Beechdean AMR aiming high at Rockingham
PREVIEW - British GT Race 3
The British GT Championship rolls into Rockingham this weekend for the first two-hour race of the season. After the opening rounds at Oulton Park during the Easter weekend, Andrew Howard and Darren Turner sit in third place in the GT3 Drivers’ championship, the highest ranked of the Aston Martin drivers.
Beechdean AMR’s championship campaign got off to a great start in Race 1 at Oulton Park when Howard and Turner took second place. Race 2 was a red-flagged wash out due to some typically British Bank Holiday weather but the stewards declared the result so the #99 Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 was awarded sixth place.
The positive news about the aborted race is that the time penalty the #99 was running with as a result of the podium finish in the first race has now gone so the team can attack the two-hour Rockingham event with no time penalties.
“We felt that given the opportunity to race we could have had a better result in Race 2 at Oulton Park,” said Howard. “Going to Rockingham without a penalty though is important as we are expecting it to be a race of attrition.
“Rockingham has traditionally been all about highs and lows: big crashes to big wins, with plenty of spectacle along the way,” Howard continued. “The level of competition in British GT is at an all-time high so we are doing extensive testing and simulator training to make sure we have the best possible opportunity at each event.”
Turner agrees that losing the time penalty will enable the team to aim high at Rockingham.
“We had a good opening race at Oulton Park,” said Turner. “Getting on the podium the first time out is a great place to start. It’s a shame we didn’t get to run the second race but we can now go to Rockingham with no success penalty so we can aim for the podium again.
“We tested at Rockingham a couple of weeks ago,” Turner continued. “But it was wet, and slippery, and foggy, and cold; all the things we hope it won’t be this weekend. The sim running we are doing is important as the level is so high in British GT that we can’t afford to miss any steps in our preparation for each round.”
ROCKINGHAM SCHEDULE
SATURDAY
09:30 – 10:30 Free Practice 1
11:45 – 12:45 Free Practice 2
15:25 – 15:35 Qualifying GT3 AM
15:39 – 15:49 Qualifying GT3 PRO
SUNDAY
09:30 – 09:40 Warm up
13:10 – 15:10 Race
LIVE TIMING: http://www.britishgt.com/live-timing
LIVE STREAM: http://www.facebook.com/BritishGT
