Donington: Team Bruichladdich race report

DISAPPOINTING DONINGTON FOR TEAM BRUICHLADDICH RADICAL

Team Bruichladdich Radical started the race second in class and ninth overall. In the mayhem at the green flag Stuart Moseley kept out of trouble on the crowded first corners but lost places and after the first laps was lying fifth. By lap three he'd gained one place back to be fourth but disaster struck on lap five with a non-return valve problem on the water system that took 11 laps to fix.

Once out Stuart took up the chase and commenced a campaign through traffic to claw his way back up the timing screens. Having come out of the pits thirty-ninth and ninth in class it was a commendable drive to have worked his way back to sixth in class for the handover to Tim Greaves after his double stint of two hours and twenty minutes. Tim's double stint went according to plan with no issues at all until ten laps from the end of his stint on the four hour mark. He hit a kerb and the force of the impact sent the car off the track into the gravel and damaged the steering bringing an end to the race for the team.

Ben Devlin was waiting in the garage for his spell in the car which wasn't to be but he only has to wait until Thursday to drive the USA van der Steur Radical SR9 that he'll be driving at Petit Le Mans.

Stuart Moseley "I didn't get enough heat into the tyres at the start so got a bit of wheel spin coming out of Goddards that lost me time on the start straight and into Redgate. I gained a couple of places back going into Old Hairpin. After that I ran a short time behind the Lola and just after I overtook him we got the water leak. I could feel the water in the seat so knew we had a problem before I got the call to pit. The guys did a great job fixing it as quickly as they could. Then back out there it was a case of beating my way through the traffic. It was particularly difficult passing the GT1 cars but managed to claw a few places back. Overall the car's good - the balance especially."

Tim Greaves "I hit the inside kerb at Coppice too hard and it just sent the car off into the gravel. The impact was pretty hard on the steering so unfortunately that was the end of the race.

"Overall I'm pleased with the competitiveness of the car. The only weakness was getting out of the slow corners - we needed a different gear ratio. The car handles superbly so although I'm disappointed about today's result I'm pleased about that. The early problem with the non-return valve was one of those totally unpredictable failures and once we'd identified it the guys fixed it really quickly. From there we had the long haul of climbing back up the ladder which Stuart did really well to get up to sixth and I think we were fifth when we finished.

"Rollcentre Racing Radical did very well again and it was a great shame that they were robbed of victory in the closing stages by a minor technical problem.

"I'm very disappointed for Ben but I'm sure he's looking forward to the test in the USA car on Thursday. I have to say a big thanks to the team. For a group of guys that have only been together for two events they're excellent - very responsive. They're growing together very well and we'll be at Jarama better and stronger."

-credit: tb