TF Sport hopes to resurrect British GT form at season's opener at Oulton Park
Wednesday, April 01, 2015
After a busy and productive winter, an expanded and strengthened TF Sport enters its second year of operation and hopes to at the very least resurrect its 2014 form during another season in the Avon Tyres British GT Championship, which begins with an Easter outing at Cheshire’s picturesque Oulton Park circuit (4-6 April).
The Redhill, Surrey-based team launched its 2015 programme during the annual British GT Media Day at its home circuit, Brands Hatch, on Wednesday (25 March), showcasing one half of its two-car entry in the headlining GT3 category.
A pair of TF Sport-prepared Aston Martin V12 Vantages will take to Oulton Park’s extended International circuit for two one-hour races on Bank Holiday Monday (6 April) as part of a capacity grid of 18 GT3 and 16 GT4 cars representing nine different manufacturers.
The first Eurostar-backed machine will be piloted by Milton Keynes’ Andrew Jarman and Surrey-based racer Jody Fannin, who is one of only ten drivers to be selected for Aston Martin Racing’s Evolution Academy, while a second Steel Decking-liveried racer will be driven by Geordie duo, Derek Johnston and Matt Bell, the latter also a participant in AMR’s exclusive Evolution Academy programme.
Fresh from a positive test at Oulton Park last week, Bell said: “Derek (Johnston) and I had a very good day of testing at Oulton Park and really made the most of a break in the weather to finalise our preparation for the season-opener. It was nice to judge our pace against some of our competitors and to discover that we’re strong, with a good chance of some top results. When piecing together my 2015 programme, I was only targeting the front and, having seen Derek run at the sharp end in recent seasons and knowing how capable TF Sport is, I want to win straight out of the starting blocks. The Avon Tyres British GT Championship has become super competitive in recent years and you need to be confident, consistent and challenging from the first race to stand any chance of competing for the title. You can’t ease yourself in.”
Jarman added: “Pre-season testing has gone very well, I’ve adapted to the car relatively quickly, Jody (Fannin) and I will be a strong driver pairing and TF Sport has a good handle on the setup of the Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3, but it’s always difficult to gauge where you stand going into the first round of the season. I believe we’re there or thereabouts and I think repeating the podium finish we achieved in GT4 at Oulton Park last year is achievable, but it just depends on everybody else and how the Balance of Performance is worked out.”
TF Sport Director, Tom Ferrier, concluded: “For me, TF Sport had an impressive debut season in 2014 and, finishing runner-up in the British GT4 standings with Andrew Jarman and Devon Modell was particularly remarkable. It has certainly been an easier winter than last year. Since the end of the 2014 season, my highly skilled engineers and mechanics have stripped the cars back to the shell and re-built them, and we have signed two very strong driver pairings, which bodes well for the year ahead.
“This season, the competition in British GT is going to be very tough, as there a lot of experienced drivers who have been doing it for many years now and there is more quality and depth on the field. We’d like to come away from Cheshire with both cars scoring a decent amount of points. If both cars breach the top six and one of them scales the podium, I’ll be over the moon. I’d love to be in the hunt for the British GT Teams’ Championship and I know everybody involved with TF Sport are focused on that goal too.”
Source and photo credit - TF Sport
