McLaren has it its own way

Less cars appeared at the track than were initially promised. The
Morgans were withdrawn, as was a Konrad Porsche, and Promoracing
Venturi. This left 32 cars entered. The Ferrari F40's were withdrawn due
to a lack of gearbox parts - leaving Simpson Engineering's Ferrari 348LM
as the sole representative for the Maranello concern.

Chamberlain Engineering had a new Jaguar XJ220 to race, prepared by
themselves. "She is too big, she understeers a lot, but is the best we
can do" said the team manager. Lotus were present with an official Lotus
Esprit S300. It is a completely new car "The chassis is the same, but
all the rest is new. We have renewed the supply system, the electrical
circuit, the aerodynamics and the weight. For the moment we will not be
able to take part in all the races but we will try and find the budget"
said Ian Foley. The car now weighs in at a touch over 900kg, with a
370bhp engine for the race, and a 500bhp one for qualifying.

Marcos, the Westbury-based manufacturer, also was making it's debut in
the GT Endurance Series, after recent success in the British Series. The
car is based on the Mantara, and is powered by a 6.1 litre V8 Chevrolet.

Sunday, unusually the qualifying day due to a bank holiday on Monday,
was gloriously hot - perhaps too hot at times, and the cars set for
battle on the track. Porsche were getting in a tizzy about the name of
their car. Dr Jurgen Barth insisted that it is not a 933, as there isn't
such a car in their range. It is most definitely a 911 GT2. The cars
built by other people are 911 bi-turbos, and all cars with atmospheric
engines are Carreras (Cup, RS, RSR, Carrera 2 or Carrera 4 - take your
pick).

In free practice the Michelin shod McLaren's set the pace, in the
afternoon it was the GoodYear shod McLaren's that took pole. "In the
past we had just one type of tyre and it was a big problem. But here,
for the first time, we have softer tyres" said a happy John Nielsen in
the West-sponsored McLaren. Andy Wallace set the second fastest time.
The McLaren of Giriox & Grouillard had to make do with third fastest.
The Labre Porsche's had to make do with a time 3 seconds adrift, and
was not happy - the team wanted a wet race on Monday to narrow the gap!
Lotus managed a time good enough for 7th, with Alessandro Zanardi at
the wheel. The unloved original XJ220 of PC Automotive beat the 'new
improved' XJ220 of Chamberlain, thanks to a clutch problem, and then
it ran out of fuel. "We wanted to test the capacity of the tank" was
the answer to this latter problem from Hugh Chamberlain. "Otherwise
everything is perfect. But the car is too big, we are going to build a
smaller one".

In the second qualifying session, a much cooler session, Ron Dennis
watched as 'his' McLaren's dominated again, improving on the first
session. The new GoodYear tyres certainly seem to have made a huge
difference to the 'other' McLaren's. For once the Gulf Racing McLarens
looked second rate - comparatively. The Jaguars moved up the grid to 7th
and 9th places, the 'old-model' still ahead of the new improved one.

Place	No.	Team			Car			Time
1.	8	West Competition	McLaren F1 GTR		1.31.60
2.	9	Mach One Racing		McLaren F1 GTR		1.31.69
3.	7	GRT Jacadi		McLaren F1 GTR		1.33.34
4.	1	Gulf Racing		McLaren F1 GTR		1.33.49
5.	16	Gulf Racing		McLaren F1 GTR		1.34.05
6.	86	Larbre Competition	Porsche 911 GT2		1.35.10
7.	17	PC Automotive		Jaguar XJ220		1.36.11
8.	45	Lotus GT Team		Lotus Esprit S300	1.36.71
9.	80	Chamberlain		Jaguar XJ220		1.37.23
10.	70	Muhlbauer		Porsche 911 GT2		1.37.42
....
27	39	Lotus Equipe		Lotus Esprit		2.07.16

Race report to follow.

-- 
Stephen M Baines

 "[The Autosport sticker] started to peel off in the middle of Eau Rouge
 and it distracted me. In fact it was the first thing to hit the barrier"
    Tiff Needell - Jaguar XJR-15 Challenge - Interview with Autosport

       F1/TouringCars http://turnpike.net/metro/vollans/index.html