Round 3 review - 11th June 2016
The fastest man on the day in the third round of the 2016 Litchfield GT-R Sprint Series was Baz Kizas, who stopped Nick Goss from making it an FTD hat-trick this season by a margin of just 0.18s. Their performances assured both drivers victories in their respective classes: Kizas in Class N2 for cars with modified turbos and Goss in Class N1 for cars with standard turbos.
Taking place at Castle Combe on 11th June, the third event in the six-round calendar for Nissan GTRs was to throw another curved ball at drivers. Not only does the 1.85-mile track in Wiltshire provide its own particular set of challenges, but the very wet conditions that greeted drivers when they arrived were also to prove ‘interesting’ for the start of the day’s activity. Consequently, the times set in the morning’s three practice runs that prelude all events in the series were not a reflection on the eventual outcome of results.
Initially it was round one N2 winner Paul Kenny in his R33 that set the overall pace when the rain stopped and the first of the eight competitive runs commenced. However, just as the track dried out, Kenny’s reign came to an end, when a technical problem meant that the time of 1:17.3 he posted on run four was to be his last.
His untimely exit handed the overall fastest time baton to Goss in his R35, who went on to set an impressive 1:10.80 on the final run of the day. But, saving the best until the end, a storming last gasp from Kizas in his R35 saw him snatch what looked like a secure FTD from Goss by a margin of just 0.18 seconds.
But it wasn’t just the front-runners that were getting quicker and quicker as the day went on, once the track had dried out halfway though the competitive runs, the rest of the GT-R field also enjoyed the increased level of grip. Whilst Goss’ impressive second place overall for a car with an unmodified turbo went unchallenged in the N1 class, the N2 category was a different matter, with Luke Krassismenou finishing second and Simon Cooksey third in the class respectively - both in R35s. Simon Satchell was fourth of the N2 runners in the only R32 on the entry list.
The fourth event in 2016 Litchfield GT-R Sprint Series’ six-round season takes place in eight weeks time at the Hethel-based Lotus test track in Norfolk on 13th August.
The 2016 Litchfield GT-R Sprint Series is sponsored by: Litchfield, Bilstein and Turbo Dynamics. Increasing the series’ profile this year is the addition of live commentary and video filming at every round that will be broadcast throughout the season on social media.
Round 3 Class WinnersClass Class sponsor Driver Car TimeN1 Bilstein Nick Goss R35 GT-R 1:10.80N2 Turbo Dynamics Baz Kizas R32 GT-R 1:10.62 (FTD)
Classes The Litchfield GT-R Sprint Series features two classes:
Class N1: For cars fitted with standard turbos - sponsored by BilsteinClass N2: For cars fitted with modified turbos - sponsored by Turbo DynamicsAll cars must be road legal.
