2003 Race Reports

	Monza, Italy, 3-5 October 2003
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	Race Report The big name drivers shared the spoils at the Group C-GTP Racing season finale in Monza. Andy Wallace, together with regular pilot Justin Law, took victory in the 80-minute endurance feature race aboard the Don Law Racing Jaguar XJR-10. David Leslie, in Paul Whight's Aston Martin AMR-1, won Sunday's soaking wet 30-minute sprint after Law's Jaguar retired from the lead when a cracked exhaust set the bodywork alight! The Law/Wallace combo was pushed all the way by Leslie and Whight only for fuel problems to dash their hopes of a strong second place, dropping them to fourth only a lap from home. A storming drive from Ralf Kelleners, sharing with American Jim Mullen, brought the Kremer Porsche 962CK6/2 back through the field and heading for the podium. Less than a lap from home, he grabbed second from the Konig/Brunn Porsche 956B, which had suffered a terrible vibration throughout Konig's stint. Steady drives from the Stinton/Clark Harrier, John Edwards (Porsche 934R), and Richard Bateman (Tiga-Rover GC287) rounded out the classified finishers. Edwards actually ran out of fuel in the dying moments. The Randalls' Porsche retired with engine failure shortly after half distance, whilst the Bryan family parked their stunning Lancia-Ferrari LC2's with hub (Benton) and brake (Richard) failure. Not being used to racing in the rain, they, along with Mullen, would not run on Sunday. Nick Rini and Mauro Pane had a frustrating weekend with their Jaguar XJR-12's motor cutting dead intermittently. Konig followed Leslie home on Sunday, with Michael Schuster (Argo-Judd JM19C) taking his second podium of the season after his hard-working East Racing crew had completed the clutch and flywheel rebuild, which prevented them from starting the previous day. Of Saturday's non-finishers, Harvey Cooke (Tiga-Cosworth GC289) and Jim Graham (Porsche 962C) would take Sunday's start and finish fifth and sixth respectively. They were sandwiched by Stinton in fourth and Edwards, seventh. Of the other cars present, a shattered front disc in qualifying (at the end of the pit straight!) severely damaged one corner of the car and, although he spun, David Mercer (Spice-Cosworth SE90C) managed (with great skill) to avoid all solid objects! Needless to say this incident prevented him from taking any further part in the weekend. Peter Schleifer debuted his March-Chevrolet 84G but decided against running in the races as it was the first time the car had been run at all. Head gasket failure in testing prevented John Grant from racing Don Law's Jaguar XJ-220. Lorenzo Prandina brought his Rondeau-Cosworth M382 but, having never driven the car in anger, decided discretion was in order when the heavens opened on Sunday. The same was true of Mauro Cipolla who fielded his fantastic Rothmans Porsche 962. Most unfortunate of all was Nigel James, whose New Man Porsche 962 was stuck at the Swiss/Italian border throughout the weekend. We hope it is returned safely back to the UK and urge all competitors to make themselves fully aware of what is necessary to make a swift journey, particularly if crossing non-EU boundaries.
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	Race 1 Driver Car Laps Race Time Speed 1 Andy Wallace / Justin Law Jaguar XJR-10 42 1:20:40.779 180.942 kph 2 Jim Mullen / Ralf Kelleners Porsche 962CK6/2 41 1:22:05.083   3 Martyn Konig / Philipp Brunn Porsche 956B 41 1:22:13.251   4 David Leslie / Paul Whight Aston Martin AMR-1 40 1:18:16.549   5 Ian Stinton / Neil Clark Harrier GT1 36 1:21:42.612   6 John Edwards Porsche 934R 34 1:20:16.707     Andy Wallace Jaguar XJR-10 Fastest Lap 1:45.560 197.563 kph Race 2 Driver Car Laps Race Time Speed 1 David Leslie Aston Martin AMR-1 14 31:31.308 154.373 kph 2 Martyn Konig Porsche 956B 14 33:34.741   3 Michael Schuster Argo-Judd JM19C 14 33:56.987   4 Ian Stinton Harrier GT1 13 31:37.691   5 Harvey Cooke Tiga-Cosworth GC289 13 33:42.477   6 Jim Graham Porsche 962C 12 31:35.367   David Leslie Aston Martin AMR-1 Fastest Lap 2:12.328 157.599 kph Winners List     Race 1 Race 2           1st Overall Andy Wallace / Justin Law David Leslie         Class 1 1st Andy Wallace / Justin Law David Leslie   2nd Jim Mullen / Ralf Kelleners Michael Schuster         Class 2 1st Martyn Konig / Philipp Brunn Martyn Konig   2nd   Jim Graham         Class 3 1st Harvey Cooke / Phil Stott Harvey Cooke         Class 4 1st Richard Bateman Richard Bateman         Class 5 1st Ian Stinton / Neil Clark Ian Stinton   2nd John Edwards John Edwards