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Round 7 Brands Hatch, July 7/8th - Feature Race

Finishing third placed Barbara in a good position for the Feature race rolling start, where grid position is determined by the Sprint race result. Wise to the antics of the hardened veterans in the Michelin Porsche Cup, she stayed tight over to the right as they rounded Paddock for the first time, tucking in behind Slater. Pete Chambers, starting second, didn’t have the best of starts, and Craig Rapp took advantage by diving through the middle to emerge second – seemingly from nowhere. "I was very impressed with Craig’s move into the first corner," admitted Barbara – or was that tongue in cheek? "I backed off and let him have it. To get him in amongst it all might have been quite good for me in the long run."

At first sight all appeared to be going well, and the entire pack filed cleanly up Hailwood Hill towards Druids. The leading group negotiated the hairpin without incident, but a little further back as trio of cars had a disagreement over line. Two went off into the tyre wall and a third spun awkwardly through Graham Hill Bend, but the net result was yellow flags and a safety car even before the first lap was completed.

Two laps behind the pace car added up to two extra laps for the race, raising the total from twelve to fourteen. On the restart Robi Bernberg got the jump on Basil Demeroutis at Druids and then tried to get his nose alongside Barbara for fourth, but she was having none of that. "He came up once or twice," she said, "but I showed him the door and he soon eased back." Actually, she was a lot quicker than him anyway, and pulled away over the next few laps to establish a healthy four or five second advantage.

Further back in the field were several non-finishers from the Sprint race. They’d been required to start from the nether regions of the grid and two of these, Nigel Rice and Mike Salmon, were Class 1 drivers. Rice was slicing through the slower cars at a rate of knots, setting fastest lap along the way. Mike Salmon was trying to do the same, but came to grief at Surtees. "He must have overcooked it," observed Barbara. "Too much throttle and spun it into the gravel. I can’t see that getting that fixed in time for Wednesday," she added, with reference to the fact he’s shortlisted for the Grand Prix support race at Silverstone this weekend.

While Craig Rapp was battling past Slater for the lead through Clearways, and all along to Paddock, Chambers was waiting just behind and equally eager to pounce. In one lap Slater was demoted from first to third, ending up just ahead of Barbara, now somewhat isolated in fourth.

On the following lap Ian Croft, leading Class 3, took to the skies at Dingle Dell. It was a big accident and his Porsche 968 ended up on its roof in the tyre wall. It would have been no easy task to remove and the race was promptly red flagged with only eight timed laps completed. As the cars filed through into the pitlane it seemed a strange anticlimax to an event that was developing well, but Craig Rapp wasn’t complaining. He was received in Victory lane and delighted to claim his first win of the year . . . but it’s not over yet. Subsequently the result was deemed "provisional" and subject to ratification, since it transpires that 8 laps out of 14 does not equate to 75% race distance – the minimum required to be completed before a race can be red flagged without a restart.

Whatever the outcome, Barbara appeared pleased with her fourth place. With valuable points added to her championship total and five more rounds to go, there is still time for her to consolidate her position and make up for the disappointment of non-finishes at Donington and Oulton Park. Now that she has earned the increased respect of her fellow competitors, they may think twice before they try to push her off the track again!

Brands Hatch photos HERE