All eyes on the podium at Snetterton
PREVIEW - British GT Rounds 4 & 5
The Beechdean AMR team travels to Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk this Bank Holiday weekend, with all eyes on the podium. It’s a double-header race weekend with plenty of championship points up for grabs so it is vital to score points in each of the two, one-hour British GT races.
“The goal for us now is to consistently score good points so we need regular podium finishes,” said team boss and driver of the #99 Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3, Andrew Howard. “We may suffer to the Lamborghinis and Bentleys if it’s dry but we have done a lot of miles there in racing and testing so we are prepared. I’ve got good memories of British GT at Snetterton. We won there in 2015 in horrendous rain and that laid down the platform for us to win the championship. It was an all-or-nothing moment and we came out on top.”
Snetterton is located on a former RAF base, 12 miles from Thetford. The circuit is known for its long straights and skill-testing combination of fast, medium and slow speed corners, which includes the long Coram Curve and the thrilling Bomb Hole.
“I’ve always liked Snetterton and the short, sprint races are particularly good there,” said Howard. “You have room to be enthusiastic and push on and there’s enough in the track to make a difference between the drivers. It has a really good combination of high speed and technical corners and at our level the technical corners are tricky for the amateurs so getting those right can make a big difference to the outcome.”
Howard’s team mate, Aston Martin Racing works driver, Darren Turner, knows Snetterton well and sees it as a home from home. He agrees that the focus is on consistently scoring good points.
“We’ve collected decent points in the first two weekends at Oulton Park and Rockingham so now we need to keep that momentum going and get on the podium again,” said Turner. “Snetterton has always felt like a ‘home’ circuit to me as I lived in Norfolk for a few years. We also test there a lot so there isn’t much we don’t know about that circuit. It would be great to come away with a podium. The Aston Martin always goes well there so we are feeling good about the weekend’s prospects.”
The track action gets underway at Snetterton on Saturday morning, with the two races taking place on Sunday afternoon. If you are going along to Snetterton, Andrew Howard knows a great spot for watching the action.
“I would go down to the section between The Esses and Bomb Hole where you can see back down the straight,” he said. “That’s where it usually all kicks off so there is plenty to see!”
SNETTERTON SCHEDULE
SATURDAY
09:30 – 10:30 Free Practice 1
12:10 – 13:10 Free Practice 2
15:50 – 16:00 Qualifying GT3 AM
16:04 – 16:14 Qualifying GT3 PRO
SUNDAY
09:25 – 09:35 Warm up
11:00 – 12:00 Race 1
15:30 – 16:30 Race 2
