Motorbase Performance scored a hard fought top ten result at Oulton Park on Bank Holiday Monday (May 30) after a challenging weekend of racing during rounds 3 & 4 of the British GT Championship.
With an extra 35kg of weight on-board the #8 Aston Martin, Motorbase duo Ross Wylie and Phil Dryburgh struggled with outright pace in the Vantage GT3 on the tight and twisty International circuit and left Cheshire frustrated to have only achieved a single point from the double header event.
Starting in P12 in the opening race, Dryburgh took initial charge of the V12 Vantage putting in some solid laps before getting caught out by an early safety car deployment. Opting to pit early on in the window for the driver changeover, the Motorbase crew managed to avoid the ensuing pit-lane chaos with Wylie taking full advantage and re-joining the field in P8. Unfortunately, after hitting debris on the final lap of the hour-long sprint race the Young Scot was forced to nurse the damaged Vantage home - eventually crossing the line in a disappointing 12th place.
With the Pro drivers setting starting places for the second sprint race of the day, Wylie lined up in 13th overall on the packed 27-car grid. After an uneventful opening stint and text book pit stop, the #8 Vantage emerged from the pit-lane in P10. A strong final push from Dryburgh in the closing laps was rewarded with a 10th place points finish for the Motorbase Performance squad and another addition to the Kent-based outfit’s 2016 championship tally.
Motorbase Performance Team Principal David Bartrum said; “I love Oulton Park at the best of times and especially when things go right, but unfortunately for us this weekend didn’t go to plan. It was a trying weekend, a true character builder. It was just nice to come home with a car that had completed the two races without any damage to be honest with so many incidents. I have to say well done to the boys for managing to achieve that.”
“We’ve got some work to do to make up ground against the competition. We’ve just got to keep working hard on helping Phil and Ross to move forward and that’s what we’ll do. We’ll knuckle down and see what we can do to help them improve together and ultimately go faster.”
The British GT Championship now has a short break before reconvening at the ‘home of British Motorsport’ Silverstone with a mighty three hour race for round 5 on June 11/12.
“Silverstone is a circuit that suits the Aston;” continued Bartrum. “Historically Motorbase has also done very well there in the British GT and Blancpain Endurance Series so we’re looking forward to going back for our second GT visit this year.
“I think it’ll suit Ross and Phil better and returning to the three hour race format gives them the time to tune into the racing and get stuck in. Hopefully that will work in our favour and we’ll get a good clear run and some more points on the board.”
Driver Quotes:
Ross Wylie: "It was a tough weekend, but we need to learn from it, take it on the chin and move on. The team have done a great job for us and I hope we can repay their hard work at Silverstone."
Phil Dryburgh:“Last weekend at Oulton was the round where the Brands Hatch crash caught up with us! The guys back at base have done a phenomenal job building a new car, but missing a bit of testing whilst it was being built told on our pace at the track. Two finishes at all is quite an achievement and we'll build on that for the second half of the season.”
