The Autosport 6 hours of Silverstone having finally arrived, the Neil Garner Motorsport team are more than excited to be competing in the 4th round of the Le Mans Series at this fabulous venue.
The event, being the sole on the calendar ‘on home grounds’, has put pressure on the team to perform without fault this weekend, as many supporting guests and fans will be present. For the drivers, it’s the same story, racing at this newly designed arena circuit would have been difficult without experience, so in a quest to gain knowledge of the twists and turns, John Hartshorne and Steve Keating (the team’s two gentlemen drivers) chose to test in a Radical here last week.
The day was a mighty success, encouraging results were produced and the driver’s confidence expanded. John commented: “The circuit is quite daunting in some places as you can carry a lot of speed into the corners, turn 1 is very challenging. Testing here was extremely worth while, I know lots of places where I can improve on Friday.” Steve added that the Maggots/Becketts complex is good; once settled in the Formula Le Mans, the car will fly through the first part; as with the Club/ Abbey/ Farm curve section.
Phil Keen also gave a few words on the new arena circuit: “I have already raced on the new Arena circuit, but am looking forward to driving there particularly in the Oreca 09 prototype. It should be a great experience as it’s fast and flowing. I don’t know if the Formula Le Mans is suited to Silverstone; it is a circuit where power is required, so it will be interesting to see how we fair in a straight line compared to the other cars on track. I’m still really enjoying my first season in the Le Mans Series with The Neil Garner Motorsport team. They have been brilliant, making me feel very welcome and working with everyone over the weekend is a real pleasure.”
Neil Garner, team manager, took time to share his thoughts on the start of the team’s debut season in the Le Mans Series, as well as his hopes for this weekend and the rest of the season : “I’m quite satisfied with the start of the season. The Formula Le Mans project is a superb way of getting into the Le Mans Series and results in some very close racing. I like the 6 hour format, it gives plenty of track time for the drivers and has enabled the team’s experience to grow with both a prototype chassis and the LMS style rules and regulations.
After damaging the chassis at Imola and not being able to race, it is now very difficult for us to win the championship. This however will not stop us pushing very hard in the last two races of the season; we are still striving for a podium position finish in the championship and will certainly do our best to be on the top step for the rest of the year.
Many people have been asking questions about our plans for next season. For 2012 we have already had discussions with our drivers and LMP2 drivers. The natural progression would be to move into P2 but I would like to continue running the Formula Le Mans team as it’s such a good platform. Our long term plan is to have a P2 chassis at the 24 hours of Le Mans which could be as early as next season…”
The team is aiming to score a win this weekend, as the car suffered severe damage following the accident in Italy two months ago, leaving the team currently 4th in the championship.
Source : Neil Garner Motorsport