Nürburgring hosted the third round of the International GT Open Championship and true to its unpredictable form the weather impacted running for the teams. Teams were limited in useful practice time due to rain and then fog shortened qualifying times.
Saturday was a difficult day for the team with short sessions and a major gearbox issue preventing Archie from completing more than two flying laps and setting a representative time. The afternoon race only lasted three laps for the Drivex team when Archie’s co-driver Niccolò Schirò was involved in an incident ending the race and badly damaging the Porsche GT2 RSR.
Overnight the team did an amazing job to rebuild the car and Archie took the first stint for race two on Sunday. Archie did well to avoid spinning cars ahead of him during the start and went on to make up six places and get the car up to fourth in SGT class, setting the third fastest race lap in the process. After the driver change, Niccolò went on to gain five overall places but was unable to lift the team onto the podium.
Archie’s next time out on a race track is the official test for the Le Mans 24 Hours on 9th June before racing two weeks later. His preparations included a shakedown test, TV coverage of which can be seen here.
Archie Hamilton: “I need to thank the team for their great working in getting the car in good shape for today. Accidents happen and it was disappointing not to get in the car for race one but that’s racing. Today we showed that we have potential, but starting from way back with some very competitive GTS cars ahead made life quite difficult. The positive is that we took a few points home with us. My focus now is back on Le Mans and driving the prototype. Even driving the Oreca-Nissan on an airfield was enough to give me an insight into what it can do and I can’t wait to drive it on the track. Although it was just a shakedown test it was good preparation and an opportunity to work with the team without the pressure of an event. “
Archie’s next event is the Le Mans 24 Hours test, France on 7th June.
Source : Archie Hamilton