Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit hosts the most high-profile race of the 2016 British GT Championship season this coming weekend, 11th/12th June, where the longest encounter of the year, the three hour Silverstone 500, awaits Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4 driver Jake Giddings.
Going into round five of the season, the Wisbech racer and Pro-Am team mate Kieran Griffin are banking on a serious turn around in their fortunes after some terribly bad luck thus far – not least during the previous event at Oulton Park a week ago.
Retirement from both races, the first double-header of the year, meant the JWB Motorsport drivers slipped from third in the Pro-Am championship standings to sixth place so the aim for Silverstone is to bounce back in the strongest possible way.
While an unfortunate excursion for Griffin ruled the No.47 Aston Martin out of the first Oulton Park contest early on, a mechanical issue forced the car’s retirement from race two when Jake was at the wheel – frustratingly after a superb start had catapulted him into GT4 podium contention.
Now, all focus is on a fault-free weekend at Silverstone where the team-mates achieved a top seven finish last season from 13th on the GT4 grid. So far this year, their best result is ninth position from rounds one and two at Brands Hatch and Rockingham respectively.
“Oulton was really disappointing, but the positive thing was the pace Kieran showed – he made a big step forward there so hopefully we can take that into Silverstone”, said the Irish TV, Finesse Paving and Civil Engineering, Cowley Road Garage and Toppesfield supported driver, “It’s going to be great racing the longer format again, I’m really looking forward to it, and fingers crossed it should be good.
“We have had quite a lot of bad luck this season so far, it’ll be great if we can turn that around at the weekend and move back up the Pro-Am championship. We’ll have to wait and see what happens but Silverstone should be pretty good for the Aston.”
Top 10 for Giddings in Clio Cup at OultonIn between the previous British GT event at Oulton Park and this coming Sunday’s action, Jake returned to the Cheshire venue at the weekend, 4th/5th June, in the Renault UK Clio Cup where he made his second appearance of the year with Finesse Motorsport.
Running in support of team regulars Paul Streather and Daniel Rowbottom, Jake took a best finish of 10th position in the live televised eighth round on Sunday right on the tail of Streather. Round seven the day before didn’t work out as intended, unfortunately, following an enforced excursion which led to a 19th place finish.
“It was a bit ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ really in the second race – I couldn’t try any moves on Paul without risking anything so I just had to follow him”, reflected Jake, “There was a lot of pace in the car, it was set-up really well, and if Paul had made a mistake I would’ve gone for it. He didn’t though, so the sensible thing was to stay where we were.”
Now, Jake’s attention turns back to his British GT commitments with free practice taking place at Silverstone on Saturday, 11th June, at 09.30 and 12.10 ahead of qualifying which is scheduled to begin at around 16.20. On Sunday, 12th June, after morning warm-up the three-hour Silverstone 500 will commence at 12.50.
2016 British GT Championship GT4 Driver Standings (after Rd4):14th Jake Giddings & Kieran Griffin, 12pts
2016 British GT Championship GT4 Pro-Am Driver Standings (after Rd4):6th Jake Giddings & Kieran Griffin, 40.5pts
2016 British GT Championship GT4 Team Standings (after Rd4):11th JWB Motorsport, 12pts
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