Club
.
[2]
The British manufacturer
Aston Martin
dominated much of the early event, winning
pole position
in Qualifying with
Darren Turner
and
Toma? Enge
's
Young Driver AMR
entry before
Hexis AMR
swept the top two spots in the Qualifying Race, led by drivers
Frederic Makowiecki
and Thomas Accary.
[3]
Turner and Enge would then go on to win the Championship Race, but were later excluded from the race when their Aston Martin failed technical inspections. This, as well as a time penalty for a Hexis Aston Martin, promoted initial third-place finishers
Jamie Campbell-Walter
and
Warren Hughes
of
Sumo Power
Nissan
to the race victory and the award of the Tourist Trophy. Aston Martin settled for second, while
Lamborghini
earned their first podium in the championship with a third place.
[4]
Background
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]
Following the
opening round
in Abu Dhabi, the
Nissan
teams of
Sumo Power GT
and
Swiss Racing Team
voiced their opinions on the balance of performance which was used in Abu Dhabi. The teams believed that the tests held prior to race has unfairly allowed the Nissan GT-R to be too hindered heavily weighted compared to its competitors, receiving 30 kg (66 lb) of extra
ballast weight
. Sumo Power and Swiss Racing left Abu Dhabi without earning any championship points. Allen Orchard of Sumo Power GT stated that the team planned to protest to the FIA, while Othmar Welti of Swiss Racing Team even threatened to boycott the event if the ballast remained unchanged.
[6]
On 27 April the FIA made further changes to the balance of performance, making alterations to the weights of five of the six manufacturers. Corvette
[7]
and Maserati
[8]
both gained extra ballast while Aston Martin,
[9]
Lamborghini,
[10]
and Nissan
[11]
all shed some of their previous ballast weight. The Lamborghini and Maserati also had
air restrictor
modifications made.
Besides the adjustments made to the balance of performance, four entries also enter Silverstone carrying further ballast due to their success in Abu Dhabi. The No. 5
Matech
Ford
which won the Championship Race in Abu Dhabi will carry 40 kg (88 lb), while the No. 13 and No. 14
Phoenix
Corvettes
and No. 1
Vitaphone
Maserati
will also have success weight. The field for the event has also been diminished by one with the absence of the No. 6 Matech Ford following its heavy crash in qualifying at Abu Dhabi and the continuing recovery of its driver
Natacha Gachnang
.
[12]
Matech drivers
Romain Grosjean
and
Thomas Mutsch
let the Drivers Championship with 33 points, five ahead of Phoenix drivers
Marc Hennerici
and
Andreas Zuber
. Phoenix Racing / Carsport meanwhile led the Teams Championship with 41 points ahead of Matech's 31.
Following the
2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajokull
that caused disruption to air travel in Europe, the organiser of the FIA GT1 World Championship,
Stephane Ratel Organisation
, expressed worries that cargo planes carrying cars and equipment would not be able to be transported to the United Kingdom. Nonetheless, two cargo planes were able to land in Luxembourg on the morning of 22 April and two charter flights arrived in Austria later that day, allowing the race to continue as scheduled.
[13]
The 2010 running of the RAC Tourist Trophy included four former winners of the event, included two-time defending winner
Karl Wendlinger
attempting to win his third in succession. Vitaphone drivers
Michael Bartels
and
Andrea Bertolini
previously shared the win in
2006
while
Peter Kox
won the event in
2005
.
Qualifying
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]
The GT1 qualifying session was held early on Saturday, 1 May, with all 23 participants taking part in the initial twenty-minute first session. By the end of the first quarter of the session, local driver
Oliver Gavin
in the No. 12 Mad-Croc
Corvette
led the field with the fastest time of the weekend, the first lap under the 2:01 mark, then breaking under an even 2:00 within his next few laps. Halfway through the session the No. 37
Munnich
Lamborghini
of
Christophe Bouchut
and No. 3
Swiss
Nissan
of
Karl Wendlinger
came into contact with one another at the Brooklands corner, leading both cars to spin to a stop but eventually resume. With less than four minutes left in the session, the No. 8
Young Driver
Aston Martin
, driven by
Stefan Mucke
, went to the top of the time charts with a lap of 1:59.694 where it would remain until the session ended. On the final lap of the session, Jos Menten in the
Reiter
Lamborghini climbed out of the bottom seven times, staving off elimination. The seven slowest cars at the end of the session, which are knocked out of the qualifying session per GT1 regulations, included both
Marc VDS
Fords
, both Munnich Lamborghinis, both Swiss Nissans, and the No. 11 Mad-Croc Corvette.
[14]
For the first time in the FIA GT1 World Championship, qualifying reached the second session, with the sixteen remaining cars running for fifteen minutes. Anthony Kumpen, driving the No. 14
Phoenix
Corvette led the session early before having the top spot taken by a quick succession of drivers.
Michael Bartels
initially took the lead in the No. 1
Vitaphone
Maserati
, then was overtaken on the time charts by
Peter Dumbreck
in the No. 23
Sumo Power
Nissan, before
Frank Kechele
in the No. 25 Reiter Lamborghini led the field less than a minute later. With approximately three minutes left in the session, Jonathan Hirschi put the No. 10
Hexis
Aston Martin on top with a time of 1:59.796 and would be able to maintain the first position as the session came to an end. Teams knocked out at the end of the session included both Phoenix Corvettes and both Hegersport Maseratis, the No. 2 Vitaphone Maserati and No. 12 Mad-Croc Corvette, as well as the championship-leading No 5.
Matech
Ford and the No. 8 Young Driver Aston Martin which had been quickest in the first qualifying session.
[14]
Eight cars remained for the final ten-minute session, with
Frederic Makowiecki
in the No. 9 Hexis Aston Martin setting the early pace with the first lap under 2:00. As the qualifying session ended and the cars completed their final flying lap,
Darren Turner
, who only brought the No. 7 Young Driver Aston Martin to the circuit in the final five minutes, earned
pole position
with a lap of 1:58.808, over four tenths of a second ahead of the No. 9 Hexis Aston Martin, giving Aston Martin the lead of all three qualifying sessions and a lockout of the front row of the grid, ahead of a Sumo Power Nissan and Vitaphone Maserati on the second row.
[14]
Qualifying result
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]
For qualifying, Driver 1 participates in the first and third sessions while Driver 2 participates in only the second session. The fastest lap for each session is indicated with
bold
.
- 1.
^
The No. 24 Reiter Lamborghini was given a penalty of three grid spots for crossing the pit entry line twice during qualifying.
Races
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Qualifying race
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]
From the rolling start, the
pole sitting
No. 7
Young Driver
Aston Martin
of
Toma? Enge
led the field as they battled into the first corner, jumping out ahead of the No 9
Hexis
Aston Martin and No. 1
Vitaphone
Maserati
. Further down the field the No. 33 Hegersport Maserati spun in the middle of the first turn after hitting one of the
Reiter
Lamborghinis
, which then made contact with the No. 8 Young Driver Aston Martin. The Aston Martin's left rear tyre was cut down by the contact and Christoffer Nygaard was forced to make an early pit stop for a new tyre. The Hegersport Maserati meanwhile, although briefly continuing, was forced to enter the team's garage several laps later with engine problems. On the tenth lap of the race, Abu Dhabi race winner
Thomas Mutsch
spun the No. 5
Matech
Ford
into a gravel trap outside Maggotts corner while defending 13th place. The Ford would lose a lap while being extracted and returning to the race.
By the time the pit window opened in the 25th minute, Enge led the field by over two seconds.
Darren Turner
was able to take over the No. 7 Aston Martin during the team's pit stop and retained the race lead but minutes later officials announced drive-thru penalties for the No. 7, No. 23
Sumo Power
Nissan
, and No. 34 Hegersport Maserati for all cutting the pit lane entry. All three returned to the pits to serve their penalty on the next lap, but while entering the pits Turner cut the entry and earned a stop-and-go penalty. After the two penalties the Young Driver Aston Martin had fallen to seventh, with the No 9 Hexis Aston Martin now leading. During pit stop window the No. 10 Hexis Aston Martin managed to take over second after the No. 1 Vitaphone Maserati stalled in the pits.
During the closing ten minutes of the race the two
Swiss
Nissans were attempting to catch the No. 37 Munnich Lamborghini for fourteenth place, but collided with one another in the Vale corner and spun
Karl Wendlinger
in the No. 3 car. Meanwhile, at the front of the field Darren Turner had begun to reclaim lost positions by passing the No. 23 Sumo Power Nissan for sixth place, then the No. 14
Phoenix
Corvette
for fifth. Turner would eventually claim the fourth position in the final two laps but would miss out on a podium finish for the race end. Hexis driver
Frederic Makowiecki
led the field across the line for the race win, ahead of his teammate
Clivio Piccione
in second place, with the No. 1 Vitaphone Maserati in third.
Race result
[
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]
Championship race
[
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]
The Sunday Championship Race was held under colder damp conditions than Saturday's Qualifying Race, with the grid lining up in their finishing positions from the previous day. Four cars were awarded penalties by the race stewards following Saturday's race and demoted five grid positions from original position; both Mad-Croc Corvettes as well as the No. 24 Reiter Lamborghini were demoted, while the No. 8 Young Driver Aston Martin was already starting from the back of the field.
At the start of the race Hexis' Jonathan Hirschi led into the first corner, followed by teammate and polesitter
Frederic Makowiecki
and the fellow Aston Martin of
Darren Turner
.
Andrea Bertolini
in the No. 1 Vitaphone Maserati slipped from his third place grid position to seventh. Towards the back of the field
Romain Grosjean
was hit from behind by the No. 33 Hegersport
Maserati
, bouncing the Ford into the side of the No. 8
Young Driver
Aston Martin
and Grosjean to spin to the outside of the first turn. Suspension damaged in the accident would render the Ford unable to restart the race. During the second lap Hirschi ran wide at the Stowe corner and allowed Makoweicki to take over the race lead, while
Warren Hughes
took fourth place from Jos Menten's
Reiter
Lamborghini
. As the race entered the third lap, the No. 8 Young Driver Aston Martin was forced to make a pit stop to replace a tyre punctured in the earlier incident while the No. 14
Phoenix Racing
Corvette
began to billow smoke on the Hangar Straight. Mike Hezemans spun the Corvette and came to a stop where the rear of car became enveloped in flames. While Hezemans successfully exited the car, the clean-up by track officials required the intervention of the
safety car
, neutralizing the race.
The safety car was withdrawn on the seventh lap and Makowiecki once again led the field.
Race result
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Post-event
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Despite failing to finish the championship race and earning no points in either race
Thomas Mutsch
and
Romain Grosjean
were able to sustain their lead in the Drivers Championship by a margin of five points, aided by a lack of points earned by
Marc Hennerici
and
Andreas Zuber
. However podium finishes in the Qualifying and Championship races have elevated Hexis drivers
Frederic Makowiecki
and Thomas Accary and Vitaphone drivers
Michael Bartels
and
Andrea Bertolini
to even points with Hennerici and Zuber.
Jamie Campbell-Walter
and
Warren Hughes
, by winning the Championship race and earning their first points for the season, now sit fifth in the Drivers Championship.
As in the Drivers Championship,
Phoenix Racing / Carsport
retained the Teams Championship lead without gaining any points at Silverstone.
Vitaphone Racing Team
moved from third to second after earning points in both the Qualifying and Championship Races, while
Hexis AMR
's three podiums in the two races promoted them to third in the standings.
Standings
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- Drivers Championship standings
|
- Teams Championship standings
|
References
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External links
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