BLACK BULL ECURIE ECOSSE GT3 duo, Alasdair McCaig and Rob Bell, delivered a hard fought fourth place in the latest round of the British GT Championship at Silverstone. Cruelly, the pair only missed out on their second successive podium by 1.304-seconds in a thrilling finale to the three-hour race.

In often atrocious conditions, as rainstorms swept across the Northamptonshire circuit — forcing the appearance of the safety car to restrict the race cars’ speed — the duo paid a double penalty.

In addition to the extra 15-seconds ‘success penalty’ they received for finishing second at Oulton Park a fortnight ago, they were also forced to carry an extra 20kg of ballast in their McLaren 650S GT3.The combination — primarily the 15s penalty — ultimately cost them third.

With an hour to go, Edinburgh’s McCaig pitted from fifth. Bell took over, with slicks fitted to the McLaren for the first time in the race, and rejoined in sixth.

After another safety car period Bell, from Newcastle, set about hauling in the cars ahead of him, clocking the second-fastest lap of the race on the full Grand Prix Circuit, clocking 2min 07.419s.

Easing himself into fourth with five minutes to go, he hounded the third-placed Ferrari but was frustratingly baulked at the final corner by a slower GT4 car.

“That’s racing,” Bell smiled afterwards. “We chased a couple of cars down over the final laps. It was really good, close, professional racing, but in the end we had to settle for fourth.

“We were definitely quick enough for a podium: another day, another bit of traffic, and we’d have been third. But that’s racing. And it was a great race. Three hours, and we were within 1.3s of a podium. It’s never easy.”

McCaig admitted to being “relatively content” with the result.“It was obviously a very tough race, and we came very close to getting another podium, which would have been fantastic,” he said.“On the face of it, that’s disappointing, but there were a number of our main championship rivals who suffered worse than we did, so we’ll focus on the positives the team delivered. I’m relatively content with the outcome.“The car was fantastic in the stints I drove; but yeh, it’s just such a shame to miss out on a podium by just 1.3s at the end.”

QUOTES:

Alasdair McCaig — Black Bull Ecurie Ecosse McLaren 650S GT3 driver:“It was obviously a very tough race. Conditions at the start were very tricky. It was mad at the start. I got tagged on the opening lap and dropped two or three places, but I managed to make a few back.“But the spray was terrible. I’ve driven in a lot of wet races, but the rain at the beginning was the worst I’ve ever experienced. Visibility was next to impossible.“My middle stint was great: at times I was two-seconds a lap quicker than the other amateurs. I couldn’t try any harder than that. It was obviously a very tough race, and we came very close to getting another podium, which would have been fantastic.“On the face of it, that’s disappointing, but there were a number of our main championship rivals who suffered worse than we did, so we’ll focus on the positives the team delivered. I’m relatively content with the outcome.“The car was fantastic in the stints I drove; but yeh, it’s just such a shame to miss out on a podium by just 1.3s at the end.”Rob Bell — Black Bull Ecurie Ecosse McLaren 650S GT3 driver:“It was certainly exciting, what with the weather and pitlane strategy we needed to adopt with the compulsory three pitstops. We had pace — we set the second-fastest lap in the race — and we made the right decision on tyres, going on to slicks at the right time for the final stint.“I got a bit of traffic at the wrong place on the track and a couple of cars managed to get passed me, which was annoying. But that’s motorsport. If I had to make the same move again, I’d choose the same option. They just got lucky.“We then chased a couple of cars down over the last laps. It was really good, close, professional racing, but in the end we had to settle for fourth.“We were definitely quick enough for a podium: another day, another bit of traffic and we’d have been third. But that’s racing. And it was a great race. Three hours, and we were within 1.3s of a podium. It’s never easy.”