Oman Racing Team targeting Blancpain top 10 finish on home soil
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
The Oman Racing Team is targeting a strong top 10 finish on home soil this coming weekend as round 2 of the Blancpain Endurance Series arrives at Silverstone for a mighty three-hour contest (May 23/24).
The #44 Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3, piloted by Ahmad Al Harthy, Daniel Lloyd and Aston Martin works driver Jonny Adam faces imposing competition with over 60 GT cars entered for the second meeting of the season. However, David Bartrum’s Motorbase-run squad has its sights firmly set on a strong points finish to get its 2015 campaign off the ground.
“We’re all very much looking forward to our home race this weekend;” said Team Principal David Bartrum. “It’s always nice to race at home. With such an impressive field of 61 cars this weekend, it’s very important that we qualify well to be able show where we are with the Aston and our driver line up. With it being a British car on the British circuit, if anywhere; we need to do this at Silverstone.”
Despite showing fine form during the season’s opening round in Italy, Monza failed to deliver a notable result for the squad, but the Oman Racing Team is confident that local track knowledge will boost its chances of breaking into the highly competitive top ten.
“Monza wasn’t the start to the season that we were hoping for;” continued Bartrum. “We lost time in the pit-stop unfortunately and we didn’t really get a chance to show our capabilities. We had the pace but we just got caught out so let’s just hope that with that many cars on the circuit we don’t get caught again.”
The Team Boss added; “Aston Martin historically seems to do very well at Silverstone. The track suits the car and that’s the key for us this weekend, to unlock that potential and get the full benefit of how good the Vantage is around there.
The weekend’s action gets underway with free practice sessions on Saturday ahead of qualifying at 9am UK time on Sunday morning. The second, three hour race of the season is scheduled to commence at 2.45pm local time with live coverage streamed on the official Blancpain Endurance Series website and additional coverage available on Motors TV from 6pm.
MotorsTV can be found on the following channels : Sky 447, Virgin 545 and Freeview 71 & 240
Driver quotes:
Jonny Adam:
“I’m looking forward to this weekend at Silverstone as on paper the circuit will suit the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 very well with its strong aero characteristics. Monza wasn't the result we wanted or deserved so everyone at Oman Racing and Motorbase are looking for a top result in front of a home crowd come Sunday. It's nice to be racing at the UK round of Blancpain Endurance Series with a British team in a car built in the UK not far from Silverstone.”
Daniel Lloyd:
“We didn’t get the best start to the season in Monza, which was even more frustrating as we know we had the pace in the car. Coming to Silverstone this weekend though, I’m really confident that we can show our true potential as a team. Jonny, Ahmad and myself all know Silverstone really well and it’s a circuit that we’ve all taken wins on and the Aston did well here last year so everything points to a good weekend for us.”
“We didn’t get the best start to the season in Monza, which was even more frustrating as we know we had the pace in the car. Coming to Silverstone this weekend though, I’m really confident that we can show our true potential as a team. Jonny, Ahmad and myself all know Silverstone really well and it’s a circuit that we’ve all taken wins on and the Aston did well here last year so everything points to a good weekend for us.”
Ahmad Al Harthy:
“For sure, Monza wasn’t the start to the Blancpain season we wanted but there wasn’t anything any of us did wrong, we were just very unfortunate. We’re all determined to get the championship back on track at Silverstone, a circuit I always love racing at and one where we have enjoyed good success in the past. We know we’ve got a good car, the main thing is to qualify in the top 10 and if we do that then we have a great chance.”
“For sure, Monza wasn’t the start to the Blancpain season we wanted but there wasn’t anything any of us did wrong, we were just very unfortunate. We’re all determined to get the championship back on track at Silverstone, a circuit I always love racing at and one where we have enjoyed good success in the past. We know we’ve got a good car, the main thing is to qualify in the top 10 and if we do that then we have a great chance.”
Source material and photo credit - Motorbase
