We headed to Brands Hatch for the penultimate round of the British GT. Excited to be racing there as we haven’t tested there let alone raced there before so it was going to be a big learning curve for us!
Free practice went well we were up there with the timings.
Qualifying – Alex finished 5th in his stint and it was a combination of both Alex & Will’s timings overall so they started 9th on the grid for the race.
Alex started the race – comfortably ran seventh and gained a lap on the following cars due to a well-timed safety car.
“We really had a good race car which was better over a longer stint,” said Alex, who had never driven around the Brands Hatch GP layout until opening practice.
“From the first 15 minutes of my stint I felt comfortably quicker than the cars in front. We planned to a run long 1st stint and my pace was really strong, I was one of the quickest GT4 cars throughout the stint.”
Despite a stop/go penalty for a start infringement, Alex still retained seventh and when he was the last of the leading runners to pit behind a second safety car as he handed the Aston Martin Vantage over to team mate Will.
Will came out of the pits and as the timings board adjusted itself we found ourselves in 1st position 30 seconds in front of the pack! We thought the podium was in the bag….
But with just 10 minutes remaining, Will was being over taken by 3 of the GT3 cars and a suspected mechanical issue meant the car crashed out from the lead at Druids……. Game over….. Gutted is an understatement…
But despite the gut-wrenching retirement, Alex believes he and the team showed what they are capable of.
“There’s so many positives to take away from that weekend. We looked strong all the way through free practice and into the race,”
“As a whole team we have made a leap forward. We played a great strategy with pit stops going from seventh to the lead but when we got the lead we showed that we deserved to be there. Will was the second fastest GT4 car and we all agreed that we did deserve to win that race.
Despite the disappointing result, our VIP guests had a great time in the hospitality suite, with garage tours and we were even able to squeeze in a kart race with guests and sponsors.
“We have the sponsors logos on the car but it’s non-stop with potential investors. Sponsorship is not just about a sticker on a car, it never has been, it’s all the hospitality and corporate side. Without that I wouldn’t be racing.”
Massive thank you to AS Advisors Tailored Services Lodestone Projects SRS Automotive for their continued support.
Big up to Academy Motorsport – awesome guys
And of course Mum & Dad for being behind me all the way.
The final round of British GT will take place at Donington Park on September 14-15.
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