With the Moore Racing Maserati Trofeo set for its first competitive outing and a new Circuit layout for Rob the weekend looked set to be a steep learning curve. Supporting the A1 GP Championship, crowds in excess of 100,000 and a brand new sponsor meant this would be a fantastic weekend.

Club Velocita, a new but already established SuperCar Club, has joined forces with Rob Hedley Motorsport for this round of the Britcar Championship with a view to continuing the partnership for the rest of the year. Club Velocita managing director Vipul Dave and several guests were present over the weekend to watch the racing, enjoy the hospitality and see the Club Velocita Maserati first hand.

With the Maserati out for the first time since the eventful Silverstone Test (See story Maserati shakedown doesn't quite go as planned!) Rob and Moore Racing had no idea how competitive the Maserati would be against the Ferraris, Porsches and BMWs in Class 2. With no setup data and even less opportunity to adjust the single set up standard Trofeo suspension, the meeting would be about getting as much pace out of the standard Car. With former British GT Driver, Paul Fenton joining Rob for the weekend a fantastic driver line up was assured.

Qualifying was set for 9am on Saturday morning and didn't go as planned for Rob. Unable to get a clear lap due to several offs and spins, a rather furious Rob handed the Car over to Paul, who despite not having driven the Car all weekend used all his Brands Hatch Experience and put in the best lap he could manage with the constant traffic. The maserati would start the first race from 36th out of 50 Cars.

The first of the two races came round pretty quick and Rob lined the Car up on the grid to start the 50 Minute race. Following the rolling start, Rob settled into a quick pace and started chasing the Ferraris and Porsches of class 2. The team tactics were to run Rob until a late safety car and then run Fenton until the end. Unfortunately the late safety period didn't materialise and as the pit window was coming to an end at 35 minutes, Rob pitted and paul took to the track. Paul ran consistenly quick to the end of the race and crossed the line in 23rd place and 4th in class. However this was not the end of the action as Paul narrowly avoided a multi car crash after the finish line when several cars collided whilst racing over the line.

Race two was on the Sunday following the final A1 GP round and it looked like the majority of the capacity crwod had stayed on to watch the second 50 minute Britcar race. With the Maserati starting from 23rd out of a grid of 50 plus cars, Paul would have to get straight onto the race pace to hold position. From the start paul did exactly what was required and turned in consistently quick lap times, all this despite a brake problem. The brake pedal was inconsistent with its pressure "One second the pedal would move half an inch the next time it would almost go to the floor. Not very confidence inspiring" commented Paul after the race.

Again the teams tactic was to stop as late as possible in the hope of a late safety car and again this didn't materialise. At 35 minutes, right at the end of the pit window, Paul pitted and handed over to Rob to do the final 15 minutes. With such a short time left and the brake problem, it was Robs brief to simply get the Car home for the all important Championship points. However Rob was quickly on the pace and matched Pauls lap times from the off proving what a strong pairing they are. Rob brought the Club Velocita Maserati home in 21st place and fifth in class, this time without a finish line incident.

All in all it was a satisfying weekend with a Car that was straight out of the box and new to the team."I think everyone did an excellent job with running the Car and getting it so close to the pace from the off. The Car is about 2 seconds (a lap) off the pace of the front running class 2 cars but we will be able to go away with the data from this weekend and improve things. I have every confidence that Moore Racing can find those 2 seconds for the next round." commented Rob "The Car performed brilliantly apart from the brake problem. This was a bit frustrating as Knowle (Race Engineer - Maserati) had really found some speed in the Car with a new setup, we set our quickest times over the weekend with the problematic brake pedal. Just leaves you thinking how quick could we have been!".