Ryan Ratcliffe says he is fully focused on sealing the Avon Tyres British GT GT4 Championship, but can’t deny he is assessing plans to progress to the GT3 category next season.
“My aim is to win GT4, then think about GT3. If we can win the championship then I’ll have a good CV and I can have the conversations with GT3 teams and some gentleman drivers. GT3 is another level and I know we couldn’t afford to do it off our own backs, so work is required to make that happen.”
The Welshman, 20, is this weekend in contention to take the GT4 crown with Optimum Motorsports team-mate Rick Parfitt Jnr, the pair are now 27.5 points ahead of Century Motorsports’ Declan Jones, and Ratcliffe has impressed in his debut year of the top British GT series.
“It’s been a really good year. It didn’t start off very well at Oulton, but Optimum rebuilt the car before Rockingham and ironed out the issues we were having; it was like driving a new car after Shaun (Goff – Team Principal) looked at it.
“Rockingham was tough, the car felt great but a relay melted in the heat and shutdown the fuel pump which caused Rick to stop when we were leading.”
Silverstone was a good race for Ratcliffe and Parfitt Jnr, the pair finished third overall in GT4 behind two Dutch entries, but were importantly the first home from the British contingent. Snetterton saw the duo claim their first class win, then doubled that feat a couple of hours later.
Ratcliffe arrives in Zandvoort off the back of three wins, a strong victory at Brands Hatch included, and the Optimum racer is understandably confident of a good weekend.
“We should be good here. Despite the longer stop we need to do in race one, I think we have the pace to still challenge for the win in the first race. Shaun is so on the ball with strategy and timings that we always have a good pit stop.”
Parfitt Jnr has been a more than able team-mate for the Welshman, and it is a relationship that has helped both drivers have the confidence to progress.
“Rick and I get on great, we know each others sense of humour and we’re both quick. Sometimes it can take time to gel with a team-mate, but because we knew each other last year it has been really easy to work with him. Rick has surprised himself this year which has given him a real confidence boost, and he hasn’t looked back since.”
The sixth round of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship at Zandvoort kicks off today with two 55-minute Free Practice sessions (13:25 BST and 15:50 BST). Two thirty-minute Qualifying Practice sessions occur on Saturday morning (8:25 BST) will set the grids for the races, the first is scheduled to begin at 15:00 BST on the same day. The second race of the weekend begins at 11am BST on Sunday.
Source : British GT