In a highly competitive Silverstone 500 qualifying session, the Trackspeed Racing Porsches secured position two, three and four on the grid for the three-hour spectacular this holiday weekend. With 48 cars lining up for the fourth round of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship, timing was key for each of the Trackspeed 997 GT3Rs , to avoid traffic and maximise their speed around the Arena layout.
Starting on the front-row, alongside the pole-setting BMW will be the Nick Tandy and David Ashburn Porsche, which set a lap of 2:02.732, just a tenth off the leader. With just a few minutes of the 45 minute qualifying session remaining, Tandy headed onto the sun-basked 3.6 mile Silverstone circuit to post his best lap of the weekend so far. “I’m very pleased with that.” British GT Championship joint points leader Tandy shared. “I’m quite surprised to be in front of one of the BMWs, because they look very quick around here. We made a change in between the two runs in qualifying and it made a big difference. The track temperature was very different, which made the car handle a little differently and we got caught out on the first run, but we made a good change, and now we’re front row.”
Just like the No.31 car, Richard Westbrook left it until the dying moments of the session to set a lap time that will see him and Gregor Fisken start the three-hour race in third position. With many of the 48 car field heading to the pits with their times posted, Westbrook but in a final banzai attack on the Silverstone tarmac to post a lap of 2:02.802 with just a minute left on the clock. “We’re not quite there yet over one lap for qualifying, but it’s a long race.” Le Mans racer Westbrook offered at the end of the session. “We’ve really worked on a good race car like we did at Rockingham. We’re following the same procedure, it worked for us at Rockingham and hopefully it’ll work for us here. My team-mate is on form at the moment and we just want to maximise our points.”
For co-driver Fisken, the second row on the grid was a great achievement for the Porsche and gives the pair the potential to continue their charge up the points leader-board. “It was a good time by Richard.” he said. “It’s not a Porsche track, so to get up to P4 exceeded our expectations. We start in a very good place, it’s a long race and we really just need to replicate Rockingham.”
Setting the initial pace in qualifying was the Phil Keen and Jon Minshaw Trackspeed 997GT3R, which headed the timings table during the early stages. But as the session progressed, the Demon Tweaks liveried Porsche saw it’s provisional pole position evaporate when a BMW Z4 and Ferrari 458 leapt to the top of the timings. Undeterred, Keen headed back out to set a time of 2:02.812 that put the No.33 machine into second position, until the sister cars of Tandy and Westbrook put in the late charges to put Keen and Minshaw fourth on the grid.
“There was a lot of traffic out there, and it wasn’t the best lap I’ve ever done.” Keen explained. “But we’re in the top four, only half a tenth off Westbrook and Tandy.”
The green flag for the three-hour race from Silverstone will drop at 1:00pm this Sunday, with all the action being broadcast live on MotorsTV. With 150% up for grabs, the Trackspeed Porsches will be looking to enhance their positions at the sharp end of the driver and team championship standings, and continue their early season momentum.
Source : Trackspeed Racing