The Grid.co.uk    the national & club motor racing website - est1998          

  ^News

mail your news to editorthegrid@yahoo.co.uk

Trackspeed Racing Can See The Silver Lining After The Silverstone Clouds!

Trackspeed Racing Kick off Both Their FIA GT and FIA GT3 Campaigns at A Dreary Silverstone. 

The sun didn’t make much of an appearance for the opening rounds of the FIA GT and FIA GT3  at Silverstone at the weekend, but ever the optimists, Trackspeed Racing came away from both events spying a silver lining on the ever present grey clouds. 

It was a weekend of new adventures for Trackspeed, making their debut in the FIA GT Championship in the GT2 class, with this being the first real outing for David Ashburn and Richard Williams (pictured right) in their new Porsche RSR booted by new tyre partners Pirelli, so a steep learning curve lay ahead. 

With so many new factors for the team the dreary weather also played its part. After a topsy turvey qualifying session the team were pleased with Richard’s best lap putting them comfortably 6^th in class and 17^th overall for the opening round of the FIA GT Championship. 

David started the race, which began in tricky conditions with a wet track and limited visibility. David put in a tough 35 minute session as he became increasingly familiar with the RSR before handing over to Richard for the remainder of the 2 Hour race. Whilst Richard knew no great strides would be potentially made in terms of position he did put in a heroic effort to lift the car 5 places to 26^th but more importantly as the conditions improved and the race settled, he was able to prove the good pace of the car, indeed he was the only Porsche to get into the 1.59s in the race. 

In the FIA GT3 European Championship, David and Richard had the advantage of already experiencing the Porsche GT3 Cup S having raced it in the opening rounds of the British GT Championship though there is still much to come from the car as they work on perfecting the set-up. Also out for Trackspeed Racing were Andrew Shelley & Phil Nuttall, sampling the Porsche GT3 Cup S for the first time in race conditions and the Yorkshire pairing were eager to get to grips with the challenge. 

Race One of the weekend’s double header saw David start the #6 Trackspeed from 20^th on the grid and Phil’s #7 from 42^nd. David put in an exceptionally spirited drive, lifting the car to 9^th position. Elsewhere on the track Phil was showing falling lap times. 

After the pitstops, Richard continued to storm through the pack to run in the podium positions but a stop go penalty, due to their pit handover been deemed too quick, dropped him down the running. With little time left in the race he battled back to 10^th place, 2^nd Porsche home.  Andrew Shelley brought the # 7 car home in 23^rd, a superb 19 places ahead of their starting position. 

Sadly Andrew and Phil’s outing in Race Two, in which they started from 38^th, was to be short lived as Andrew had to take evasive action to try and avoid a start line melee but it would sadly see the end of his race. 

Elsewhere, Richard was scything his way from his starting position of 9^th to 2^nd.  

“I can’t describe just how much I am loving driving this car!” said Richard afterwards. “We were easily running in the pace of the top 5, with every driver driving to their maximum which made it exciting and challenging from a racer’s point of view.” 

Richard handed over to David, who was again in eager mode. Frustratingly, it was a case of déjà vu as a stop go penalty was issued to #6 as the pitstop was deemed to quick once more. This saw David put down the order with little time to regain positions, seeing them finish in 14^th.

Despite some frustrations and disappointments, the team come away from Silverstone after being thrown in the deep end, assured both the Porsche GT3 Cup S and RSRs have excellent potential they will be keen to deliver in the rest of the season. 

Trackspeed’s Highland Fling 

Trackspeed Racing Continue Their Promising Form as the British GT Visits Knockhill, Scotland

The new Trackspeed Porsche GT3 continued to show its class and promise at an eventful Knockhill as the British GT Championship headed north to Scotland for Rounds 3 and 4. 

Having been immediately on the pace at the season opener at Oulton Park, despite being literally fresh from the box, the Trackspeed Porsche was displaying equal promise at Knockhill, a very different type of circuit. As the team continue to perfect the car’s set up, the sole Porsche of the series looked competitive. 

David Ashburn put in a solid performance to take 11^th on the grid for Race One whilst Richard Williams’ qualifying was to be cut prematurely short as he took evasive action to avoid the stricken Team RPM Ginetta, which resulted in him sitting out the remainder of the session. Having only had the chance to register one lap, the team would start Race Two from 14^th. 

Race One held on Saturday saw the stereotypical Scottish weather challenge the starters with a damp track. David made a solid start and made a good recovery after an off caused by oil dropped by a less fortunate competitor. With the safety car deployed the field bunched up once more and at the pit window David handed over in 9^th position. 

Now at the wheel, Richard was in storming mood and scythed through the field in a blistering display. With moves contradicting the belief Knockhill is a difficult circuit to overtake on, Richard was up into 3^rd when a further safety car period was called after the Stark Racing Ginetta went off at Scotsman corner. Keen to continue his lightening charge, as the green flag was given Richard was in ambitious mood but the stewards deemed he passed the Dodge Viper of Jon Barnes for 2^nd place just a hair’s breadth before the start finish line and so handed a drive through penalty. Taking the penalty with 3 laps to go, the team dropped to 4^th. Though podium shy the team remained upbeat and pleased to add points to their Championship tally. 

“I haven’t enjoyed a race so much in a long time” said Richard afterwards. “It was real door to door battling all the way with plenty of moves not for the faint hearted!” 

A brighter day dawned on Knockhill for Sunday’s race and not deterred by the 14^th starting slot, Richard was carry on in his storming style from the previous day’s event. In an audacious move at the Hairpin he overtook both Hines’ Ferrari and by the handover had impressively raised the car to 6^th place.  

After a streamlined pitstop, David came out in 7^th place ready to continue the battle. However, with the battling a little close for comfort, a tangle with a Ferrari put David into a spin and out of the running with the team being classified 16^th. 

With no time to catch their breath, it is straight from Scotland to the Surrey Trackspeed base as the team prepare for the opening rounds of both the FIA GT and FIA GT3 Championships at Silverstone this coming weekend. David and Richard will be teaming up for both Championships, proud to display the graduating possibilities British GT affords the ambitious

Trackspeed’s Porsche GT3 Debuts With Promise 

Trackspeed Racing Debut New Porsche GT3 at British GT Opener

Trackspeed Racing were in speedy mode even before arriving at Oulton Park for the opening round of the British GT Championship. The team took delivery of a new Porsche GT3 with team members driving the new car through the night from Germany to the UK, arriving at the Cheshire track just in time for British GT event kick off! 

The journey soon proved to be worth it with the 2008 Porsche, backed by Hesco, immediately delivering its promise of more power and all round performance. Driven by David Ashburn and Richard Williams, the #5 car performed comfortably in qualifying to take 6^th on the grid for Race One and 3^rd on the grid for Race Two. 

Race One on Saturday was punctuated with drama with two large crashes seeing the planned hour long race reduced to a 30 minute dash. David found himself on the back foot after a spin on lap one and handed over to Richard in 16^th. Richard then put in a storming drive to be part of the leading pack, eventually finishing just shy of the podium in 4^th place. 

After Easter Sunday’s rest day, the team was back in action on Easter Monday and again proved to be a pacesetter in the GT3 class. A strong start by Richard saw the team running high and comfortably in 3^rd position, handing over to David for the second stint. David, displaying ever improving lap times, found himself close behind the second place Tech 9 Lamborghini in an exciting battle which proved to be for the lead when the current leaders Christians in Motorsport, were issued a stop go penalty.  

But disaster lurked as going into Cascades David lost control and slid into the gravel and out of contention. With such little time in the new car it was understandable but certainly frustrating for David, Richard and the team given their competitiveness literally straight out of the box. 

Regardless, the team have come away from Oulton Park upbeat with the knowledge the new Porsche is highly competitive and an exciting season of both British GT3 and FIA GT3 lies ahead, not to mention FIA GT in the new Porsche 997 GT2.  

As Richard Williams commented “We’re looking very good indeed for the season”.

pics R Pascal 11/56 Motorsport