Another brace for TF Sport in GT Open

Sunday, October 04, 2015


A slow but progressive programme at TF Sport earned the team their second brace of podiums in what is only their second entry into the International GT Open Series at Monza this weekend.

Suffering like all were with a damp/wet track during both Free Practice sessions the teams converted Spuer GT Aston Martin Vantage GT3, with drivers Euan Hankey and Salih Yoluc were unable to get the best of the car in terms of ultimate pace what with a cooling track/air temperature and increased humidity.


In Qualifying 1 and with Yoluc at the wheel the the #10 car was only able to establish a P13 out of fourteen cars starting position. Come the start of the race on Saturday however, the drier track allowed the young Turkish driver the confidence to 'mix it' with his Am class counterparts, moving up a couple of places before handing the car over to Hankey at the half way stage.

With the pro drivers now in the cars Hankey was soon able to move the car up to 8th overall and 2nd in class before a horrific accident involving a Villorba Corse Ferrari curtailed Race 1 with an immediate red flag. Fortunately the driver was able to remove himself from what were the remnants of his car unaided and relatively unscathed.  P2 in class for TF Sport.


Come Sunday morning it was the turn of the pro drivers to set the qualifying positions ready for Race 2 later in the day. Building up momentum during the thirteen qualifying laps that he drove, Hankey left it to his penultimate lap to set a time sufficient to qualify the car in P2 overall, just behind the pole sitting Radical of James Abbott.

At the green flag for Race 2 it only took Hankey two laps to pass the Radical for the overall race lead, a position that the team would maintain all the way up to the pit stop cycle and several laps after before ultimately being passed by the full season Ferrari and McLaren protagonists.


All that said Race 2 earned the team a P4 overall finishing position and a further Am class win to go along with the won they had at Spa a few weeks ago. Another great weekends work for the team.

With that done the team now move onto the final round of the 2015 International GT Open season at Barcelona at the end of the month. Before that however is a little distraction called the European Le Mans Series at Estoril in just two weeks time with the accompaniment of a certain young AMR works driver for their GTC entry.

Photo credits - Int GT Open
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