British GT 2008 - Event 2 - Rounds 3 & 4 - Knockhill

[Truckosaurus]

Thought I'd start a thread about the next rounds of BGT08.

Who's going? Who's looking forward to it? Who'll be the winner? etc.

I'm travelling up tomorrow for what will be my first trip to Knockhill.

Good Lord, it's a long way north, probably 9 or 10 hours from here in Hampshire...

I'll be fulfilling my usually role as teaboy for the IMS Motorsport team with the (championship leading ) bright blue Ginetta G50 GT4, so feel free to come in and say hello and check the new car out.

[MikeH]

Racing on the support package so I'll be there all three days, if anyone fancies a look at a legend come up to the Legends Racing garage just up from Race Control and look for the white and silver #07. I should be somewhere close by.

In a fan capacity I'm delighted to see the GTs back again seeing as I'm a big sportscar fan (off down to Silverstone for the FIA GT next week) and I'm looking forward to seeing them out on track again. It's been widened since 2005 so they should be okay.

[Adam28]

marshalling both days, looking forward to it, i think it will be a great weekend and since the track is wider with lower kerbs now they'll hopefully come back next year as well. Hoping Andrew Kirkaldy's team wins, i want to see Anthony Reid win on home soil. I just hope they behave themselves this time and we don't have a repeat of the flying car at Oulton, there isn't as much space at the side of the track as there is at Oulton, some spectators might have to do a runner! All jokes aside, i really hope it doesn't happen, scary stuff.

Truckosaurus, it may be a long way north but you won't regret coming up, it's a great little track. If you get a chance to skip your teaboy duties and watch a bit of racing then i recommend you go to the hairpin(last corner) - best overtaking opportunity; or the first corner, Duffus Dip(actually called Seat Curves but the Scottish marshals use the old names coz there better and were changed for the wrong reasons).

[MikeH]

WAs at the track yesterday for testing (which went well except for a FFord oiling down the chicane prior to us going out!) and while it was cold it was mostly dry. We'll see if that continues today. The legends had a red flag half way through the session and as we sat in the pitlane waiting to go back out one of the Gallardos joined the back of the line and gave us all something to think about! Not sure what that was about, thankfully he went out on track just after we'd finished. :P

The GTs are looking stunning - some very nicely prepared cars in that field. The Ginetta G50 didn't do much for me on TV and in pictures, but in the flesh it's a very good looking car.

[MikeH]

Only saw the first half hour or so of the GT race today as we were racing straight after it and had to get ready, but to say it was a bit of a mess was an understatement. Safety car came out after one lap with a Viper off the road at the chicane and the Ascari beached on the exit of Clark then there was another one straight after when a Lambo spun off on the exit of MacIntyre.

Get going again and then a Ginetta pops it's engine in the biggest possible way and spears off the road at the chicane, the leaders arrive and four of them go straight off, requiring yet another safety car to remove the stricken machines. Lots of fun.

Must say it's awesome to have cars like that back at Knockhill again though.

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Total enjoyment.

The sight of nest of Vipers negotiating thier way around the twists and turns, the Ascari oh so nimble, beautifully turned out Ferraris.

The chaotic after effects of a G50's engine having a falling out with itself.

Add in the rain, sleet, sunshine and a little hail and it was a perfect day at Knockhill

[rcarr]

I am planning on being there with a family friend. Parents are away and I needed a lift up there so he is going to happily take me, coz he wants to see faster cars race than normal club racing.

[dj4monie]

Originally Posted by ScotsBrutesFan

Total enjoyment.

The sight of nest of Vipers negotiating thier way around the twists and turns, the Ascari oh so nimble, beautifully turned out Ferraris.

The chaotic after effects of a G50's engine having a falling out with itself.

Add in the rain, sleet, sunshine and a little hail and it was a perfect day at Knockhill

The GT4 race with the lead G50's was chaos! LOVED IT!

The Ascari bulling his way to the front, that was great and yes the Vipers did well, like a good reliable train, just always there.

Brit GT is going to be off the chain this season, I expect a knockdown drag out and I'll be watching Rounds 2&3

[rcarr]

I really enjoyed today's race. 1st BGT race I've ever been to!
Two of my friends work for Beechdean and I was disappointed that the CS Scuderia (of all cars) hit it while lapping it, I didn't see how it happened but surely the Aston should have jumped out of the way?
I was glad the Ascari did so well, even though I have closer ties to other teams.

[Graham Goodwin]

Originally Posted by ScotsBrutesFan

The chaotic after effects of a G50's engine having a falling out with itself.

It was the gearbox not the engine that failed

[Truckosaurus]

Originally Posted by dj4monie

Brit GT is going to be off the chain this season, I expect a knockdown drag out

Indeed.

Knockhill's a great circuit, I'd recommend a trip up there to anyone who has not made the effort yet.

The hotel bar had Irn-Bru on tap...

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Originally Posted by Graham Goodwin

It was the gearbox not the engine that failed

Happy to be corrected.

Sunday was every bit as exciting, some big incidents in the supports though thankfully injury only to team budgets.

[MikeH]

Sunday was great - other than the short shower after the GT race the weather was spot on too.

Lots of buzz around about the GTs being back - that was a pretty big crowd and a lot of people were happy to have the series back, regardless of whether it was a one-off or not.

[jock3]

Personally I enjoyed yesterdays meeting more than the BTCC meetings. Hopefully it will remain an annual fixture and perhaps become the top 4 wheel event.

[dj4monie]

When are they going to show Knockhill on Motors TV so I can, you know ______ it?

[Truckosaurus]

All the tv times are on the http://www.britishgt.com website.

[RS500]

Great to see the Ascari get up for its maiden win (its taken a while for me to get the race down here)

Is fantastic to see the BGT starting to take off again with large grids and some great racing. The action at knockhill had me on the edge of my seat.

[XRS]

So Austrarlia gets to see it before Britain

[Truckosaurus]

It was on channel4 in the UK sometime over night earlier this week.

[RS500]

Originally Posted by XRS

So Australia gets to see it before Britain

no - we hardly get to see our own series (especially as they are pulling out of racing)

i may have downloaded the video

[Truckosaurus]

Originally Posted by RS500

i may have downloaded the video

Your secret is safe with us... The one hour coverage went out on MotorsTV yesterday, so if you only saw the 30min show, it might be worth searching it out.

[RS500]

ok, the half hour package is quite good. I'll be keeping an eye on the series over the year (supporting "our" alan )

[richrad smith]

Only marshalled on the sunday of this meeting but what a great days racing it was

heres to welcoming the british GT championship back to Knockhill soon

[cg7aa]

I watched the race highlights on Motors TV a couple of days ago. Some pretty good racing. Now, its either I wasn't paying attention or I was seeing things but I had a feeling the Ascari passed under yellow flags and was expecting some sort of penalty to be mentioned at the end of the program. Did anyone else get that impression?

Mind you, I've got nothing against an Ascari win (about time!) even if the Jones' are a bit too aggressive sometimes.

[RS500]

That was brought up in the telecast. The Ascari was up the inside of the viper when the yellow was waved on the opposite side of the viper. Bit of a tricky one.