2015 Dunlop Britcar 24-Hour Overall Victory for Beechdean AMR
Monday, April 27, 2015
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Beechdean AMR clinched a
dramatic class 3 win and overall race win on its return to the Britcar
24-Hour race at Silverstone. The final winning margin of over four laps did
not do justice to the constant lead change during a weather affected night
session.
The Aston Martin Vantage GT4 car ran faultlessly with an
experienced line-up of the Beechdean GT3 drivers, Howard and Adam, and the
youngsters from Beechdean’s GT4 car, Chadwick and Gunn, joining the regular
Beechdean drivers was experienced GT4 driver, Whale. Aston Martin
Evolutionary Academy drivers Jamie Chadwick and Ross Gunn, in their first
24-Hour race, proved their skill and determination to dominate the track.
Chadwick taking the claim as the youngest ever driver and first female to win
this prestigious race.
Being the third time Beechdean Motorsport have competed in
this 24-Hour endurance race, the team proved their capability with their P1
finish, after qualifying first in their class and eleventh overall. 529 laps,
3,100km and 24 hours later, Beechdean dominated Dunlop 24-Hour at
Silverstone.
The winning team’s success was a result of the reliability of
the GT4 car, which performed highly with no problems, as well as the drivers
speed and sensible strategy during their stints. Beechdean AMR made very good
pit stops and the team played a clever strategy throughout the safety car
periods, re-fuelling at regular intervals.
Despite a spell of torrential rain in the night, Beechdean
AMR’s skill and teamwork, with great effort by the engineers and mechanics,
protected their top position. Aston Martin Racing account manager, Harry
Whale, maintained good control of the car with his GT4 experience, and where
other drivers struggled with control of their cars in the weather conditions,
the Aston Martin GT4 drove impeccably well.
Andrew
Howard ‘What a fantastic result! To
win our class was great but to capture the overall win was a great
achievement for Beechdean AMR. The team made great calls on fuel strategy
between safety cars and the pits stops were great. In these 24 hours races
you need 100% reliability in your car and we had that in the Aston Martin
Vantage GT4. My teammates drove brilliantly in what were awful weather
conditions throughout the night so a massive thank you to Harry, Jonny, Ross
and Jamie. Britcar yet again put on a great event and the competition was
tough in all classes. This result sets us up nicely for the remainder of the
2015 season.’
Jonny Adam 'The result from the weekend was a great achievement by all. My teammates drove brilliantly, the car performed 100% in the 24 hours, and the team played a cunning strategy with their pit stops. This gives us great momentum going into the weekend.' Ross Gunn 'It was an unbelievable 24 hour race debut for me. I enjoyed driving in all of the conditions that were thrown at me, including in the rain and at night. The car was faultless throughout which is testament to the work from everyone in the Beechdean AMR. I would like to thank my team mates for doing a great job on track as well as giving me advice throughout the 24 hours. To get to the end was a massive relief and I can't wait for Rockingham next weekend.' Jamie Chadwick 'I only moved up to senior GT racing this year so running in a 24 hour endurance race was a big step. Conditions were quite demanding as it was very wet on Saturday night, though fortunately, the Aston Martin was fabulous to drive and the Team did a fantastic job - not missing a beat – although, I can tell you, my heart did on a few occasions! To win both our class and the event overall was a brilliant result for everyone, and will remain a memorable stepping stone for my racing career” Harry Whale ‘I knew going into the weekend what a great team I was joining but I have to admit I did not expect to win overall especially taking into account the speed and quality of opposition in the faster classes. The car did not miss a beat the entire 24 hours and has proven time and time again to be a great weapon of choice for these long distance races. We cannot underestimate the significance of this result for the GT4 Aston but also for the team – unbelievable! A big thank you to everyone involved and especially to Andrew Howard for letting me join his team'.
Source - Beechdean Motorsport
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