The first GT Battle went ahead on 25th June 2005 and with over 4000 people attending on a damp Saturday it was a success. They had some small problems being the first ever event o fits kind to be run, but they have learnt a lot and are looking forward to holding another meeting in 2006.

They had a lot of support from the car/cruise clubs that booked in for GT Battle and these filled the outside paddock areas. They managed to fill all the allocated areas for car/cruise clubs so they were very happy with the response from them. These club areas were great as they provided an opportunity for spectators to walk around and view a lot of different marques all in one area.

Time Attack

Places for the Time Attack filled up very quickly when we released them in the early part of this year. Competitors knew that as GT Battle was utilizing Rockingham it was going to provide them with a professional track to show exactly what skills they have as drivers, and also allow them to drive there cars to there full potential. No one had offered this to track specialist competitors at such an event before and for this reason we had drivers and companies signed up such as Rocket Ronnie, Simon Norris-Norris Designs, Clive Seddon-RC Developments, Andy and Rob Barnes-SUMO Power, Steve Rance-Parr Motorsport, Gareth Lloyd, Adrian Smith- Fensport, Adam Mc.Queen, Richard Albans-TTS Supercharged, Sara Church-System-R, Kevin Atkins-MAD Developments, Paul Blamire-Zen Performance, Dan Lewis-Reyland Motorsport, Sean Bicknell, Phil Gooriah-RE:Worx, Alan Milford-AM Autos, Nadine Geary. Time Attack competitors had there own specific paddock area and garages that gave them a secure and safe to park/work on there cars.

Trophies awarded to:

FWD

1 st Adam Mc.Queen Honda CRX SiR-Turbo 1:19.50

2 nd Richard Albans Honda Civic Type R 1:19.61

3 rd Matt Pewsey Citroen Saxo 1:19.70

RWD

1 st Sean Bicknell Lotus Exige 1:13.11

2 nd Andrew Baughan Porsche GT3RS 1:13.14

3 rd Steve Rance Porsche GT3RS 1:13.53

4WD

1 st Gareth Lloyd Ford Escort Cosworth 1:08.77

2 nd Simon Norris Lancer EVO8 MR RS 1:10.89

3 rd Rocket Ronnie Nissan Skyline GTR33 1:12.75

Before the Time Attack final the top 20 fastest drivers (made up of the first 15 fastest in qualifying irrespective of class, plus the next 5 as reserves) from qualifying had a 30 minute ‘open practice session’ on the final course. This enabled the drivers to familiarize themselves with the layout prior to the final. The format proved very exciting especially having the opportunity to see 20 of the top road cars in the UK on-track at the same time. Drivers were able to come back into the pit lane at anytime within these 30 minutes for suspension adjustments, re-fuelling etc.

Drift Battle

As soon as the GT Battle ‘Drift Battle’ places were opened at the start of this year the entries came flooding in. Competitors came from Ireland, Norway, Holland and of course the England. It wasn’t long before the 60 entries were full and we were taking on reserves. The Drift guys and (girl) also had their own paddock area and garages as per the Time Attack.

The Drift Battle itself was brilliant with the field having a very international feel to it. No other Drift event has done this so far in the UK and we very happy on the day to have achieved this. The Drift Battle used the same course for practice, qualifying and the final. Entry speeds into the first corner could be up to 100mph, depending on the driver’s commitment, and this made for some spectacular entries.