After a pair of DNFs in the first weekend the Jones brothers and the Preci-Spark Ascar bounced back with another pair from a weekend at Knockhill.
A pair of wins.
Twins David and Godfrey took the first race under little pressure, converting their pole position into a early lead, ahead of a pair of Ferrari's the STP-coloured Chad Racing effort of Chris Hyman leading the Predator CCTV car of Phil Burton. However, both their challenges would end prematurely, Burton spinning out early on in the race while the Chad car would retire with gearbox failure just after South African Hyman had passed the car over to Dan Brown in the compulsory pitstop.
That left Godfrey Jones with a commanding 25 second lead over the Trackspeed Porsche. Jones would use the cushion to nurse the Team Pyro prepared car home, making the win as safe as possible, eventually winning by just under nine seconds from Matt Griffin in MTECH Ferrari, who had taken second from the Porsche just after halfway through the race.
“A win was what we needed,” remarked Godfrey after taking the chequered flag. “It doesn’t really put us back on track because there’s a lot more work to be done. We have to keep on working hard to reduce the deficit.”
That deficit was further reduced (stewards intervention notwithstanding) in the second race of the weekend, which saw several incidents that could mean results are changed. Adam Wilcox had taken an early lead, converting the pole position he grabbed with first sub-50 second lap of Knockhill, with Godfrey Jones in second. Matt Griffin had been charged with starting the MTECH car from seventh, fighting his way up to third, and the Ascari's rear bumper.
Griffin set about wresting second from Jones at Leslie's Bend, coming off second best, limping the car back to the pits in retirement. In contrast the Ascari was able to carry on unimpeded taking the lead from Wilcox's Ferrari the after the pitstops. The final challenge to David Jones' lead came with a alter Safety Car after Osman Yusuf had beached the Team Osborne G4 class Ginetta in the gravel trap.
The first lap back under green saw the Dodge Viper of Craig Wilkins spin out in the opening corners and Paul Warren dropping out from second place in the Chad Ferrari he shares with Tom Ferrier. That handed second to their teammates – the all-Argentine car of Juan Garriz and Jose Balbini who took a superb result in a year old Ferrari 430 compared to the Scuderia models used by most teams.
Phil Burton took third, though the stewards may also be interested in the Predator CCTV car after teammate Wilcox had a clash with the Trackspeed car earlier in the race that ended the Porsche's day.
The double win puts the Jones brothers on 20 points, in second place in the drivers' title, eight points behind Griffin and MTECH teammate Duncan Cameron who maintain their lead, despite their round four DNF.
In the G4 class there was a pair of wins for the Speedworks Ginetta of Christian Dick and Jamie Stanley. They, like the Jones brothers in GT3, had taken the first race relatively easily, though Dick and Stanley were no doubt helped by their nearest rivals both retiring. The Piranha Motorsport Lotus had taken class pole, only for its race to last less than a lap with gearbox trouble while ABG KTM X-Bow also retired.
The KTM, driven by Benjamin Harvey and local hero Rory Butcher finished second in round four of the championship, Piranha once more left empty handed – another victim of the drama of the late race restart.
The Speedworks duo have now taken three of the four races this year, giving them a 12 point lead over Butcher and Harvey.
