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News page
20 May 2001
Rymer makes international GT debut at Jarama!
Encouraged
by his excellent win in Round Three of the British GT Championship at Donington
at the end of April, Terry Rymer made his international GT debut at Jarama last
weekend in the second race in the 2001 European Le Mans Series.
In the end the Harlow entered just one of their two Porsche 911 GT3-RS race cars, with Terry Rymer and Stephen Watson doing the honours. The blue and white car was impressive throughout and did much to emphasise not only the standard achieved by the Essex outfit, but also the generally high level of competition in the British domestic series.
Terry was amply satisfied. "It’s looking really good," he said after qualifying. "There are four factory cars ahead of us — two BMWs and two Porsches, and we’re just behind the PK car. We’re quite happy with that." Watson’s times were consistent, and in official warm-up on raceday morning the team was pleased to see him close to his best and fifth in class — this time in race trim. "We’ve worked hard to get a good set-up," explained Rymer. "Stephen’s time in warm-up was with exactly the same set-up we’ll use in the race, which is very encouraging. I think we may do better this afternoon."
The former world endurance bike champion was enjoying his first race on four-wheels outside the UK. "It’s been helpful to be at a track where you’re given plenty of testing and qualifying time. I’ve only been racing cars for just over a year, and I’d like to think that I’ll be good enough to make it to the top, but I’m out there now with some of the best GT drivers in the world. It’s been a big learning curve but it’s great to be on the same track with the ‘big’ cars. It’s a very good experience for me."
That ‘experience’ was to reach something of a climax for Terry the next day, when he lined up on the grid to take the start in the two and three-quarter hour race. Despite his admissions, both of awe with regard to the prototype guys out front, and the limitations of his own car-racing pedigree, there was no sign of nerves as the lights turned green. The ex-biker made a mature and calculated job of seeing himself and the car safely through the opening laps, tagging along very tightly to the tail of fellow Englishman Mike Youles in the leading PK Sport entry.
Running sixteenth overall, Rymer soon settled into a rhythm that saw him pass the yellow PK car on the third or fourth lap. The four works GT cars had rapidly established an advantage in the class, but Rymer was surprising a few onlookers by starting to narrow the gap. Lehto’s BMW was just ahead of Muller at this stage, with Collard and Maassen in the two Alex Job Porsches three and four. "I felt I was doing really well at first;" said Rymer. "I got right up there with works cars and held on to them." True enough, he did. What’s more, he was easing away from Youles at almost a second a lap.
Within quarter of an hour the leaders were well in among the tail-enders. As the Audis swept through the speed differential was enormous, but by the time Graf came by in the second of the Panoz LMP07s Rymer appeared to slip in behind, and he kept the red car in sight for a surprising length of time. Inspired perhaps, he started to extend his advantage over Youles.
For the best part of an hour there was little change in GT, although Muller had swapped places with Lehto after twenty-five minutes or so. By the time the first hour was up, and 43 laps had been completed, Rymer was eleventh overall, fifth in GT, with the PK Porsche next up but several seconds behind him on the track. In the end it was Youles who took to the pitlane first, making his scheduled stop for fuel, tyres and the hand-over to Robin Liddell at the one-hour-twenty mark. Five minutes later, Rymer handed over to Stephen Watson. The gap to sixth had been some twenty seconds.
With half an hour of the race remaining, disaster struck. Actually, to be more accurate, it was the #52 Seikel Motorsport Porsche 911 that did the striking. "He just drove straight into the side of me!" exclaimed the incredulous Watson. Damage to the Harlow car was terminal. With the front wheel rim damaged and one of the radiators holed there was no way it could continue.
"That was the longest stint I’ve ever done," said Rymer after the race. "It was excellent and I really enjoyed it. It’s disappointing not to have finished, of course, but there is a positive side. To be so close to the two factory BMWs and the works Porsches at the beginning is not a bad run for our first ELMS race."
As for the future, Len confirms that next weekend’s British GT round at Croft
is too soon to be included in their schedule, although he has not ruled out a
return to the series later in the season. They are, however, planning further
races in the ELMS, including the next round at Estoril in July.
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