Bitter sweet result for Michael and Joe in race one

Joe Osborne started today’s race (2nd May) from pole position and after dropping behind Mallock’s Aston Martin N24 at the start, he quickly got back past him and then set about opening a big lead. Nigel Moore was able to pass Mallock a lap later and was pushing hard to catch the PMB Ginetta but Joe was more than up to the challenge and began to edge even further away from the works car.

“Joe did a mega job in the first stint of the race. It was unfortunate that he got passed by the Aston at the start but we knew how fast it would be in a straight line. Once he was back out in front he started building a cushion. His lap times were so consistent; it was a super impressive drive”.

To build the biggest possible lead, the team brought Joe in for the driver change as late as possible which turned out to be perfect timing, going one lap longer than the Moore/Firth Ginetta. What started off as a smooth pitstop with Michael taking over the car, the team miscalculated how long the car should have been stationary for, holding it in the box 7 seconds too long. When Michael emerged from the pitlane, Firth’s Ginetta had already sailed by.

“I couldn’t believe it when I saw the blue Ginetta in front of me coming out of the pits. I knew I had to push hard straight away so that I could catch up and then pass him. Joe had radioed into us during his stint explaining that he was struggling with the tyres so for the first few laps I couldn’t push that hard and was trying to get some balance back in the car”.

With the laps counting down, Michael started taking chunks of time out of Firth’s lead and on the last lap, was sitting on his bumper! Unfortunately Michael could not get quite close enough to make a pass and crossed the finish line just 0.2 of a second behind the lead Ginetta!

“The was a problem with the radio during my stint so I had no way of communicating with the pits to find out how much time was left in the race. After I managed to get some balance back in the tyres I was able to close down on Firth again. Coming out of the final corner I was praying for one more lap because I could see him struggling and I knew I could have passed him but that’s when the flag dropped!

This should have been our race for the taking; we clearly had the fastest car throughout the race and the lead Joe built before the pits should have been more than big enough to bring me out in front of the pack. We will work with the team before the race tomorrow to make sure there isn’t a repeat of today’s mistake”.

The second and final GT4 race will be held tomorrow morning (Sunday 3rd May) after the FIA GT warm-up session. Good weather and big crowds are expected!

Race 1 Results:

01. MOORE/FIRTH - 40:53.632

---

02. OSBORNE/BROADHURST (+0.260)

---

03. DONKERVOORT (+19.168) **
04. FLECTHER/ABBOTT (+20.543)
05. HLADIK (+26.067)
06. ORDONEZ/BUNCOMBE (+26.069)
07. WINTENBERGER (+49.411) **
08. VELTMAN (+54.539)
09. GRAMMATICO/MENA (+1:00.498)
10. PEARSON/PALMER (+1:17.178)
11. PUGACHEV (+2:01.068)
12. BLACK (+1 LAP)
13. EDER (+1 LAP) **
14. PRONK (+1 LAP) **
15. KICQ/DE DONCKER (+2 LAPS)

Not Classified

-- MALLOCK (DNF)
-- DUNSTAN/HAMILTON (DNF)

** Super Sport class