A DOMINANT performance by Sunderland’s Rob Bell, aided by team-mate Gianmaria Bruni, clinched the GT2 class Le Mans Series Championship for the Virgo Motorsport team at Silverstone at the weekend. Bell also takes the GT2 honours in the Drivers Championship, a well-deserved reward for his outstanding efforts in this challenging endurance sportscar series. Bell set out to wrap up the title at the Silverstone round of the Le Mans Series, but it was by no means a foregone conclusion. With only three points separating Virgo Motorsport from a chasing Team Felbrmayer, it was all to play for at the British circuit. A fitting climax for Bell, racing on home soil was always going to be full of drama and excitement – though the North-East driver revealed at the weekend he was racing for the first time at the circuit at this level. “I’ve driven at this venue many times, but not the Grand Prix configuration, so there’s a few corners that I don’t know,” he said. But despite that disadvantage Bell proved his prowess by topping the time sheets in practice and then putting in a masterclass performance for qualifying, taking pole by over a second. With regular team-mate Allen Simonsen unavailable for the six-hour race, Bruni stepped in to partner the Brit. The confidence the pair showed with their Ferrari 430 GT set the tone for the race, with both drivers driving masterfully and never looking in any doubt of a win. Both drivers were able to build up healthy leads during their stints, although safety car periods negated much of the dominance at two intervals. The threat of the Team Felbrmayer Porsche was always on Bell’s mind, but with mechanical failure forcing it to retire, the Virgo entry only needed to finish on the podium to clinch the title. The reliability of the Ferrari ensured not only did they finish on the podium, it was also the top step. Bell said: “It was a superb weekend. The car ran like clockwork, the Dunlop tyres worked really well, the team showed their strength and depth with faultless pitstops and Gimmy and I were able to build an unassailable lead by the end of the six hours. “I saw that our title rivals were out of the race after running for over five hours and I was quite excited, but then I had to remind myself that we needed to finish the race, so I kept a lid on my thoughts until the chequered flag.” DARLINGTON and District Motor Club bring the curtain down on a summer of car racing when they play host to the final meeting of the season at Croft Circuit, near Darlington, this weekend. And with a total of 17 action-packed races over the two days for single-seaters, sports and saloon cars, a number of championships are set to be decided around the North’s only permanent international motorsport venue. The impressive Formula Palmer Audi Championship makes a rare visit to Croft for the final three races of the series and will feature some stars of tomorrow. Included among the entry list is 17-year-old Alex Brundle, son of former Formula One driver Martin. The title, however, will be decided between series leader Tim Bridgman from Stansted and Sheffield’s Stefan Wilson. Bridgman holds a healthy advantage over the 18-year-old but, having won at Donington Park last time out, Wilson will be looking for a repeat performance if he’s to remain in with a chance of the crown. Local hopes lie with Whitby ’s Derrick Collin, who has more FPA races under his belt than any other driver in the field. And with drivers from Italy, Russia and Cyprus in action, there will be a truly international flavour to the season’s finale. The other single-seater offering at Croft will be the Monoposto cars, who will have a race for all four classes each day. Catering for 1200cc, 1600cc, 1800cc and 2000cc versions, local drivers include Chris Lewis from Bedale and Newcastle ’s Neil Gregory and Mick Kinghorn. The popular bike-engined Legends will also be in action, as will drivers in the competitive Northern Saloon and Sports Car Championship which will see the season-long battle resolved in the remaining classes. Predominantly contested by local drivers, Class B is headed by Ingleby Barwick driver David Botterill in his Porsche and Darlington’s David Cox is looking to improve his score in Class C. Fellow townsman Paul Moss heads Class E in his Citroen and in Class H, Richmond driver Brian Morris will be hoping to consolidate his title. Qualifying starts on Saturday at 9.30am, with the first of eight races starting at 1.30pm. On Sunday, the first of the remaining nine races gets under way at 12.50. Adult admission is just £10 on both days, with accompanied children aged 15 and under admitted free on both days. I thought we had a strong chance, but I didn’t expect to take the title here | 
