In what was a tough weekend for the Oman Racing team they showed their determination by fighting back to finish fourth.
The latest round of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship headed to Spa with the Wrotham based team leading the team standings.
Expectations were high heading into only overseas race on the British GT calendar and the weekend started well for the Motorbase-run team with the #6 and #2 Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3’s securing second and sixth place positions respectively on the grid during Friday’s qualifying session. Unfortunately a drive through penalty and pit lane delays cost the team another trip to the podium.
Griffin and Al Harthy took the opening stints of the two hour contest. Regrettably the #6 Vantage was hit with an almost immediate drive through penalty when Griffin was deemed to have jumped the start of the race.
Despite still having to carry the additional 65kg Silver Cup class weight on-board the #2 Vantage Al Harthy held off challenges during the opening period littered with safety cars and both cars pitted in top five positions as the driver changeover window opened.
With the entire GT3 grid pitting at the same time under the safety car, pit-lane congestion was a challenge and pit-lane complications furthered hampered the driver switch over, resulting in a delay for both Oman Racing Team cars. Butcher managed to re-join near the front of the pack, but unfortunately Lloyd was held up significantly, re-joining the action at the back.
Butcher produced a superb drive in the #6 Vantage with the Scotsman’s, setting fastest lap of the race to eventually take 4th place overall. Lloyd battled back hard from last place whilst also contending the weight penalty and the Aston Martin Evolution Academy driver managed to salvage a respectable 11th place spot, narrowly missing out on another point’s finish for the team.
Speaking after the weekend’s racing Team Principal, David Bartrum said: “It was Liam’s first time at Spa and both he and Rory a fantastic job to get the car on the front row. Unfortunately he just was a little too keen to get going and jumped the start, which resulted in the drive through penalty.”
“Rory’s drive was fantastic, he did a really good job to fight his way back up to fourth, and they both worked really well this weekend and deserved that result.”
“The #6 Vantage struggled all weekend, the P6 qualifying result doesn’t really show the true story of how much of a challenge it is with the 65kg on-board;” added Bartrum. “The task for Dan and Ahmad this weekend was unbelievably tough; they had no chance really to be competitive in a two hour race on such a long track like Spa.
“The forces and the loads on the car are unacceptable and bordering on dangerous. The weight penalty on the Aston is unbelievably harsh for what we’re asking the car and the drivers to deliver.”
Despite a challenging weekend, David Bartrum’s team still has a clear lead in the Championship standings whilst Butcher and Griffin hold on their second place position in the driver standings.
Meanwhile Al Harthy and Lloyd maintain a healthy lead in the Silver Cup standings and also move up into 4th place in the overall standings.
Bartrum added: “Once again Rory and Liam showed what a strong partnership they are and just how strong a contender Liam is becoming in the championship.
“The weekend’s results weren’t great for Ahmad and Dan but I thank both of them for their efforts and for doing the best with what they had available to them. Carrying the weight this season has been so much harder than in previous years as the quality of the field has moved on so much.”
The Motorbase squad’s attention now turns to the Total 24 hours of Spa event at the end of July, where it faces its biggest challenge to date against the world’s leading GT teams on the Belgian circuit.
The British GT Championship has a short break in the calendar before returning for the third 2 hour race of the season at Motorbase’s home track, Brands Hatch on August 1/2.
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