British GT – Rockingham – Round 3
Apologies for the lack of pictures guys as I’m experiencing a few technical issues at my end, but all will be fixed for my next blog!!
I have spent most of the last two weeks going over what happened at Oulton Park and itching to get back out in the Oman Racing Team Aston Martin. With a change of team mate for round 3 of the British GT Championship at Rockingham there was a lot to be learned in a short space of time at a circuit that always throws its own challenges in to the mix!
I started my partnership with Liam Griffin on Saturday during free practice and from the word go we were “singing from the same hymn sheet”. He showed an excellent willingness to learn and gradually improved his pace and displayed great consistency. We headed into qualifying with little expectation but felt that we had a real shot at a result in the race!
Qualifying for races of two hours or more are structured so that both the professional and amateur driver in each pairing must set a qualifying time, the quickest lap set by each driver is then added together to create an aggregated time and that then determines your grid position. A system which promotes good team work, but due to our late change in driver pairings the British GT Championship organisers hit Liam and I with a grid penalty which meant we would start in 20th position at the back of the GT3 grid.
The Aston felt really strong during my flying laps with new tyres on and it actually caught me a little off guard with the amount of grip they produced on Rockingham’s abrasive surface. We had run well-used tyres during free practice to work on a race set up and the difference in grip with the fresh rubber was massive. I clocked the 10th quickest time in the pro category and Liam then took over for his laps.
Liam, who had only sat in the car for the first time during free practice, used the session as a further learning curve, posting consistent and steady times but not focussing on pushing for that one flat-out lap. We already knew that we would start 20th for Monday’s two hour race but we felt that my team mate would continue to find confidence and pace during his stint in the race.
The build up to the race was fantastic as we practised pits stops and driver changes over and over in the quest to gain a second or two over our competitors.
The amateurs started the race and Liam was certainly excited but nervous about this new experience. He stayed calm and got through the first lap unscathed and was also two positions up in 18th. Over his hour long stint he patiently pressured each car that he came across and waited for them to make a mistake. With a few good overtakes and errors from other drivers he finished his stint in a superb 12th position and headed for the pits.
It was quite intense waiting for Liam as he came down the pit lane. I was standing amongst our pit crew who were also pumped up with adrenaline ready to change tyres and refuel the Aston. Driver out, 110 litres of fuel in, driver in and tyre change – DONE! We clocked the third quickest pit stop time out of any car in the race which is a huge testament to the Oman Racing Team and their skills.
This speedy pit stop bumped us up the order to 9th overall and just behind the battle for 5th, but only four laps later I received a front right tyre blow out which forced me to pit once again. The overall loss of time was around one minute and sent me down the order.
From here it was a case of maintaining a fast, consistent pace and making the most of what we had. The car was actually quite hard to drive during my first ten laps on track and it took a few laps to adjust my driving style. With a change of technique I managed to find a groove over the closing stages and held a good pace, catching and passing Alex Buncombe in the Nismo Nissan GTR for 12th.
The sister Oman Racing car of Ahmed Al Harthy and Michael Caine also experienced some bad luck which dropped them down the order from a podium position to 11th. It was a story of what could have been after such a great team performance.
All in all we can take a lot from this result considering Liam has little experience in the Aston Martin V12 Vantage and the bad luck we encountered with the punctured tyre and grid penalty didn’t help. With a little more time working with him I can sense some good results ahead!
It is much clearer to me now how good strategy and team work plays such a big part in endurance racing.
Next we head to the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit for the British GT 3 hour race on the 31st May and 1st June.
Please find all relevant links and info below.
Championship Information
Please have a look at the British GT website to keep up to date with news stories, photos, race dates and TV times;
www.britishgt.com
TV Times
All British GT events are televised one week after the event on Channel 4 and Motors TV with the Silverstone 3 hour race being broadcast live on Motors TV on June 1st.
www.britishgt.com/television