Generation Bentley Racing came away from round five and six of the British GT Championship at Snetterton with a ninth and eighth place finish in the GT3 class.

Following difficulties in both free practice sessions, the team went into qualifying with Steve Tandy completing his session in 16th, with teammate James Appleby hampered by red and yellow flags, qualified in 18th for their start positions for Sunday.

Tandy behind the wheel for the start of race one, drove a great stint before handing over to Appleby at the 25 minute mark. Pushing hard and setting a mighty pace, straight-line speed was hindered by the newly reduced boost pressure thanks to the Balance of Performance adjustments imposed on the Bentley. Appleby caught up with Silverstone race winner Michael Caine’s Aston Martin and was looking for a way past when a move on a back marker forced the Bentley off-line and into a spin. Appleby reacting quickly recovered to finish the race in eleventh position, subsequently being promoted to ninth when two drivers were excluded.

“I lost some time with the spin, but managed to make up most of the gap clearing a couple of cars and finishing just behind Onslow-Cole’s Aston Martin,” said Appleby.

At the start of race two Appleby back in 18th place, managed to make up one place before a major incident on lap two caused the race to be red flagged. Barrier repairs meant that the race distance was reduced and would restart an hour later.

Appleby, finishing his stint in 15th, handed over to Tandy who was looking confident following a great pit stop by the team which gained them five places. Tandy was then stuck behind Dillon’s Ferrari and with their greater straight-line speed it made passing very difficult. Knowing the Bentley was stronger on the brakes into turn two, Tandy made his move out-braking Dillon, but unfortunately made contact which meant the Ferrari dropped two places. Tandy, once clear of the Ferrari was the fastest car on track, and quickly caught the leading pack but then later ran out of time to make up any further positions.

“Obviously the crash at the start impacted everybody’s race and we’re glad nobody was hurt,” said Appleby.  “We restarted well and the guys did a great job when we pitted and Steve and I changed. Steve set a fantastic pace and it’s clear from this weekend we have both got our heads around the car. Unfortunately although we took ninth and eighth place finishes, we lost our points this weekend due to the contact in race two. We are now looking forward to the next round at Spa in three weeks time.”

The next round of the 2014 British GT Championship takes place at Spa-Francorchamps on 12th July for the final double-header of the season.