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Return to
News page
29 April 2001
Rymer takes GTO Honours
at Donington!
The Harlow Motorsport entry of Adam Simmons and Terry Rymer became the third different
pairing to win the GTO class in this season’s British GT Championship in
as many races. The fact that victory came their way through the mechanical misfortunes
of the Burt/Franchitti Porsche does nothing to detract from a brilliant effort
by both drivers.
After having to contend with difficult conditions in qualifying the prospect of
a wet race didn’t appeal to everyone. This time the forecasters got it totally
wrong and everyone was treated to warm spring sunshine and perfect track conditions.
Adam Simmons drove first stint in the Harlow Motorsport Porsche, taking up his
position on the fifth row alongside Jacky van der Ende in the Eclipse Mantis.
He had a simple plan. "I just wanted to get out there and push really hard
for the first three laps or so. We'd had a bad qualifying and there was a lot
to make up." Sometimes the simple plans are the best, and this one worked…
It was a promising start - the end result was a string of excellent laps from
Simmons that did much to establish the foundations for Rymer’s ultimate challenge
for the podium.
In the meantime Kelvin Burt in the Parr Motorsport GT3 had built up a twenty-second
lead that not only maintained his class advantage, but also saw the GTO car fronting
the race outright. Barff and Simmons followed one another into the pitlane as
soon as the driver change "window" opened. "We called him in on
21 minutes," said Adam’s dad, the Harlow team manager. It was a good
swap, but so was Barff’s. "I was heading down the pitlane thinking we’d
made up the position when Martin Short pulled out right in front of me,"
said a mildly frustrated Rymer afterwards. It soon became evident that Rymer was
the quicker of the two, but getting by was another matter. "I was stuck behind
him for a couple of laps," admitted the ex-biker, "but eventually passed
him at the Esses. Then I could pull away."
In fact, there was less of the "pulling away" and more of the "dragging
along". The gap did grow, but only by about half a second a lap. The matter
was finally settled on lap twenty-five, or thereabouts, when Short encountered
the first signs of a gearbox problem that was eventually to see him pit for an
adjustment and then complete the race in fourth gear.
Driving second stint is not always the easier option it may sometimes appear.
If your first driver has done a good job, then you’re duty bound not to throw
it away. If he hasn’t, then the obligation is on you to make up for lost
ground. Terry Rymer makes another point. "This second driver lark isn't all
that easy, you know. You spend the day sitting around waiting for something to
happen. You watch your team-mate out there for half the race, then you climb in,
and ten seconds later you're expected to be doing 140 miles an hour down the Craner
Curves. There’s no time to settle into the job, and no second chance. It's
a bit of a shock to the system!"
With Barff out of the way, and the gap to Franchitti stabilised at around fifteen
seconds, things looked to be heading towards a foregone conclusion – in GTO
anyway. "I didn’t want to push too hard," acknowledged Rymer. "We
had second secure and I was content to settle for that." Then Franchitti’s
luck ran out.
On lap 33, just four laps from the end of the race, Franchitti hit a problem.
"The gearbox went as I tried to exit the Melbourne Loop," said the disappointed
Scot. It was only a matter of time – and not much at that – before Rymer
would catch him.
Rymer swept through Goddards to start the 35th lap with Franchitti less
than two seconds ahead. The Parr driver held his ground as best he could, but
surrendered to the inevitable on the exit to the Old Hairpin. "Franchitti
took a strange line on the way out, and I thought he was trying to block me,"
said Rymer. He made a less than friendly gesture in passing. "I didn't know
he was struggling to find a gear and was actually moving aside to let me through!
I apologised later," said a contrite Rymer some time afterwards.
With Ben Devlin a distant third in the Hayles GTO Viper, Rymer was able to relax
in the knowledge that the team’s first win of 2001 was effectively "in
the bag". He took the chequered flag more than fifteen seconds ahead of the
struggling Franchitti, who limped across the line to stop at the exit to the pitlane.
"We done it!" was Rymer’s exclamation of delight. Simmons, with
typical understatement, simply added "I'm very pleased." This was actually
a great achievement by the Harlow Motorsport outfit, bearing in mind their gearbox
difficulties and the hard graft they’d endured in their attempts to get the
Fuller/Fothergill car repaired. As Terry Rymer said, "We deserve this."
Back in the GTs, the result places Simmons and Rymer second equal in the points
with a total of 27. Burt and Franchitti lead on 35, with the Jones twins a close
third on 26.
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Pics: David Stephens/Studio
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