Hot on the heels of a winning weekend at the Spa-Francorchamps round of the British GT Championship, Ireland’s leading GT driver, Matt Griffin, now turns his attention to the forthcoming Paul Ricard round of the FIA GT3 Championship and a return to Spa for the 24 Hour event on 30th/31st July – part of the Blancpain Endurance Series.
The Northamptonshire-based GT3 pace-setter will be at the wheel of a Ferrari 458 GT3 throughout, with the MTech team and an ever-improving Duncan Cameron as his team mate at Paul Ricard, and an expanded, and extremely strong, driver line up for the twice-round-the-clock endurance event in Belgium with the Championship-winning AF Corse team. Matt will be teamed there with his regular Blancpain driving partner, Jack Gerber of South Africa, and joined by experienced Ferrari GT regulars Niki Cadei and Marco Cioci. Billed as the biggest race in the world reserved for GT cars, the 71-strong entry list features some high-profile names and manufacturer-led entries which, coupled with the unpredictable Ardennes weather conditions, should lead to a thrilling race.
Griffin’s busy 2011 racing schedule, with full participation in three different series, is a true indication of how much the Irishman is in demand in the increasingly competitive and fast-paced GT3 racing world. He has shown outstanding pace so far this season, with the win at Spa, a pole position, two lap records and two excitingly close-run second place finishes at Brands Hatch and Spa amongst the highlights.
Closely involved with the development of the new-for-2011 GT3 version of the Ferrari 458, Matt is extremely happy with the way in which track performances and reliability have been progressing: “It was brilliant to win at Spa in British GT. There have been some niggling, new-car problems and, although we’ve shown pace, we had no result until now. The whole weekend was great; we were consistently quick and it all ran faultlessly which really gives me confidence going to the Spa 24 Hours at the end of the month. Touch wood, the mechanical gremlins are now solved and we can press ahead.
“Obviously I’m looking forward to going to the Spa 24 as we’ve a very strong driver line-up.” Matt continues. “I’ve been heavily involved in developing the car, Marco works closely with Michelotto and Niki is a top Ferrari GT driver. We recently had a familiarisation test at Misano in Italy which worked really well and showed how close Marco, Niki and I were on times. Jack is a strong gentleman driver who has improved hand over fist this year and been quick in the Blancpain series so on paper I think the four of us look like a strong team, with of course fantastic support from AF Corse. You can never guarantee an outcome, but with one of the best Ferrari teams in the world behind you, you can’t feel anything but confident as you go into it.”
No matter where he is racing, or in which series, Griffin is planning on capitalising on the robust performances shown so far this year and increasing his tally of victories.
Source : Matt Griffin