Rick Parfitt Jnr and Seb Morris don’t consider themselves favourites to win this year’s British GT title at Donington Park despite leading the championship by 10.5 points.
Victory for their only remaining GT3 rivals, Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen, in this Sunday’s season finale would see the Barwell Motorsport crew crowned champions no matter where Parfitt Jnr and Morris finish, while a superior wins ratio - currently four races to three - also favours the Lamborghini pair in the event of a tie.
The Team Parker Racing crew’s task is made doubly difficult by having to serve an additional 20-second success penalty during their mandatory pitstop as a result of winning last time out at Brands Hatch. Meanwhile, Minshaw and Keen compete handicap-free.
However, the odds swing back in the #31 Bentley’s favour if the #33 Lamborghini finishes second or lower. In that instance Minshaw/Keen would need at least two cars between themselves and Parfitt Jnr/Morris in order to pinch the title.
Parfitt Jnr, who would become the first driver ever to win both British GT’s GT3 and GT4 titles, believes the pitstop penalty might prove vital.
“Those extra 20 seconds really hurt our chances, plus if Jon and Phil win there’s nothing much we can do anyway,” he said. “If it’s a straight fight then maybe it’s a different story, but we really are relying on others to beat them or a Safety Car to negate the penalty. Them finishing second gives us more of a chance but 20 seconds is still a lot for us to recover. And if it rains… well, we’ve already seen several times this year just how good Jon, Phil and the Lambo are in those conditions. I think they start as favourites.”
His co-driver agrees, but also highlights some other potential issues.
“BoP-wise Donington won’t be the Bentley’s best circuit, but that balances itself out over the season so we haven’t got any gripes about it,” said Morris. “Instead, in order to make up those 20 seconds we’ll need to do some overtaking and Donington’s short braking zones make that tricker than other tracks. Without the penalty I think we’d be ok - the pressure’s also on Jon and Phil to win, don’t forget - but even if they finish second we’ll have to be fourth. That won’t be easy, especially as the Astons always go well at Donington.”
So what positives are the ‘Bentley Boys’ taking into the championship decider? Parfitt’s approach is two-fold:
“I’m neighbours and friends with Derek [Johnston] who loves Donington and needs no extra motivation to win there this weekend,” he said. “But I have definitely been doing my bit to jee him up! As Seb mentioned, the Astons do go well at Donington and, realistically, we need at least one of them ahead of the Lambo. I just hope everyone brings their A Game.
“Thing is, even if we don’t win it - and believe me, it would be a dream come true if we did - then that’s also okay. I’m feeling very relaxed about it. I’ve had a tough year away from the track but we’ve had some great results on it and are now guaranteed to finish at least one place better than 2016. Plus we’ve won three races, including the Silverstone 500. The title would be a fantastic achievement to cap the year and we’re approaching the weekend like any other, but we know it won't be easy.”
Tyre wear could also prove a factor that favours the Bentley. Each of the Lamborghini’s four wins have come in the shorter 60-minute sprint races while the #31 Continental has notched up its three victories in the two- and three-hour enduros.
Morris believes that’s no coincidence.
“Over a stint the Lamborghini hasn’t been as easy on its tyres, and we definitely noticed that at Brands Hatch,” he said. “I’ve driven both the Huracan and Aston Martin and neither are as consistent or easy to drive as the Bentley after 20 or 30 laps. The Continental really looks after its rubber, and especially the rears, which allows us to keep pumping out the lap times while others are falling away. That will really help Rick against the other Ams in the opening stint.
“It’s something we’ve worked on as a team and has definitely played a role in us winning the longer races. At Silverstone and Brands, which were both Safety Car-free, it was particularly noticeable. And it could be our not-so-secret weapon again this weekend!”
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