EARLY PROMISE ENDS IN DISAPPOINTMENT AT ROCKINGHAM

Round two of the 2014 Avon Tyres British GT Championship, held at Rockingham Motor Speedway, wasn’t meant to be for Trackspeed.

Radiator damage for the #33 car meant Jon Minshaw was forced to retire before Phil Keen even had a chance to take to the track.

For the #12 car, damage caused by contact early on in the race required Jody Firth to pit while repairs were made. Quick thinking and hard work from the mechanics meant he was able to return to the race, albeit five laps down. Warren Hughes later took the car over the line to record the first race finish for the duo this season.

Car 12 - J.Firth & W.Hughes

Qualifying: P11Race: P15The weekend kicked off on Sunday with the first of two practice sessions. It was a strong showing from both Porsches as they dominated the time sheets for most of the hour-long session. The #12 car held onto 3rd spot until around two minutes before the end of the session when the other cars began setting their fastest laps. However, even with the rest of the field pushing hard, they concluded the session 4th quickest with a time of 1:24.839

Later, they were unable to improve upon their time set in the first session, and they ended Free Practice 2, 12th quickest with a time of 1:25.078.

Qualifying was next up, in which the car was unable to match its earlier pace in the practice sessions. A penalty awarded to Firth for exceeding track limits meant the #12 car dropped out of the top ten, and was set to start the race in 11th position.