FIA GT CHAMPIONSHIP

DISAPPOINTMENT AT SILVERSTONE RESULT - 15 MAY 2005

Mechanical gremlins crept into the picture for Tim home race in the FIA GT Championship on Sunday at Silverstone and dropped the car from second place at the end of the second hour of the 3 hour race to a 6th place finish. It was during Friday practice that problems first occurred as the two drivers of the #88 car were unable to find a good balance to challenge the pace of their team mates and after qualifying on Saturday for the first time this season the other car would start on pole position with #88 on grid 2.

At the start Tim ran a close second to #66 car and in the first hour the gap fluctuated between 2 and 5 seconds as they fought through traffic promising another race long battle. After the first pit stop and when co-driver Emmanual Collard took over for the second stint the car still ran in second place just 16 seconds or so behind their team mates after "Manu" encountered some problems in traffic. It was during this pit stop that a water leak was spotted and a split hose had to be replaced before Tim could resume the chase. By this time the gap to the leader was too large to close significantly and so, despite some quick laps, only two places could be made up in the remaining 45 minutes whilst the #66 Porsche cruised to the third GruppeM GT2 victory in as many races.

After the race Tim commented: "It's racing, isn't it? As long as we get an equal share of bad luck, I guess it's OK. It's a shame, but we'll still get to fight another day."

Marc Lieb (co-driver of the #66 car) was one of the first to come over and offer his commiserations, giving his team-mate a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said. "We don't want to win like that." Tim was quick with the riposte. "No, we don't want you to win like that either!"

Tim now flies out to America to pick up the challenge with the Porsche of J3 Racing in the ALMS round at Mid Ohio this coming weekend.