BGTC: BGTC: CR Scuderia Snetterton summary

TOP FERRARI!

The 2008 Avon Tyres British GT Championship finally got to race under sunny skies at Snetterton today and CRS drivers, James Sutton and Mike Meadows, took the honours of top Ferrari with a third place finish.

Race one, run in wet conditions on Saturday, produced a podium finish for Jeremy Metcalfe and Luke Hines who led the race before having to concede to a rapid Viper and even more rapid Ford GT.

The Ford GT was to feature heavily in race two, taking a dominant win.

All three CR Scuderia Ferraris got away well at the start of race two; James Sutton and Michael Cullen holding onto fourth and 10th places respectively and Luke Hines moving smoothly up to sixth from his eighth place grid slot. After just ten minutes of racing the safety car came out while some debris was removed from the circuit so the pace was slowed for the next five laps. Once the race was back on Michael Cullen was struggling to hold off the Vipers as they are so fast on the straight. He was the first CRS driver to pit and handed over to Marco Mapelli. He was soon followed by Luke Hines, who handed over to Jeremy Metcalfe, albeit in 15th place after tangling with Adam Wilcox's Ferrari at the last chicane. James Sutton was right behind him, handing over Ferrari no.14 in fourth place to Mike Meadows.

Once all the pit stops were complete the CRS Ferraris were all in separate, fierce battles for position. With just ten minute s remaining, Mike was chasing Hector Lester's Ferrari and duly passed him for third place. Jeremy was locked into battle with a Viper, eventually passing it for seventh with two minutes to go. Marco meanwhile was getting up close and personal with Leo Machitski, passing the Lamborghini, and then breezing past Hector Lester for another place, moving right up to fourth by the time the chequered flag fell.

CR Scuderia Ferrari no.14: James Sutton & Michael Meadows

JAMES SUTTON: "The start went smoothly today and I held onto fourth place. My job was to stay as close to the leaders as possible and hand the car over to Mike in a good condition. We're joint third in the championship now and we need to hang in there as we are yet to visit the tracks that really suit the Ferrari."

MICHAEL MEADOWS: "That was pretty hard work today. I was pleased that I managed to get past Machitski, Lester and Johnson despite t he heat. I managed to knock the window shut when I took over from James and didn't realise so it was very hot in there! It's important for us to stay in the title fight so we need to keep taking the points that we can before we move to our stronger tracks. It's good to be the best of the Ferraris."

CR Scuderia Ferrari no.16: Luke Hines & Jeremy Metcalfe

LUKE HINES: "The start went really well and I was able to make up some positions early on. Wilcox was holding me up by five or six tenths a lap so I went to pass him at the last corner. Unfortunately he moved over to avoid a GT4 car and we collided which made us both spin. This left Jeremy with a lot to do but we took a podium yesterday so we take some points away from the weekend."

JEREMY METCALFE: "The car felt really good today and we were able to put in some very fast lap times. It's a shame that Luke had the spin as that ruined ou r race really. I also got stuck behind a Viper for a long time which didn't help but we're pleased we got the posium finish yesterday and will keep pushing until we come to the tracks where we will be stronger."

CR Scuderia Ferrari no.15: Michael Cullen & Marco Mapelli

MICHAEL CULLEN: "I got hit by Anthony Reid at the first corner which knocked my steering out a bit and then I just couldn't keep the Vipers behind me on the straight. I stayed close enough to the pack to give Marco the best possible chance after the changeover. Marco did a great job, I was very happy with his performance."

MARCO MAPELLI: "I made a small mistake at the second to last corner on my out lap but it was okay and I was able to go very quickly. I passed a couple of cars and then squeezed past the Lamborghini when he made a mistake right at the end. After that there was a very slow Ferrari (Lester) that I passed too.&rdq uo;

The CR Scuderia Team has a weekend off now before heading to Italy for the next round of the FIA GT Championship at Adria on 21 June.

-credit: crscuderia.com