The longest race of the 2019 British GT calendar and our strongest race yet!!
After a promising FP1 and FP2 with strong pace in tricky wet and changing conditions spirits and expectations were high going into qualifying. After 2 tough rounds prior there was a feeling of confidence in the Academy Motorsport garage. The car had its new livery and we were ready to race!
Unfortunately due to the lack of dry running we have had at Silverstone, qualifying was a tough pill to swallow for us and not our greatest performance in contrast from the good pace we showed in the wet, it was clear there was work to be done in the dry.
However after a busy night and a lot of hard work and thinking from all the guys at Academy we made changes and approached Sunday morning warm up with a fresh mindset. And with that a much faster race car, as it showed in the warm up!
The race was always going to be a battle of speed vs consistency starting from the back with a 3 hour race taking plenty of life out of the tyres, car and drivers it was still all to play for.
We took damage on lap 1 which flipped our strategy on its head with an early driver change swapping Will for myself and a long 1 hour 10 minute stint to catch back up!
As the race drew on our pace was blistering and consistent and it became clear we could still get a result even with a slightly damaged car that was flat last on lap 1.
When I jumped back in for my last stint after a mega strategy from the team we appeared 5th in class! But with 32 minutes left there was still work to be do and I had one job…. push as hard as you can until the flag!
With GT3 cars everywhere and a challenging GT4 field it wasn’t easy but I settled into a rhythm once again and brought the car home in 5th!
Awesome result to repay all the hard work everybody at Academy Motorsport have put in over the season and this gives us huge momentum that we can challenge for trophies!
Will drove amazing in his stints also and we are definitely going to be a partnership to keep an eye out for at the next round at Donington park!
A massive thank you to Aston Martin Racing and Charlie Eastwood for all the support and coaching this weekend. I’m very lucky to receive this support at every rave weekend and I’m definitely becoming a better driver for it!
It was also a pleasure to see so many fans, guests and sponsors turn out and pack the garage, hospitality and grandstands this weekend. You really gave me and Will a reassuring confidence all weekend!
A result is coming! Maybe with more luck it would have come this time, but watch out Donington because we are coming for you!!!
Massive thank you as always to my sponsors AS Advisors, Tailored Services & Lodestone projects for their continued support as with out these guys I would not be able to race. Also big thank you to my mum & dad!
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