British GT
Silverstone Preview

By Lindsay Morle
Oct 3, 2005, 12:00

British GT Championship (Rounds 12 and 13)
8-9 October 2005

The 2005 British GT Championship season draws to a close at Silverstone this weekend but there is still plenty of action to come from the GT teams. Scuderia Ecosse has won the Team’s Championship and Nathan Kinch and Andrew Kirkaldy will arrive at Silverstone as reigning Champions, but right behind them a monumental battle is taking place for the runner-up spots.

NIARCHOS AND MULLEN FIGHTING FOR HONOURS
Chris Niarchos and Tim Mullen are currently lying in second place in the Championship standings but the Embassy pairing of Collins and Cunningham and the Eurotech Porsche of Jordan and Caine are snapping at their heels in the battle for the runner-up position.

“One thing in our favour is that Eurotech and Embassy are also fighting for second place in the Team’s Championship so they have a lot more to worry about”, commented Tim Mullen. “Chris and I need to just stay ahead of that battle, finish ahead of both those cars on the road and we’ll get the result we want.”

“This is a very important weekend for Tim and I”, said Chris Niarchos. “We need two good results to take second place in the Championship. I know I need to be cleaner and smoother with my driving than I was at Mondello as we can’t afford to throw away races like that. It’s a shame we’re not on the Grand Prix track again as that is amazing but I have to say I’m looking forward to getting in there and getting the job done this weekend.”

ONE LAST TARGET FOR THE CHAMPIONS
Nathan Kinch and Andrew Kirkaldy can head to Silverstone safe in the knowledge they are Champions. However the Scottish pair have one more target in their sights. Each year Dunlop holds a ‘Superpole’ competition and the winners receive a free set of racing rubber. In 2005 Kinch and Kirkaldy have bagged 11 out of 11 possible pole positions so actually won the award a while ago but feel they still have work to do as Andrew Kirkaldy explains:

“So far we’ve got the clean sweep of poles so there’s no way we’re going to break that run this weekend. I’ll be cross if we drop one now! This is our last target in what has been a fantastic year. We couldn’t have asked for a better run of results and even with all the additional racing we have done this year, in LMES and at Le Mans, we have thoroughly enjoyed the British series and are delighted to be Champs!”

Team-mate Nathan Kinch feels the same as Kirkaldy: “We’ve achieved everything we set out to achieve this year. We were bitterly disappointed to miss out on the British title last year so we absolutely had to win this time out and it’s a relief to finally get it done. I’m really looking forward to Silverstone as I expect it will be a blast. Two races with no pressure: I can’t wait!”

SILVERSTONE BRITISH GT TIMETABLE
Saturday 0900-1015 Free Practice
Saturday 1330-1345 Qualifying 1
Saturday 1355-1410 Qualifying 2
Saturday 1625-1725 Race 1
Sunday 0900-0910 Warm Up
Sunday 1340-1440 Race 2

BRITISH GT CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (GT2)
DRIVERS:
1= Kinch 106 points - CHAMPION
1= Kirkaldy 106 - CHAMPION
3= Mullen 61
3= Niarchos 61
5= Collins 54
5= Cunningham 54
5= Jordan 42
5= Caine 42

TEAMS:
1 Scuderia Ecosse 106 points - CHAMPIONS
2= Team Eurotech 55
2= Embassy Racing 54
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