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The penultimate round of the British GT Championship took place on the 16th and 17th August at Silverstone, ‘the Home of British Motor Racing’. The format for the weekend was altered somewhat from the previous meetings, with there being only one 2 hour race on Sunday, leaving Friday and Saturday for testing and qualifying. The race was to be held on the 2.2 mile international circuit, which is ideally suited to the nimble Ginetta G50 with its blend of high speed sweepers and slow technical turns. Testing showed up some slight understeer issues with the car, but nothing that was going to cause undue worry, and so confidence was high for qualifying. Over the 30 minute qualifying both drivers had each to complete at least the mandatory 3 laps. This was easily achieved and the Geosynthetics G50 duly qualified in 5th place. The time being set by lead driver, Phil Bailey, who was also due to start the race on Sunday. As the clouds gathered at 1.30 on Sunday the race started for what promised to be a very long 2 hours! Initially the Geosynthetics car performed well and kept a watching brief on the three front cars, having successfully got into fourth place at the start. However, as the faster GT3 cars came up to lap the battling GT4’s, a Viper spun in front of the Geosynthetics car, in the tricky Luffield section of the circuit. All Bailey could do was come to a complete stop whilst the Viper regained its composure, select first gear and resume - now some way behind the first three GT4 cars. Phil gradually managed to bring the gap down setting good lap times, and had 3rd place in his sites. 1 hour and 10 minutes into the race the RPM team called him in for the driver and second driver Steve Tandy took over. As the race continued with Steve lapping at a respectable pace, the fifth placed Stark Racing G50 managed to slowly close the gap down. With 10 minutes to go both G50`s were neck and neck, until Steve Tandy made an uncharacteristic error at the Abbey hairpin by spinning. The resulting 5th place was somewhat disappointing after a long and as it turned out hot afternoon. Only one race left now at Donington Park on October 12th – If you would like to join the Geosynthetic team for the last race of the season contact our sales office on 01455 617139.

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The ‘reports from the pits’ this season have focused less on the podium and read more like a page turning thriller. Red flags, treacherous driving conditions and high levels of attrition and have made the 2008 British GT4 Championship difficult to watch but impossible not to follow. Battling against this summers unpredictable weather, the boys in black & green (Phil Bailey & Steve Tandy) have proven their worth in a competitive field - currently ranked 7th out of 21. So if you haven’t made it to any of the race meetings or caught a glimpse of the action on Sky Sports here’s a review of Phil Baileys reports: Rockingham (25-26 May 2008) Testing went very well for regular driver Phil Bailey, who was to be joined on this occasion by Richard Evans, a highly respected and quick driver from the world off historic racing. With weather warnings given for the area, heavy rain was expected and duly arrived on the Saturday. The Ginetta being a short wheelbase car, is extremely nervous under normal conditions, so heavy rain made things even more difficult! Qualifying was not helped by the rain tyres (supplied by Avon) being marked up incorrectly. This had the affect of sucking water under the tyres, as opposed to dispersing it. Not a desirable situation! Both races were unbelievably wet, with wind also making driving conditions highly dangerous! In both races, steady and consistent runs resulted in 4th places, something of an achievement given the terrible conditions. In truth it was something to leave the circuit with the car in one piece! Snetterton (7-8 June 2008) Early June and the British GT Championship returns to Snetterton for a flat out blast round the old world war two aerodrome – It’s a very fast place in a 300 + bhp GT car! June is meant to be all about warm summer days, but in Norfolk it was anything but, the rain it seems followed the GT cars relentlessly. It started to rain on Friday morning and literally did not stop until Sunday morning! The Geosynthetics Ginetta G50 had tested the previous week at an equally wet Thruxton in Hampshire, so our knowledge of the car in the wet was extensive! Testing on the Friday went really well, even though it was so wet that some cars were aquaplaning even on the straights! The first race on Saturday showed the Geosynthetics car to be well set up for such terrible conditions – lead driver Phil Bailey started the first stint and excelled in the atrocious weather, leading the race for some time whilst never falling below third place. Things were going really well until an incident brought the safety car out just around the time of the pit stop window; At this point the Geosynthetics car was leading its class, but an unfortunate decision by the team resulted in the RPM car staying out a lap too long, and in doing so immediately dropped a lap in the process! Thus a probable third or even second place became a disappointing 5th place. Although a fourth fastest race-lap was recorded that was just 7/10ths slower than the fastest lap which helped to ease the pain! The person in the pits responsible for the decision to stay out is currently on his way to a camp in Siberia! Sunday dawned dry and very hot, but this created its own problems with the car only having run in the wet until that point! The 10 minute warm up in the morning didn’t give us much time to find a good dry setup and this came back to haunt the team later in the day in the race. Within a few minutes of the start, driver Steve Tandy radioed in to say he had handling problems even though he had started on new tyres! The result was he steadily fell away from the tail of the field before handing over to Phil Bailey. It was soon apparent that this was going to be a long, hard stint with the car suffering from a severe lack of grip. However, Phil battled away catching a few cars which resulted in a 7th place finish. Thruxton 28th/29th June NO RAIN…!  The Geosynthetics backed RPM team had not previously run in the dry at Thruxton, the test day a few weeks earlier being extremely wet, so Saturdays untimed practice was something of a leap in the dark for drivers Phil Bailey and Steve Tandy. Untimed practice showed up a few handling issues, but time was short so for the first race at least it would be a case of “grin and bare it “! Steve Tandy started race 1 and was immediately involved in what would be a race long fight with the similar Ginetta G50 of Ian Stinton and Neil Clarke. The two cars circulated in 4th and 5th places never more than a couple of seconds apart – It was a great fight with both cars passing and re-passing each other. As the pit window opened mid way through the race everyone dived into the pits, chaos ensued with various cars running into each other – Not a great advert for Thruxton! Phil Bailey took over the Geosynthetics car and brought it home in a solid 5th in class, just losing out to the Ian Stinton Ginetta, but both Phil and Steve agreed the car could be improved for the race on a Sunday! With changes to the car made in the short morning warm up, hopes were high for a good race later that day. Phil Bailey started the race and again was immediately embroiled in a fierce scrap with Ian Stinton. This battle raged for lap after lap, but this time Phil Bailey held the advantage until red flags brought the race to a premature stop. The reason for the stoppage soon became clear – The sister RPM Ginetta of Bradley Ellis and Fulvio Musso had been punted off the circuit at 135 mph with Bradley Ellis (Current British GT champion) at the wheel. The car had been punted off on the approach to the chicane, clipped a marshals post and then burst through an earth bank before coming to rest. Bradley managed to get himself out of the wreck but needed medical attention and was to spend the night in hospital after they found that he had chipped a bone in his neck! The race re-started and at the hand over, Steve Tandy took over managing to grab 4th place minutes before the end – This later became 3rd place after the Rob Austin car that had “helped “ Bradley Ellis off the circuit was disqualified! Brands Hatch (12-13 July 2008) Brands Hatch was the latest round for the Geosynthetics, RPM team on the majestic Grand Prix circuit. A truly fabulous track featuring dips, fast curves and the infamous Paddock Hill bend. Friday testing was held in warm conditions and steady progress was made throughout the sessions, both Phil Bailey and Steve Tandy finding the car set up to be just right for the conditions. Saturday dawned a lot colder, but again on old tyres times were good in the morning untimed session and hopes were high. The day got cooler though and as the race loomed late in the afternoon, conditions were chilly to say the least! Phil Bailey started the race on Saturday evening and immediately found the car was struggling for grip, even though new tyres had been fitted! Times were around 2 seconds off from the morning. Phil managed to keep in touch with the pack and handed over to Steve Tandy who gained a couple of places as the race neared completion. A 5th place was the final reward. It had been a long, hard race and a rogue batch of tyres was suspected as the cause of the handling problems along with the unusually cold conditions. Sundays race was held in much warmer conditions and the car again felt good in the 10 minute warm up held in the morning. Steve Tandy started the race this time and fought well to hand over to Phil Bailey still in 5th place – By this stage a number of competitors had fallen victim to a high rate of attrition, and Phil Bailey now concentrated on bringing the car home, a task made harder due to a huge amount of oil having been dropped around various parts of the circuit. Phil Bailey crossed the line in a well deserved 4th place, maintaining the cars 100 % finishing record! A reasonably successful weekend then, and now the British GT series moves on to the fast sweeps of Silverstone in August – See you there!