Griffin triumphs at Silverstone as rivals collide on final lap
Griffin, who drove the final two-hour stint, was some two and a half minutes down on the third place crew when he took the wheel of the Ferrari. Lap after lap he punched in some terrific times eventually hauling the Ferrari 488 into a podium spot.
However, he collected a 15 second drive-through penalty for driving on the grass.
Nevertheless, he still managed to rejoin the race in third and then on the final lap, some three corners from the finish the leading pair of LMGTE Am cars – an Aston Martin and a Dempsey-Proton Porsche touched and Griffin seized on the opportunity in superb fashion to take the chequered flag.
On Saturday, driving the Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GTE along with his British team-mates Aaron Scott and Duncan Cameron, they took fourth position in the LMGTE category of the opening round of the European Le Mans Series (ELMS).
Today, Griffin and Cameron will compete in the opening two rounds of the British GT series at Oulton Park, where they will campaign a Spirit of Race Ferrari 488GTE. They will start from the back of the grid as they missed out yesterday’s qualifying session due to Griffin’s involvement in the WEC at Silverstone.
Meanwhile, Donagh Kelly winner of the Cartell.ie International Rally of the Lakes for the past two years, said it is “unlikely” that he will contest this year’s event (April 29/30), details of which were announced in Killarney over the weekend.
Yet again, the event will begin with the iconic Moll’s Gap, albeit turning right at the summit rather than the customary left-hander and finish near Kenmare. Another classic, the Tim Healy Pass, will precede centralised service in Castletownbere.
Further stages at Cods Head and Ardgroom, a repeat of the Healy Pass will be followed by Cods Head, Ardgroom and Kilmackillogue. Sunday’s itinerary will again begin with Moll’s Gap and will be followed by a double loop of the stages at Kilgobnet, Caragh Lake and Rockfield.
The event is a counting round of both the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Rally series and the PlasticBags.ie Southern 4 Rally Championship. While it appears that Roy White and Derek McGarrity will both compete in Ford Fiesta WRC’s, the fact that Garry Jennings and Declan Boyle are not entered (as yet) seems to be the main factor in Kelly’s decision.
Elsewhere, Motorsport Ireland has requested its affiliated clubs to clarify their intention to run events in 2018 or to take a year out.
The governing body, who have to subsidise events due to falling entries have stated clubs that take a year out will be returned to the calendar for 2019 or 2020 whichever suits best. The governing body said: “As everyone is aware entries are falling and events are struggling, we have rally events almost every weekend and it is clearly unsustainable in its present form so we need a vision as to how 2018 will look.”
The advance information - due before the end of the month - will allow a special committee within the Rallies Committee to look at all aspects of rally events for 2018.
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