It was a double podium for the Motorbase/Oman Racing team in the latest round of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship from Rockingham.
A second and third place finish represents an excellent weekend for the Wrotham based team as they make a strong challenge in the British GT Championship.
An impressive qualifying session on Saturday saw the number two Motorbase-run Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 secure third spot on the grid with Daniel Lloyd and Ahmad Al Harthy behind the wheel. Team-mates Rory Butcher and Liam Griffin were narrowly behind with the number six Vantage starting Sunday’s two hour contest in P5.
Al Harthy took the opening stint in the Aston and almost immediately applied pressure on the race leaders, taking second spot from Howard in the Beechdean Aston before closing in on race leader Attard as the race unfolded. A perfectly executed pit stop by the Motorbase crew nearing the halfway point meant that Lloyd re-joined the action ahead of Sims’ BMW to take the race lead.
Meanwhile Griffin had been systematically making his way through the tight GT3 field, delivering another outstanding performance to hand the Vantage over to team-mate Butcher in a strong third place position.
Round 2 of the 2015 British GT Championship.
Lloyd delivered an excellent defensive drive to hold onto the race lead under mounting pressure from a charging Sims, with the Yorkshire-man holding off the BMW for several laps before eventually being forced to concede after running wide to evade lapped back markers on track.
An eleventh hour appearance of the safety car in the closing minutes of the race saw Lloyd come under increasing pressure from the charging pack – led by Oman Racing Team-mate Rory Butcher- once again but the silver cup driver held his nerve and position to cross the line in second and claim a maiden podium for the Aston.
Butcher rounded off an excellent weekend of results for Oman Racing Team with the Young Scotsman catching Lloyd in the closing stages of the race whilst defending hard from the RAM Racing Mercedes to secure third spot on the podium for the Vantage – with his team-mate Griffin also collecting the Blancpain Driver of the Weekend Award.
Speaking after an excellent weekend, Team Principal David Bartrum said: “A lovely result for us this weekend. Second and third is brilliant for the Oman Racing Team and our championship challenge. It was great team effort, no-one missed a beat all weekend and it was a weekend of good, clean racing.
“I have to say Dan’s drive today was pretty special. The number two Aston is a silver/silver car so it carries a 70kg weight penalty and to battle with a works BMW driver the way he did was impressive. I think you’ll start to see the real Dan Lloyd now and see the partnership between him and Ahmad really start to become something special.
“Rory and Liam have had another well-deserved result. They never stop working and looking to improve and another very good partnership is growing there. You can see that in the results we’ve had today. We’ve had a win and now a second and third so that’s all the steps on the podium covered – we just need to keep up the momentum.”
The weekend’s results see the Oman Racing Team extend its lead in the British GT Championship. Lloyd and Al Harthy also now top the Silver Cup honours with Butcher and Griffin sitting in a strong runners-up position in the overall drivers’ standings as the Motorbase-run squad prepares for round 4 at Silverstone on 30/31 May.
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