Racecar client Sarah Bennet Baggs had a good weekend at Brands. Rob did the overall visual for the car livery - it's quite different to other Aston liveries he has done - don't get many calls for pink ones...!
Podium finish for Sarah in the GT CUP at Brands GP
Brands Hatch was the venue for Rounds 3 and 4 of the GT Cup Series, running with the A1 GP meeting on the full GP circuit. An eventful weekend, practice rounds went well on the Friday with Sarah getting that all important extra testing time to become more familiar with her new 4.3 litre Aston Martin N24. A full grid of 40 cars qualified on Saturday morning for the double header; Sarah qualified 2nd in class sandwiched between the two rival 4.7 litre Aston Martins with a fastest lap of 1.40.4 lying 30th out of 40 starters.
Race 1 didn't exactly go to plan. Having made a superb start Sarah closed in on her class leader Will Goff and briefly took the lead in an exciting battle during the first few laps, but on lap 3 it all went wrong when car 58 made a lunge to get past up the inside at Clearways, tapping her into a spin. The manoeuvre left Sarah stalled in the middle of the track facing the rest of the oncoming field. She rejoined the back of the pack once they had passed - dead last - and gave chase. After two or three laps she caught the back of the field and made up several places to 5th in class only to get shunted by another class opponent going into Druids. The rear end impact caused the car to spin again, stalling mid track, facing the oncoming traffic. Sarah rejoined the back of the pack dead last once again but the damage from the second impact caused exhaust fumes and smoke to fill the car forcing her to pull off the circuit not more than half a lap later. Drivers of both incidents were investigated by the clerk of the course on the day and each driver received a licence endorsement; unfortunately no compensation for the damaged Aston and lost positions!
Thankfully, in the GT Cup, grid positions for Race 2 are determined from the 2nd fastest qualifying lap. Since Sarah put in two excellent laps during qualifying she moved further up the grid for the start of Race 2 and back into 2nd in class (26th out of 40 starters). Race 2 was considerably shortened by two incidents which brought out the safety car for 3 laps and subsequently led to the race being red flagged. However Sarah maintained her position of 26th out of the 40 starters to finish 2nd in class and picked up her first cup of the season.
Next rounds are at Snetterton on the 13 & 14 June.
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