After starting from pole position Matt Griffin and Duncan Cameron could only record a seventh place finish at the three hour Avon Tyres British GT Championship race at Silverstone after having to contend with damage to the MTECH Ferrari.
Cameron started the 458 from pole, but against more experienced drivers slipped down the order to seventh before making the first of three driver change stops for Irishman Griffin to take over the car. Having taken pole position the day before Griffin eased the car back up the order, the combination of pace and precision taking him past other teams and drivers that fell back, picking up penalties for over-using Silverstone’s wide, flat kerbs.
Griffing rose to second, behind eventual winners United Autosports but the beginnings of a serious problem caused them to drop back, Cameron the first to feel the effect during his second stint in the car.
“I really noticed the problem and after about 20 minutes of the stint the handling of the car was really bad,” he said. “Clearly it wasnʼt any better when I handed the car over to Matt for the final time and I really thought that with about 35 minutes to go when part of the front actually broke off that we werenʼt going to finish which would have been a disaster.”
In the final stint the car lost the front splitter, crippling the car’s handling handling and limiting Griffin to taking the checkered flag in just seventh place.
However, with misforture for their title rivals – David Ashburn, the points leader at the start of the weekend, retiring early in the race and the RJN Motorsport team training Griffin home in eighth – Griffin and Cameron took the championship lead, though by only half a point with just the season’s Donington Park finale remaining of the calendar.
“Weʼve been having a lot of bad luck recently,” said team owner Mike Edmonds, “but at least with our problems today we did manage to finish and score some precious points. I wouldnʼt go so far as to call that good luck though. It feels more like no luck at all! Still, weʼre back in front in the title race even if it is just by half a point which means the final round will be fun as there are about four of us in with a shot at the title. Hopefully, Donington Park being our local track will finally bring us the good luck weʼve been missing.”
