This weekend sees Trackspeed return to the racing fold in the form of Rounds Five and Six of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship at Snetterton. Returning from a forgettable three-hour showdown at Silverstone several weeks ago, the leading Porsche outfit will be looking to reassert their position at the top of the team championship standings. In addition, Surrey-based Trackspeed will be aiming to propel their stable of drivers back in to the title fight, in the pair of 60 minute races on the 2.9 miles of Snetterton 300 circuit.
In the same fixture last year, the former airbase in Norfolk proved to be fruitful for the 997 GT3Rs, with Trackspeed Porsches securing points in both races, including a dominant 1-2 finish in the second sprint race of the weekend. Currently second in the British GT Championship standings, 17.5 points off the leaders, David Ashburn and Nick Tandy will be looking to score big in their bid to climb back to the top of the leader-board. Following a blistering start to the season with a second place and victory at Oulton Park, the pair saw their hopes stall with two DNFs in the recent endurance events at Rockingham and Silverstone. Despite some balance of performance adjustments that have been imposed on the No.31 polka-dot Porsche ahead of this weekend’s races, spirits and ambitions are high for Ashburn and Tandy.
“Well, things can only get better after Silverstone!” Porsche factory driver Tandy explains. “The team can’t win all the races so I hope that’s our bad weekend out of the way. The team and the drivers have been doing such a good job with the outright pace of the cars so far – so much so that the organizers have decided to try to slow us down a bit with less aerodynamic force for the next round. So it’s going to be tough to stay at the front but both David and I are confident Snetterton will be a good circuit for the pair of us.”
Currently fourth in the Championship on 37.5 points, Gregor Fisken will be joined by former British Touring Car racer Stephen Jelley this weekend, who replaces Le Mans bound Richard Westbrook. Jelley is no stranger to the Trackspeed 997s, having partnered with Ashburn in 2011, which included securing pole position at Donington. “I’m really looking forward to Snetterton this weekend.” Carrera cup regular Jelley shared this week. “The new Snetterton is a great circuit and currently I’ve got an 100% win rate there so we’ll be looking to keep that going!
“Its always nice to know you’re getting into a front running car and team, and we are going into a race weekend for the win. Gregor is a very capable driver and we’ll be putting any bad luck he’s had behind us, were going into the weekend hunting maximum points plain and simple. The tartan monster is coming through!”
For co-driver Fisken, the pair of one hour races are a chance to build on an impressive race winning performance at Rockingham and re-establish his British GT title-fighting credentials. “I have put Silverstone behind me and look forward to working with my new team mate, Stephen Jelley, for the Snetterton round.” Fisken said. “Whilst a further performance reduction balance served to the Porsches seems inexplicable as no Porsche excelled either at the Silverstone British GT round or at the Blancpain round, we just have to quietly get on with the job of doing the best we can, and hopefully getting the “Tartan Terror” to the finishing line in both races!”
The third Trackspeed Porsche of Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen will be looking to rekindle their early season form, that saw them claim the top step of the podium in the first British GT Championship race of 2013. The pair currently hold 25 points in the standings, and should results go their way, could once again be in the Championship fight. The Demon Tweaks livered Porsche has certainly shown it’s got the pace and talent to be a contender, following the win at Oulton Park, and leading the lion-share of the two-hour race at Rockingham before hitting mechanical issues.
In the bid for the Team Championship title, Trackspeed Racing continue to set the pace and head the points table by a massive 40 marks. Despite the recent balance of performance (BOP) adjustments, Team Manager, Keith Cheetham, is confident of furthering Trackspeed’s position at the top. “Well after a disappointing event at Silverstone, where we should have had good results, we will be back with a hard impact at Snetterton and aiming to fulfil the 1-2-3 we missed out on last year.” He offers ahead of this weekend’s brace of races. “We have had some bad luck this year, but I feel this is about to change even though we have been given an unfair BOP. I have the best GT drivers in the championship and then people are shocked when they are quick. BOP is meant to be for the cars not to level out the drivers that are in them. We have a good package and will be at the front again. I’m also happy to welcome Stephen Jelley back to the team after a season away from a Trackspeed Porsche.”
Source : Trackspeed Racing