The Easter Weekend saw the first round of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship, with the series' drivers scoring their first points towards the 2012 Sunoco Daytona Challenge.
Race wins in the two hour long races went to the Trackspeed Porsche of reigning champion in David Ashburn and Richard Westbrook and the Ferrari 458 of new team Scuderia Vittoria and British GT Championship newcomers Michael Lyons and Charles Bateman.
The United Autosports Audi R8 LMS of Matt Bell and Michael Guasch also starred in the two race on Easter Monday – the duo the only ones to stand on the podium after both of the hour long races at the Cheshire track. Guasch completed the weekend with a charge from 20th to third in the second race, earning himself the Sunoco Driver of the Weekend award in the process.
Gausch and Bell picked up an average score of 65 points from the two races, putting them into the top ten in the Challenge standings behind Ashburn. Richard Westbrook, who shared the Trackspeed entry with Ashburn is ineligible for the Challenge by virtue of having competed in the Rolex 24 in a Daytona Prototype before, would have picked up the points for fastest lap in race two, as well as pole position.
Richard Westbrook and David Ashburn (1) scored a win and fourth to put Ashburn sixth in Challenge points
Dane Allan Simonsen, however, is eligible for the prize and claimed the 20 points on offer for fastest lap in the day's opening race.
Also picking up Challenge points from the day were Beechdean Motorsport duo Jonny Adam and Andrew Howard, who claimed third in the opening race before hurting their score with a non-start in the second race after an engine failure after the checkered flag in the first race.
The GT Championship's first weekend, shared the Oulton Park paddock with the British Formula Three International Series, back on UK soil after starting their 2011 in Monza the weekend before.
Brazilian Lucas Foresti took pole for the first race and romped to a maiden British F3 around the narrow twisting Oulton Park International circuit, adding 20 more points for a lap record breaking fastest lap to score a perfect 140 points from the race.
Lucas Foresti scored a perfect race in the weekend's opening F3 battle
Fellow Brazilian Felipe Nasr, who entered the weekend leading the Challenge took second in the first race, then added points for pole position and a race win in the other F3 race that counts towards the Daytona Challenge.
Fortec Motorsport man Foresti took second place behind Nasr and picked up the F3 Driver of the Weekend award and replaced teammate Will Buller in the top ten in Challenge points.
Though Nasr's average points score dropped to 108.75, he maintains his lead in the challenge standings over British Endurance Championship driver Javier Morcillo. The Spaniard, and the rest of the BEC field, are back in action on May 6-8 with a four hour race at Donington Park.
The British GT and Formula Three championships return to action at Snetterton the following weekend.
Sunoco Daytona Challenge Standings as of April 26
|
Name |
Team | Series |
Score |
|
| 1 | Felipe Nasr | Carlin | British Formula 3 | 108.75 |
| 2 | Javier Morcillo | Azteca Motorsport | British Endurance | 105.00 |
| 3 | Keith Robinson | MJC | British Endurance | 87.50 |
| 4 | Jay Shepherd | Hawthorns Motorsport | British Endurance | 82.75 |
| 5 | Lucas Foresti | Fortec Motorsport | British Formula 3 | 80.00 |
| 6 | David Ashburn | Trackspeed | British GT | 70.00 |
| 7 | Michael Guasch | United Autosports | British GT | 65.00 |
| 8 | Matt Bell | United Autosports | British GT | 65.00 |
| 9 | Manuel Cintrano | Azteca Motorsport | British Endurance | 65.00 |
| 10 | Jan Persson | Hawthorns Motorsport | British Endurance | 63.75 |
The Checkered Flag’s full race reports from Oulton Park
British F3 Race One – Foresti Takes First British F3 Win
British F3 Race Three – Felipe Nasr Takes Third Win Of 2011
British GT Championship Race One – Ashburn and Westbrook Win British GT Opener
British GT Championship Race Two – Scuderia Vittoria Come From Back To Front
