Greystone GT scored another GT Cup podium finish at Oulton Park on a day when ultra-tough weather conditions forced the crews of their three McLaren 570S GT4s to be on top of their game.
Iain Campbell and Oli Webb added to their rostrum finish at Snetterton with third place in the GTH class in the first of two ‘Endurance’ races at the Cheshire circuit while the cars of Rich Mason/Duncan Tappy and Mark Hopton/Adam Carroll also showed excellent speed.
Overnight thunderstorms left the track drenched as qualifying began on Saturday morning; none of Greystone GT’s Sporting Drivers having much experience of the circuit in such conditions.
Iain responded magnificently with a career-best seventh place on the grid; and the Sandhurst driver followed this up with a strong opening stint on a drying track, despite a brief spin at the ultra-fast Druids double-right near the end of the lap.
An inspired strategy call from the pit wall led to Iain staying out one lap longer than most of his rivals once the mandatory pit window opened. The result was a near-empty pitlane in which to swap his wet tyres for slicks.
Oli, from nearby Knutsford, took full advantage, setting several fastest laps in the class and hauling the McLaren up to third place by the chequered flag - just three tenths of a second away from second spot - to earn the duo their second-best finish of the year.
Sadly there was no such reward in Race Two as contact from a rival car resulted in rear-end damage that caused Iain to retire. The pair remain eighth in the points, however.
Like Iain, Rich Mason enjoyed his best-ever qualifying result in 10th; the Harrogate racer returning to the GT Cup for the first time since the Donington Park season-opener.
He kept his nose clean during the opening stint of Race One to hand over to new co-driver Duncan Tappy, who was substituting for the unavailable Jon Lancaster, in seventh.
Duncan, from Frimley, Surrey, put on a charge similar to Oli’s; the pro racer finishing fifth. Sadly a multi-car collision eliminated Rich on the first lap of Race Two, denying the pair another shot at the podium.
Mark Hopton superbly equalled his career-best result with eighth place in the wet qualifying and, after a number of position changes, entered the pits in Race One for his mandatory driver swap in the same position.
A slow stop, caused by a sticking wheel nut, caused a loss of over 20 seconds and left pro co-driver Adam to finish eighth, despite lapping just as quickly as Oli and Duncan.
Contact in Race Two from another car left Mark with a buckled wheel-rim, not only affecting his laptimes, but also leading to an enforced wheel-change in the pits and a time loss of around 30 seconds.
Northern Irishman Adam put in a strong series of laptimes to again finish eighth.
Iain Campbell said: “It feels great to be on the podium again, but it was hard work with the weather conditions being what they were. I actually preferred it when it was bucketing down in qualifying than when it dried out during my stint in Race One. The track was very greasy - I had a spin at Druids that definitely cost us second place. We had a great strategy to stay out a lap longer than most people on wets so I had a clear pitlane when I stopped, and we really benefitted. In Race Two I was hit at the chicane and the damage put me out. We have some momentum now though and the championship top five isn’t a million miles away so it’s something to aim for at Silverstone.”
Oli Webb said: “It’s really good to be on the podium again, which I think was a combination of good work from Iain and myself plus a very clever strategy call from our engineer Barclay. Iain stayed out an extra lap when the pit window open and just nailed the in-lap. When he came in, the pits were empty so we got a great stop, made up more time than we lost through Iain being on worn wets when new slicks were preferable, and I felt the McLaren just really worked well on the drying track on slicks. Race Two didn’t go our way when Iain got hit and the damage put us out, but I know he’ll be strong at Silverstone next time.”
Mark Hopton said: “My confidence is sky-high after right now. I just felt a lot more focused and relaxed behind the wheel compared to my debut at Donington in April and I think that showed in being able to qualify so well in what really weren’t the nicest track conditions with the rain. We had podium pace all day at Oulton and that’s hugely encouraging. Unfortunately we had a wheel nut get stuck in the Race One pitstop, which cost us about 30 seconds and probably a shot at the podium, and then in Race Two I had a damaged wheel after contact and had to have it changed, but the speed was still good.”
Adam Carroll said: “The team did a great job this weekend and I’m particularly lucky they spotted Mark’s damaged wheel at the pitstop in Race Two and changed it, because without that I could potentially have had a tyre go down on my out lap and had a big accident. For Mark to come here and need to qualify in such bad weather was a huge challenge for him, but he got his best ever grid spot so he can be very proud. For me, because we’d been delayed in the pits, there wasn’t a lot for me to aim for so I just focused on getting the laps reeled off and keeping the car in one piece so we collected useful points.”
Rich Mason said: “It’s been a tale of two races today, but I’m still smiling. Race One was great. I concentrated on not going off in the wet, because lots of other drivers passed me and then fell off the road pushing too hard. We had a short delay in the pitstop because there was a lot of traffic in there, but Duncan did a great stint and we only missed fourth place by a small margin. Race Two was over almost before it began as I was involved in an incident at Knickerbrook; the first time I’ve had something like that happen. Huge thanks to Duncan for standing in for Jon this weekend and I’m pleased we have a good result to take away from it.”
Duncan Tappy said: “It’s been a positive weekend and I really enjoyed being back with the guys at Greystone GT for the first time this year in general and the first time ever as a race driver. It was a very comfortable working relationship. Rich made some excellent progress, especially as we improved the car. He stayed out of trouble in Race One and I probably only needed one more lap to get fourth in GTH; not bad considering we had a delay in the pits. Race Two never really got going, which was a shame. I’d love to have the opportunity to return to Greystone GT later in the season, so I guess we’ll see if the chance comes up.”
Mark McLoughlin, Team Principal, said: “It’s been a hectic event with every kind of weather, lots of incidents and plenty going on. Mark, Iain and Rich all scored career-best qualifying results in what were really difficult weather conditions and they were all over the moon with that, and race pace-wise all three showed they have not only more speed than in previous events, but more consistent speed too, which always gives their pro more of a chance of getting on the podium. The wheel nut issue for Mark was frustrating but, as always, we’ll address this for the next event - our home race at Silverstone - and come back even stronger.”
