Bradley Ellis and Alex Mortimer sealed third place in the GTC category of the Avon Tyres British GT series with a sterling second place performance at the season finale at Silverstone. The result also helped consolidate Team RPM's second position in the team standings.
The pair arrived at Silverstone safe in the knowledge that they could neither lose nor gain championship positions, but were still determined to finish the season in style. Qualifying on Saturday afternoon, however, brought its challenges and made it clear the weekend wouldn’t be going all their own way.
The loss of fifth and sixth gears, and a misfire, meant that Mortimer could only complete four laps of his session, but the #96 Porsche 996 still managed to qualify third in class for Sunday's final race.
A long overnight stint saw the RPM mechanics change the clutch, gearbox and crank sensor, which was damaged when a stone went into the bell-housing, before Ellis rewarded the effort by making a brilliant start from 15th overall, taking several cars for outright position, and finishing lap one in tenth, behind Phil Burton's class-leading Ferrari 360 Modena.
Ellis wasted little time in second spot, and took the GTC lead down the inside at Priory, before putting in an impressive stint to pull clear of his nearest rival. Up to eighth overall by lap 13, he found himself being held up by the Barwell Motorsport Aston Martins through the corners, but couldn't pass for position due to their superior straight-line speed. At the same time, a safety car period reduced the ten-second gap he had built up, but Ellis could not pit at the same time as the rival Trackspeed Porsches as the RPM machine was running a smaller 90-litre fuel tank and would not have reached he end of the race.
With the safety car still out, Ellis finally pitted on lap 25 to hand over to Mortimer, who then had to wait the mandatory 90 seconds before the mechanics could change the rear tyres and release him. Unfortunately, the tyre change meant he missed the opportunity to get out before the safety car, putting him one lap down overall, but not in class.
Mortimer rejoined in 17th position overall, but put the hammer down when the safety car went in, clawing his way back into contention, and up to sixth in class, by lap 30. He then claimed fifth by lap 35, fourth by lap 39 and, on lap 46, was running third in GTC.
By lap 59, the RPM Porsche had begun to make an impression on Matt Allison's Trackspeed entry and, over the remaining 20 laps, took three to four seconds per lap out of the deficit. With just over four minutes left, Mortimer was close enough to make his move, and took Allison on the run to Bridge, claiming second in class.
"Although it was disappointing not to finish the year with pole position and another win, I am more than pleased with what we have achieved," Ellis said afterwards, "We had the
pace to take another victory today if the safety car period hadn’t spoilt our chances, but Alex put in a great performance to take second and the result was all the more impressive considering we were still running the 'H-pattern' gearbox.
"Now we are looking forward to moving up to GT3 next year. Alex and I are such a strong pairing. We have such a positive foundation laid from the great results this season that we can only build on that."
