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News page
8 July 2001
Fourth is Easy-Going
for Rymer.
Terry Rymer returned to the Privilege fold for Round 8 at Brands Hatch last weekend. Terry's team has set itself a demanding schedule this month, with the Estoril ELMS 1000k sandwiched between two British GT races, and lead driver pairing of Terry Rymer and Adam Simmons were under strict instructions to "take it easy" at the Kent track.
The best grid of the season, with GT entrants almost into double figures and more than twenty GTO runners. We often say this as well, but there’s not a lot to beat the sight of a packed field of GT cars as they head towards the rolling start.
As the front row approached the gird the red lights were held inordinately long — far too long, in fact — and Dave Warnock on pole was all but over the start line before the switch was thrown. Despite this he made a good start and was ahead of Rob Wilson in the Hayles GT Viper as they headed up Brabham Straight towards Paddock. Then he appeared to brake early. Wilson swept around the outside, narrowed the angle through Paddock, and left Warnock with less space than he’d have liked over the apex. On the exit the two must have touched, because moments later they were broadside across the track and sliding out of control towards the gravel trap.
Wilson traveled farthest, coming to rest in the deepest gravel, but Warnock was only just off the racing line and facing back up the hill. The next few came through cleanly, including Michael Caine in the TVR Speed 12, both the Parr Porsches, and Rymer in the #45 Harlow car. They were on the inside line, but others were further over to the left. Tim Sugden, making a rapid start from seventeenth, was unsighted as he rounded Paddock. He attempted to slow, but a thump from the rear sent him on a collision course with the stationary Lister. He caught the bonnet of the Storm nearly front-on and was propelled skyward, landing twenty feet beyond and just inches away from the Viper. Three other cars; the #59 Lotus, the #20 Marcos LM600, and the Tully/Dove Marcos Mantis all came to grief.
It was immediately obvious that this was a serious accident. Aside from concerns for David Warnock, who had survived the spin unscathed but not the impact from the TSM Porsche, there were stricken cars littered just off the racing line. The safety car was inevitable, and to the organiser’s credit, it was heading out of the pitlane within seconds.
In GTO Kelvin Burt had taken the class lead even before he and Rob Barff, starting the RollCentre Tuscan R, had reached Paddock. Matt Turner had also made a good run in the orange Porsche from fourth, and he tucked inside the blue and green TVR as they rounded Druids. On the exit Barff then got everything wrong, and Rymer was through on the inside to take third. The former bike champion had made a meteoric start, and had effectively moved up six places inside the first quarter mile.
By the time the dust settled at Paddock the remaining cars were already out in the countryside, enjoying the sweeps and curves of the glorious Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit. With the pace car already heading for the track the call went out from the pitlane that the safety car had been deployed. Unfortunately for some drivers the advice reached their headsets before the marshals had understood the message, and there was quite a lot of passing going on as some cars slowed and others didn’t. One to feel aggrieved later was Matt Turner, who eased off just in time to watch Terry Rymer sweep past and take his place. "Under the circumstances we decided not to contest the move," said Parr Motorsport’s Paul Robe after the race. "I didn’t want our drivers to make a mistake or an infringement under the yellow flags, so advised them over the radio that the safety car was being deployed. It cost Matt the place."
Initially Burt appeared able to pull away, established a lead of five seconds inside three laps. After that Terry seemed to stretch his legs and the margin stabilised, with Matt Turner hanging onto the Harlow car, but only just. A wheel onto the grass at Graham Hill Bend soon after the restart was the best chance Rymer was going to offer the American, and the Harlow car hardly missed a beat after that. Indeed, he never really looked threatened.
On lap 17, when Burt made his move towards the pitlane, Rymer discovered to his considerable delight that he was now not only class leader, but also fronting the race overall. It was a position he held until lap 20, when the call came to pit and exchange places with Adam Simmons. By the time Simmons came back out on track, and the strange confusion that always surrounds the mid-race driver change window had cleared, the Harlow car was running third in class. Still out front was the #53 Parr Porsche, now with Franchitti driving, but Martin Short had exploited the clearer track offered him by the early swap with Rob Barff to close the gap and move ahead of Simmons.
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