Chevron Racing Cars made a stunning race debut in the GT Cup Championship (www.gtcup.co.uk) this weekend – with an inaugural victory in the ballistic Chevron GR8 GT at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit.
Rising star, Jordan Witt, just 20 years old, took a huge victory – by over 11 seconds – in the second of two sprint races in the Chevron GR8 GT Car, blitzing Ferrari 430’s and Porsche 911 GT3 racers to take the chequred flag in style, in the pouring rain.
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| Jordan Witts in his Chevron leads the GT cup pack - including 3 Ferraris! |
The GT Cup Championship Sprint (25 minutes) and GT Trophy Endurance Series races are designed for GT Cars with both up-and-coming racers, like Jordan, and “gentleman drivers,” like his father, David Witt – who was racing alongside his son at Brands Hatch in the Chevron Challenge Car. The Challenge Car runs mainly the same high specification as Jordan’s Chevron GR8 GT Car, with a re-worked version of the GT version’s full aero pack.
Jordan has only been racing competitively for twelve months, in the Dunlop Sport MAXX Cup, Chevron GR8 Challenge and in the epic British GT Championship, in the Chevron GR8 GT. And the Cheshire race ace had just recovered from a dose of the mumps and a serious bout of conjunctivitis prior to the Brands races. But that didn’t stop him taking the c260 bhp, 750 Kg Chevron GR8 GT to a historic inaugural victory in the second of the two sprint races.
Jordan said: “It was a really good race weekend and went really, really well. I couldn’t ask for much more from our first race in the GT Cup. It was great fun to race in, the car was fantastic and we got a brilliant result.”
He talks through the weekend: “It had been raining in free practice and we knew the car was quick against the leading Porsches and Ferraris, so I’d been praying for rain, and we got it. The first race was dry and a bit mad. I was expecting a steady start, and no contact for my first time out on the Pirelli slicks. However I was hit up the back on the first corner of the first race by a Ferrari, who went up and over my back end, damaging the car badly, which slowed me down a fair bit. But I still managed to bring the GR8 home in 7th place.”
Jordan’s father, David, racing in the Chevron GR8 Challenge Car added: “Jordan was hit straight away in race one, but he’s used to it, after the Dunlop Sport Maxx Cup, and he used his race craft to bring the car home safely.”
Race two was a different story from the first race. The Chevron GR8’s were both using a dry set-up, with a slight rise in ride height and were running Pirelli full wets – for the first time. Jordan started in third place (based on qualifying laps, in the dry), but was up to P1 by turn three in the Chevron.
Jordan recalls: “After the chaos of race one, I knew I had to be ahead to do well. I let a Porsche go up the inside line for Paddock Hill Bend off the start line, and took the faster wet line around the outside, and went straight past three cars. Then I took the outside line at Druids Bend again, to pass the lead Ferrari and take P1. I was leading going into the Graham Hill Bend, where I had a huge moment, with full opposite lock on the brakes, but caught it and carried on, to first place, by over 11 seconds. I was very pleased.”
His proud father, David said: “Jordan did fantastically and we are delighted with the result – he didn’t just win, he hammered everyone! And the wetter it got, the better the GR8’s got. After the first race damage, Andy and the Chevron team did really well to get Jordan’s car repaired and out for race two, with just 10 minutes to spare and Jordan won using his race craft. Both cars were superb, out for the first time on wets. They didn’t miss a beat. They’ve proved what they can do in all conditions, up against Ferrari, Porsche, TVR and BMW. We couldn’t ask for any more. It couldn’t be a better result for the Chevron brand, the cars and the team. We are really pleased with both cars and the result, for our first time out in the GT Cup.“
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| The Chevron takes the chequered flag for the first time in GTCup |
David didn’t even mind being passed – twice – by his speedy son and the GR8 GT, saying of his seventh ever race: “He’d told me before the race; ‘dad, I’m going to pass you, just stick to your line.’ I’d been watching him doing really well while racing my own race, then he went out of sight, and I though ‘oh-no.’ The next thing I know, he’s up behind me flashing his lights and zipping passed me. After the race, one of the Ferrari drivers said Jordan did the same thing to him, and all he saw was his Helmet going past the window as he overtook him on the outside. Jordan did the Chevron brand proud. It was a great race, and really good fun.”
Jordan summed up the Chevron’s success: “It was our first race in the wet in the GT and Challenge Cars and they both worked really well – it just goes to show what a great car it is, quick in all conditions. The GR8 handled so well in the slippery conditions. It seems to go even quicker in the wet, which suits me too. I used to race motorcross when I was younger and I have a good feeing for racing in the wet. The GR8 feels so natural and neutral, a bit like a racing motorbike. You can feel the back moving about, but it’s predictable, with a bit of oversteer and nothing nasty or snappy about it. Having seen off Ferraris and Porsches, there’s no doubt that the GR8 is a real giant killer.”
The Chevron GR8’s will be racing again in the GT Cup at Donington Park on August 12th. And you can see the race report from Brands Hatch on Motors TV (www.motorstv.com) on Friday July 29th, 19:25, on Sky Channel 413 or Virgin Media Channel 545, with interviews with race winner, Jordan Witt.
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