MTECH win opening British GT

Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin survived a late-race mechanical scare to win the opening round of the 2010 Avon Tyres British GT Championship at Oulton Park yesterday. The MTECH Ferrari 430 Scuderia duo took control of the race 12 laps from the end when the Preci-Spark Ascari of reigning champions David and Godfrey Jones ran out of road.

But Cameron and Griffin saw their 34-second lead whittled away to just 15s by the closing lap, Allan Simonsen's Rosso Verde Ferrari looming large in the mirrors as Griffin nursed his car home. "We had a broken exhaust," said Duncan. "We weren't sure where it had split, so we told Matt to slow it down. It was a very nervous final 15 minutes of the race, but we're very relieved now…" It was the MTECH duo's second British GT win, the first coming at Silverstone last year.

Simonsen, who took over the Rosso Verde Scuderia in sixth spot after Hector Lester drove the opening stint, picked off rivals in the closing stages to rise to third place, and was gifted second when gremlins struck the Trackspeed Porsche of British GT rookie Siso Cunill. He was too far behind the MTECH car to do anything about victory, however. "I was aware they had problem but the gap was too big once I got into the car," said the Dane. "Cameron did a fantastic job in his stint. To win races we need to try a bit harder."

The Aston Martin of Paul Whight and Michael Bentwood claimed third after mechanical problems hobbled the Trackspeed Porsche of David Ashburn and Siso Cunill.

G4 class honours went to Christian Dick and Jamie Stanley and their Ginetta after a spirited fight t the flag with the Ben Harvey/Rory Butcher KTM.

Provisional results Oulton Park 5/4/2010

Round 1 35 laps = 94.22 miles

Overall & GT3

1 MTECH Ferrari 430 Scud Duncan Cameron / Matt Griffin 1:00:21.844s

2 Rosso Verde Ferrari 430 Scud Hector Lester / Allan Simonsen +10.394s

3 Barwell-Cadena Aston DBRS9 Paul Whight / Michael Bentwood +28.891s

4 United Autosports Audi R8 LMS Zak Brown / Richard Dean +35.866s

5 Trackspeed Porsche 911 GT3R David Ashburn / Siso Cunill +36.777s

6 Predator CCTV Ferrari 430 Scud Phil Burton / Adam Wilcox +39.864s

Fastest lap Griffin 1m 39.084s / 97.80mph

Provisional championship placings

1 Cameron/Griffin 10 points; 2 Lester/Simonsen 8; 3 Whight/Bentwood 6 etc.