Beechdean AMR ready for British GT’s Big One!
PREVIEW - British GT Round 6
Silverstone hosts the next round of the 2018 British GT Championship this weekend and the Beechdean AMR team will be going all out to continue its streak of podium finishes.
The British GT Championship’s headline race, the ‘Silverstone 500’, runs on the full Grand Prix Circuit at Silverstone and often delivers some incredible on-track battles. The recently resurfaced track also looks set to produce some exceptionally fast racing.
For Andrew Howard, Beechdean AMR team boss and driver of the #99 Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3, Round 6 of the championship is an important race for the team.
“We need to keep scoring good points to make sure we are in with a shot at the title at the end of the season,” said Howard. “We’ve got a good streak of podiums behind us now so it would be good to make it onto the top step at Silverstone. It’s a circuit that I enjoy racing at and we’ve had a good test there so I have every reason to be hopeful of a good result this weekend.”
The Silverstone 500 is the only three-hour race in the 2018 schedule and there are 37.5 points up for grabs for the winner. Pole position will be awarded to the GT3 car with the fastest aggregate time of its professional and amateur drivers. The amateur drivers are then tasked with starting the race so that job will fall to Howard. With three hours of racing ahead of them it looks set to be an exciting event for the team.
Howard’s team mate, Aston Martin Racing works driver Darren Turner, is eager to get back out on the new Silverstone asphalt in the Aston Martin.
“It was great to finish on the podium at Snetterton as that really keeps us in the hunt for the championship,” said Turner. “Now we go to the home of British motorsport for what we expect to be a very fast race! Silverstone has been completely resurfaced over the winter and we discovered at our recent test that the grip level is phenomenal. It’s good that it’s a three-hour race as it means I get more time behind the wheel and that’s my happy place. Our target is to keep our podium run going and it would be good to think we can hit the top step at Silverstone.”
For those heading to Silverstone this weekend, Turner’s advice is to: “head to the entrance to Maggotts, on the outside of the circuit. The entry to that corner is super-fast and with the circuit coming so close to the spectator’s viewing point it gives you an real sense of the speed of the cars.”
SILVERSTONE SCHEDULE
SATURDAY
09:30 – 10:30 Free Practice 1
11:40 – 12:40 Free Practice 2
15:25 – 15:35 Qualifying GT3 AM
15:39 – 15:49 Qualifying GT3 PRO
SUNDAY
09:45 – 09:55 Warm up
13:10 – 16:10 Race
LIVE TIMING: http://www.britishgt.com/live-timing
LIVE STREAM: http://www.facebook.com/BritishGT