TF Sport continued its podium streak in GT racing after securing back-to-back GT-Am victories with drivers Euan Hankey and Salih Yoluc in the International GT Open’s visit to one of the world’s most famous circuits, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (4-6 September).

Having acquired valuable data from its earlier outing at Spa-Francorchamps in the Avon Tyres British GT Championship’s flyaway round, TF Sport headed into the International GT Open weekend with an optimal base set-up for its Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 to be piloted by Hankey and Yoluc.

Qualifying fifth, Hankey took the start for the weekend’s opening race on Saturday (5 September) in the Ardennes forest and was squeezed on the inside at La Source at the start, dropping two positions, as the field of immense strength and depth then made its way through the famous left-right-left of Eau Rogue.

In what is essentially a sprint race, position is key during the early stages of the race, as Hankey looked to get back on terms by quickly latching onto the tail of Ezequiel Pérez Companc’s Ferrari 458 Italia in a battle that caught the attention of both spectators and the television cameras.

Hankey continued to pressure Companc into a mistake, before going two-a-breast into Eau Rogue and taking the initiative at the exit to then set about chasing down the leaders.

In typical Spa-Francorchamps fashion, rain began to fall on one half of the circuit just as the pit window neared a close, as the race leading McLaren 650s lost control on slick tyres at the top of Eau Rogue, slamming into the barriers and warranting the appearance of the Safety Car.

Utilising the weather to its advantage, TF Sport opted to pit at the very close of the window, where it fitted the wet weather tyres onto the Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 now being piloted by Yoluc.

Rejoining the race in third position behind the Safety Car, conditions steadily worsened and Yoluc was on course for an overall podium finish, when, with just over 15 minutes remaining at the restart, a spin at Les Combes dropped him to eighth position, which he would hold to the chequered flag to head the GT-Am category and stand atop of the podium on both his and Hankey’s GT Open debut.

With conditions still tricky for the weekend’s second race the following day (6 September), Yoluc took the start from the back of the grid and was quick to scythe his way through the field on the opening lap to break inside the top ten.

The Turkish driver continued to circulate still in contention for a double GT-Am class victory, before peeling into the pits to hand the reins over to teammate, Hankey, who rejoined the race with the sun starting to break through the clouds and a drying line forming around the 4.35 mile circuit.

Running a comfortable stint and lapping several tenths quicker than most of his rivals, he became embroiled in a nose-to-tail battle in the closing laps with the Lamborghini Gallardo of Anton Nebylitskiy, narrowly missing out on a seventh place finish by just six tenths of a second.

Nonetheless, Hankey did enough to secure the team’s second GT-Am victory of the weekend to round out a positive weekend for the Redhill, Surrey-based outfit.