With BBM working on the cooling system, only Kinetic made it out in the session. They were marginally slower as the heat of the day increased and the car continued to struggle for traction out of the slower corners.
However, the Madness 135i was running trouble-free and was even lifting an inside front tire coming out of some corners. They managed to reduce their lap time to 1:28.215 to show consistent improvements throughout the session.
Similarly, the FocusSport car was running faultlessly and the team dropped down to a 1:30.794 in the final practice session to show a steady improvement.
The Groma team was having fun playing with the cars oversteering out of the corners and lifting a front wheel but the supercharged V8 looked like it was a handful as they were unable to match earlier times.
In the AWD class, 034 was still working on its misfire and HPA was happy with the car but didn't improve on earlier times.
Crunch Time
After lunch, each team was invited to run its three timed laps to set their quickest times for the record. Madness Motorworks was first to the line in its 135i. The team had showed consistent form in its mildly-tuned 1-Series Coupe and on the first of its three timed laps they set a 1:28.171. This wasn't the fastest they'd done all day and they wondered if it would be enough. As it transpires, it was the fastest lap of the day by almost 0.5sec, giving the team the trophy for fastest lap at etGP08.
What's remarkable is just how composed the car had been throughout the day. The team had managed to install some effective modifications and overcome the car's weakness - its skinny front tires. They'd squeezed some wide rubber up front and even resolved the 135i's notorious oil temp problems that cause it to go into limp mode on the track. These clever mods and good driving by Brian Smith allowed the team to claim a surprise victory.
In second place, with a time of 1:28.662, was the very sick Audi from 034. Clearly the misfire hadn't been fully resolved, so it wasn't showing its expected dominance. After an overnight stripdown, the team discovered the crank had snapped, forcing them to retire from etGP08.
Third place went to HPA with a time of 1:28.834. It was the R32's fastest time of the day and everybody expected its AWD to be a real advantage. However, the car seemed to be understeering quite badly - a common problem with the nose-heavy R32.
In fourth was the Groma E30 with a time of 1:29.552. This was their fastest time of the day and more preparation might have seen further improvements, although oversteer seemed to be the biggest obstacle.
Fifth place went to Kinetic with a strong 1:30.507 - not their fastest time all day but respectable given the traction problems they faced with the ridiculous amount of power under the hood.
In sixth was the FocusSport coupe with a 1:30.932, marginally slower than their best practice time. This powerful front-drive turbo was also struggling against weight and traction issues but the team soldiered on and recorded a very respectable time.
Seventh place went to the BBM Rabbit with a 1:33.032 lap time - almost 1.5sec better than they'd done in practice. Despite its lightweight chassis, the Mk1 also had traction problems and development was interrupted by its coolant issues. But it's great to see the older cars still competing in the event and the team having so much fun.