The Works cars at Silverstone

Good weather preceded great performances from Chevron GR8′s at Snetterton and Silverstone over the weekend of 12th and 13th May.

Saturday 12th saw the third round of the Britcar MSA Endurance championship at Snetterton. After three action packed hours, the Track Torque GR8 of Nick Jarvis and Tommy Field romped home third overall and first in Class 3 finishing ahead of the Class 2 winner. Meanwhile Jensen Motorsports GR8 entered in Class 4 driven by team owners Jensen Lunn and Mark Steward finished third in class and fourteenth overall.

Over at Silverstone, round two of the GT Cup championship saw the works cars of Jordan and David Witt entered. Race 1 on the Saturday proved immensely successful for the GT3 spec car of Jordan. This was the cars first dry race of 2012 and with the latest upgrades the car is beginning to show its true potential. An exciting race long dice saw the lead change hands several times between Jordan and Martin Short in the Super GT Mosler. At the chequered flag Jordan finished a fine 2nd overall just 0.5 seconds behind the Mosler and over 30 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Meanwhile in class 2, David Witt once again proved consistent finishing 4th in class and 8th overall.

So a great weekend of success for the cars and we look forward to the next rounds of these championships and of course British GT.

The class winning B16 of Jamie Boot

Firstly ten cars, a mix of B16 and B8, were entered in the 1000km pre 72 Sports Racing Car race. The final race of the first day finishing in the fading light just before 8.00pm. Overall victory was taken by the Lola T70 of Coplowe and Stretton. The B8 of Charles Allison won class 3 and finished a fine 6th overall behind the five litre engined class 6 cars. The B16 of of Jamie Boot winning class 4. Sometime Le Mans racer and former government minister, Lord Drayson drove a B8 in Class 3.

An eclectic mix of 6 Chevron Formula 2 cars entered the Historic Formula Two races. Two races were scheduled, one Saturday and one Sunday. Both races produced great racing, evoking many memories of the great days of Formula Two.

Chris Sharples class winning B29

Race 1 was won by the March 772 of Mathew Watts with David Gathercoles Chevron B25 finishing a close second. Chris Sharples ex Wheatcroft B29 winning class B. Race 2 provided close racing again with many battles up and down the field. At the flag Philip Gladmans B34 took over all victory just 1.5 seconds ahead of Peter Meyricks March 782.

Full results here

Jordan Witt and the GT3 Car

The Chevron works team entered two cars. The proven British GTC winning car driven by David Witt and the new and developing GT3 car driven by his son Jordan.

The weather was going to play a big part in the weekend. Saturday proved damp at times but a bitingly cold wind tested teams, drivers and spectators alike. Sunday was no warmer but hard rain added to the misery. Races were more a case of who kept it “on the island” the most rather than had no spills!! Drivers reported that the position of the “lakes” and “rivers” of water changed from lap to lap!

David's Podium Winning GTC Car

It therefore goes without saying that achieving a consistent three podium positions over all the races was a great achievement. This is exactly what David did with the GTC car. Big congratulations to him for the consistency in these conditions. The car performed faultlessly too.

Development of the new for 2012 GT3 car continues apace. Following a successful test at Angelsey the previous Tuesday hopes for a good result were high. Jordan Witt had barely got the tyres warm in qualifying when an unusual engine problem forced retirement.  Other minor technical issues impacted running on Sunday. These were compounded by confusion amongst the officials resulting in Jordan being black flagged as he had been deemed not to have properly completed the green flag lap in the correct place.

Race 3 final results

Finally in Race 3 the car got a full run and began to show its pace. Having started in a wrongly allocated position and receiving a drive through penalty, Jordan eventually finished in 6th overall and 4th in class. Only a few seconds behind the third in class car too!

Given the differences in specification of the new for 2012 GT3 car (engine, gearbox, chassis etc) then development issues are to be expected. All the technical issues encountered have been addressed by planned upgrades.

David Witt on the podium..again

Given that other GT cars from names familiar at the very top level of motorsport did not even make the grid, once again Chevron proved it has the ability to “punch well above its weight”!! Go Chevron go go go……..

For full results click here

The Track Torque Chevron GR8

The Track Torque car driven by Chris Hart and Tommy Fields ran strongly all afternoon setting the fastest time in it’s class. However extra stops for a tyre check and then stop/go for pit lane speed infringements cost the car a class win and potential strong overall showing. Team Manager Clive Reay-Young said “the car was absolutely flying”. The car eventually finishing third in class.

The Jensen Motorsport Chevron GR8

The Jensen Motorsport car driven by Mark Steward and team owner Jensen Lunn also ran strongly but was hampered by an “off” early on. The car having been embedded in a gravel trap was declared as being in a dangerous place. It was then recovered to the pit lane from where it was able to re-enter the race. It then ran strongly for the remainder of the race also finishing third in class. Jensen Lunn said “Were happy and despite the set back we have learnt lessons on set up”.

Both cars are entered in the next round at Snetterton on 12th May 2012.

Pit stop time for the GT3 car of Jordan Witt and Anthony Reid

Chevron entered two GR8′s in the first and second rounds of the 2012 British GT Championship at Oulton Park on Easter Monday. The new for 2012 GT3 spec car, running in the invitation class was driven by Chevron stalwarts Jordan Witt & Anthony Reid. This car was running with new CAD designed aero. This has gone from idea to race car in only six months, so there’s a lot more potential to come. The second GTC spec GR8 being driven by David Witt & Ray Grimes.

Mixed weather affected qualifying with Jordan putting the GT3 car into an excellent 7th overall position in Qualifying 1 with Anthony finishing 16th on Q2. The GTC car was in a consistent 22nd overall in both sessions.

Race day dawned to appalling weather. Rain setting in early and remaining for the day. Race 1 saw gearbox related problems for both cars. Anthony Reid pulling in on lap 15 with terminal gearbox failure. The GTC car finished 24th overall with David Witt mixing it with the GT4 cars in his early stint.

Pit stop for the GTC car of David Witt and Ray Grimes

Frantic pit work saw a new gearbox installed in the GT3 car for Race 2 however knock on problems with electrics resulted in two unscheduled pit stops for the GT3 car. Following some superb driving in appalling conditions Jordan and Anthony brought the GT3 car home in 21st place having posted an excellent 1.53.507 lap time.

David and Ray finishing in 23rd place with a lap time of 2.01.623.

Hubert Camilleri in his record setting B43

The Island Car Club (ICC) of Malta recently hosted the second round of the 2012 Hillclimb Championship in Mtaħleb.

12 times title winner and veteran racer Hubert Camilleri showed that he has lost none of his appetite for speed at Mtaħleb.

Camilleri clocked the best time of the day on board his Chevron B43 with a scorching 53.183sec run, a new record at the renowned racing venue.

Chevron entered two GR8′s in the 2-hour final round of the British GT Championship at Silverstone yesterday and ended their first British GT season with a class win both in the race and in the championship!

The two cars driven by Jordan Witt & Anthony Reid, and David Witt & Ray Grimes, qualified 19th and 28th respectively.

In the race, a faultless performance from all four drivers resulted in a class (GTC) win and impessive 15th place overall for the lead car of Jordan Witt and Anthony Reid on a circuit where the little car suffers a distinct power disadvantage – all the cars ahead of Witt/Reid were the more powerful GT3 cars from Aston Martin, Ferrari, Porsche etc.

Likewise, David Witt and Ray Grimes making their dubut in the series, drove a great race, bringing the #2 Chevron GR8 home in 21st overall out of 30 classified finishers.

]]> http://www.chevronracing.com/2011/10/09/great-result-for-chevrons-in-british-gt-finale/feed/ 0 http://www.chevronracing.com/2011/09/16/gr8-featured-in-spa-racing-festival-poster/ http://www.chevronracing.com/2011/09/16/gr8-featured-in-spa-racing-festival-poster/#comments Fri, 16 Sep 2011 19:09:34 +0000 Chevron Racing http://www.chevronracing.com/?p=866 Continue reading →]]> A new poster advertising the Racing Festival at Spa Francorchamps on 30th September, 1st & 2nd October, includes David Witt’s Chevron GR8!

Click the image to enlarge in a pop-up window, then right click on that and select “view image” to open the full size image in the browser.

And with 2011 wins at a soaking Brands Hatch, a pole at Donington Park and pole positions and this double win at a dry Anglesey International, the Chevron GR8 has proved it’s more than a match for the Ferrari 430’s, Porsche 911 GT3’s and TVR supercars, in any weather, on short or long tracks, for a fraction of the cost – even carrying 60Kg of success ballast.

Chevron young gun, Jordan Witt, 20 – back from his terrifying 110mph, 30g shunt at Donington, in his freshly re-built GR8 GT – took pole position in qualifying and led both races from start to finish, even with the extra 60Kg ballast on board. He took the chequered flag and victory, unchallenged, by over 40-seconds in race one and by 10-seconds in race two in the revived Chevron GR8 GT. And his father, David Witt, racing in the other Chevron car, took second place in class two – making it a father and son podium celebration for the Cheshire-based team.

This double win in the dry by Jordan’s GR8 GT and David Witt’s Chevron car second place in class has silenced critics who claimed the car was ‘only good in the wet,’ after its superb win at Brands Hatch in the team’s inaugural GT Cup race at a soaked Brands Hatch in July. And, with another win and more podiums under their belt, without any technical or mechanical problems, the Chevron GR8 is proving to be as reliable as it is successful, and affordable.

Jordan Witt commented: “It’s another fantastic result for us, to be quickest in qualifying, take pole and win both races felt easy, even with the ballast and a full tank of fuel on board. We made a few small changes to the set-up after testing on Friday, and then the car was absolutely perfect – the car felt like it was on rails and it’s a great feeling, particularly at the wonderful Anglesey!