Bitter Sweet season opener for Beechdean Motorsport

Beechdean Motorsport collected their first podium of the season in the opening round of the British GT Championship at Oulton Park with Andrew Howard and Jonathan Adam finishing third in their Aston Martin DBRS9.

After losing 5th place at the start to the Trackspeed Porsche of Gregor Fisken Andrew Howard kept pace with the lead group and gained on the No2 Porsche before handing over to Jonathan Adam at pit stops.

Jonathan was immediately up to speed and closed on the Porsche now driven by Tim Bridgman who was himself embroiled in a battle for 3rd with the Jones brother's Mercedes AMG SLS. The trio were nose to tail until Bridgman went off allowing Adam to move up to 4th position and start chasing down the Mercedes and subsequently passing the silver car two laps later. Jonathan then managed to see off the challenge from Allan Simonsen in the Rosso Verde Ferrari 430 Scuderia to claim the final place on the podium.



The celebrations were short lived, as the Aston Martin engine let go in a cloud of smoke as the Scott crossed the line meaning the team would take no further part in the weekends action.

“The car was getting slower in a straight line and the noise from the engine was getting worse,” said Adam. “Then as I crossed the line, it just let go in a cloud of smoke. That’s disappointing for us, but at the same time, it’s great to start the year on the podium as there are circuits coming up that will be better suited to the car.”

The British GT championship resumes 5th May at Snetterton where Beechdean will be joind by two more Aston Martins. 22GT with their DBRS9 in GT3B and Secure Racing with the Vantage GT4.

JT