QualifyingThe final round of the inaugural season of the Women's GT Junior Cup is upon us, and it would see the same dominant performance by Rhino’s Team Modena as Imola had seen a fortnight earlier. Carina Lima and Sarah Bovy were in very high spirit after their win at Imola, and with their very first pole position this season, they felt more than ready to fight for the title of vice drivers’ champion, no matter how slim the chances were.
After their defeat at Imola, both Beechdean AMR and Matech Competition swore revenge, and at least Aston Martin would stand a realistic chance of posing a threat here at Adelaide. Carina Lima and Sarah Bovy managed to secure pole position at the very last second, with both Aston Martins in 3rd and 5th position.
Matech Competition were outqualified by not only Beechdean AMR, but by one of the Teasdale Corvettes as well. It would also be the very last time this would ever happen in the foreseeable future, as Team Teasdale and Matech Competition were about to merge during the winter break, fielding Ford GT3 cars from Season 2 onwards.
Other news from the paddock had emerged as well: Silverjet Jaguar Racing was developing a new version of their XK-R GT3 model, and Team Rosqvist would trade their somewhat lackluster Porsche for the more sophisticated Mercedes-Benz AMG SLS GT3. A lot was about to go down in the coming months, and we shall see, if it will be enough to make me actually work on a second season of this...
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01.) 12 Lima/Bovy Rhino’s Team Modena Lamborghini Gallardo GT3-R 1:20.288
02.) 11 Mann/Holbrook Rhino’s Team Modena Lamborghini Gallardo GT3-R 1:20.293
03.) 90 Nielsen/Chadwick Beechdean Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 1:20.306
04.) 17 Brunelli/Long Teasdale Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z06-R GT3 1:20.347
05.) 91 Leggate/Powell Beechdean Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 1:20.365
06.) 21 Gachnang/Kimiläinen Matech Competition Ford Matech GT3 1:20.422
07.) 18 Abbott/Throckmorton Teasdale Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z06-R GT3 1:20.528
08.) 37 Renshaw/Crocker Dodge Racing Green Dodge SRT Viper GT3-R 1:20.650
09.) 9 Pinola/Adenauer FroGreen Team Rosqvist Porsche 911 GT3-R 1:20.774
10.) 22 Cobb/van der Lof Matech Competition Ford Matech GT3 1:20.869
11.) 36 Green/Dufault Dodge Racing Green Dodge SRT Viper GT3-R 1:20.927
12.) 78 Bernardoni/Piria Scuderia Amati Maserati GranSport Coupé GT3 1:21.043
13.) 10 Hertzberger/Bumgarner FroGreen Team Rosqvist Porsche 911 GT3-R 1:21.161
14.) 77 Amati/Diana Scuderia Amati Maserati GranSport Coupé GT3 1:21.203
15.) 40 Delcour/Laffite Larrousse Venturi Venturi GT3 Heritage 1:21.304
16.) 41 Abadie/Dalmasso Larrousse Venturi Venturi GT3 Heritage 1:21.313
17.) 48 Seatter/Tillett Silverjet Jaguar Racing Jaguar XK-R GT3 1:21.329
18.) 97 Braams/Marenec Team Lotus Lotus Sports Exige GT3 1:21.404
19.) 47 Castell/Selway Silverjet Jaguar Racing Jaguar XK-R GT3 1:21.521
20.) 98 Verschuur/Vanyova Team Lotus Lotus Sports Exige GT3 1:21.749
Carina Lima used the advantage of her pole position and took the lead right away, with Pippa Mann in second and a tremendously started Jessica Brunelli in third position. Lima would later state that she had to push her Lamborghini Gallardo to its limits at this moment already, just to stay in front of the sister car and keep the lead.
Until the pitstops, not much would change, except Mishael Abbott outbraking Natacha Gachnang and thereby conquering 6th place. But this seemingly unimportant overtaking maneuvre meant a lot more, because it took Gachnang out of the run for vice champion. Emma Kimiläinen later tried to catch up to Miranda Throckmorton, who took over the Corvette from teammate Abbott, but to no avail, as the Chevrolets were superior to the Ford here on the twisty streets of Adelaide.
The pitstop turned into a desaster for Pippa Mann and Shea Holbrook, which ultimately aided their sister car in winning this race. No faulty wheelguns this time around, no wrong tyres either, but when Shea Holbrook tried to put in first gear, nothing happened. The engine just roared in protest, but the car wouldn’t move an inch. It took almost ten seconds until Holbrook managed to force in first gear and could rejoin the race in 4th position.
When Carina Lima stopped two laps later, everything went exactly as planned, and Sarah Bovy rejoined in second place, with the Teasdale Corvette of Jessica Brunelli now leading the race. Then Brunelli also entered the pits, and Christina Nielsen in 3rd place followed suit. Now Shea Holbrook started driving as if to push for pole position. „I was furious about that pitstop and I wanted Sarah to work a bit harder for her victory.“
Sarah Bovy, who had inherited the lead from Brunelli again, tried to cruise to the chequered flag, too scared to risk anything at the very last moment. „And then I saw Shea closing in. I knew she would try to attack me, because there was no teamorder in place. It was either her or me today, and it had to be me, no matter what. So I sped up.“
While the Lambo duo started duking it out for the lead, further back Jamie Chadwick had already given up all hope at gathering another podium. „The Corvette was unusually strong today. I just couldn’t close the gap between us, no matter what I tried.“
With only 6 laps to go, Shea Holbrook had closed the gap to Sarah Bovy and was already attacking, when she suddenly slowed down dramatically. „I had lost fourth gear“, she later explained. This reprise by the faulty gearbox forced Holbrook to let go of the leading Sarah Bovy and shift her focus to everything behind her, because 6 laps were more than enough time for Johanna Long to close in on the damaged Lamborghini.
And so she did, appearing in Holbrook’s rearview mirrors for the first time with 3 laps still to go. While Sarah Bovy took another well-deserved win, Shea Holbrook had to fight tooth and nail to stay in front of the relentlessly attacking Corvette. And because Jamie Chadwick wasn’t far behind either in her Aston Martin, she also could see the slowing Lamborghini and started closing the gap.
Then came the first and only retirement of the entire race: Veronica Vanyova crashed her Lotus at Clarion Corner and caused a full-course yellow, which lasted until the end of the race. This ultimately spared Shea Holbrook the loss of a single position, while she nursed the crumbling gearbox to the chequered flag.
With that, Carina Lima and Sarah Bovy had indeed managed to grab the title of vice champion at the very last moment, relegating Christina Nielsen and Jamie Chadwick to third position and Natacha Gachnang to fourth.
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01.) 12 Lima/Bovy Rhino’s Team Modena Lamborghini Gallardo GT3-R 61:22.574 9
02.) 11 Mann/Holbrook Rhino’s Team Modena Lamborghini Gallardo GT3-R 7.650 6
03.) 17 Brunelli/Long Teasdale Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z06-R GT3 7.963 4
04.) 90 Nielsen/Chadwick Beechdean Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 8.578 3
05.) 91 Leggate/Powell Beechdean Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 13.376 2
06.) 18 Abbott/Throckmorton Teasdale Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z06-R GT3 15.607 1
07.) 21 Gachnang/Kimiläinen Matech Competition Ford Matech GT3 16.889
08.) 22 Cobb/van der Lof Matech Competition Ford Matech GT3 18.954
09.) 37 Renshaw/Crocker Dodge Racing Green Dodge SRT Viper GT3-R 19.435
10.) 9 Pinola/Adenauer FroGreen Team Rosqvist Porsche 911 GT3-R 20.300
11.) 78 Bernardoni/Piria Scuderia Amati Maserati GranSport Coupé GT3 21.038
12.) 36 Green/Dufault Dodge Racing Green Dodge SRT Viper GT3-R 21.456
13.) 48 Seatter/Tillett Silverjet Jaguar Racing Jaguar XK-R GT3 22.693
14.) 97 Braams/Marenec Team Lotus Lotus Sports Exige GT3 25.005
15.) 77 Amati/Diana Scuderia Amati Maserati GranSport Coupé GT3 27.924
16.) 10 Hertzberger/Bumgarner FroGreen Team Rosqvist Porsche 911 GT3-R 29.541
17.) 40 Delcour/Laffite Larrousse Venturi Venturi GT3 Heritage 32.126
18.) 41 Abadie/Dalmasso Larrousse Venturi Venturi GT3 Heritage 33.048
19.) 47 Castell/Selway Silverjet Jaguar Racing Jaguar XK-R GT3 37.799
DNF) 98 Verschuur/Vanyova Team Lotus Lotus Sports Exige GT3 Accident
FASTEST LAP:
11 Mann/Holbrook Rhino’s Team Modena Lamborghini Gallardo GT3-R 1:21.922
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01.) 11 Pippa Mann Rhino’s Team Modena Lamborghini Gallardo GT3-R 77 Points
02.) 11 Shea Holbrook Rhino’s Team Modena Lamborghini Gallardo GT3-R 77 Points
03.) 12 Carina Lima Rhino’s Team Modena Lamborghini Gallardo GT3-R 47 Points
04.) 12 Sarah Bovy Rhino’s Team Modena Lamborghini Gallardo GT3-R 47 Points
05.) 90 Christina Nielsen Beechdean Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 46 Points
06.) 90 Jamie Chadwick Beechdean Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 46 Points
07.) 21 Natacha Gachnang Matech Competition Ford Matech GT3 45 Points
08.) 21 Emma Kimiläinen Matech Competition Ford Matech GT3 34 Points
09.) 22 Shirley van der Lof Matech Competition Ford Matech GT3 29 Points
10.) 91 Fiona Leggate Beechdean Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 31 Points
11.) 91 Alice Powell Beechdean Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 31 Points
12.) 17 Jessica Brunelli Teasdale Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z06-R GT3 21 Points
13.) 17 Johanna Long Teasdale Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z06-R GT3 21 Points
14.) 22 Jennifer Jo Cobb Matech Competition Ford Matech GT3 18 Points
15.) 37 Deborah Renshaw Dodge Racing Green Dodge SRT Viper GT3-R 9 Points
16.) 37 Erin Crocker Dodge Racing Green Dodge SRT Viper GT3-R 9 Points
17.) 18 Mishael Abbott Teasdale Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z06-R GT3 6 Points
18.) 18 Miranda Throckmorton Teasdale Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z06-R GT3 6 Points
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01.) Rhino’s Team Modena 124 Points
02.) Beechdean Aston Martin Racing 78 Points
03.) Matech Competition 65 Points
04.) Teasdale Chevrolet 27 Points
05.) Dodge Racing Green 9 Points
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01.) Lamborghini 124 Points
02.) Aston Martin 78 Points
03.) Ford 65 Points
04.) Chevrolet 27 Points
05.) Dodge 9 Points
And that is the end of the Women’s GT Junior Cup, at least for now. There won’t be any season statistics this time around, as I find it pretty pointless to create one when there aren’t any more seasons to compare the current results to. But, despite my original intentions, I can’t hide the fact that working on this during the last couple of weeks has reignited a spark in me I long believed to be dead.
What if I would resurrect the Women’s GT as a full-blown management series? Would anybody reading this be interested in joining such a revival? It would take a bit more time to put together a new rulebook, as the original one vanished years ago when my old notebook went up in smoke...
But working on these few last rounds brought back so many memories, including parts of the last iteration of my ruleset, that I really would love to try it one more time. Please let me know what you think! Would this be worth all the time and effort?
Also, let me know if you liked this style and presentation of the Junior Cup? Should I continue like this, are there things to improve, things to scrap? I'd love to read your opinions.
