Isaac Tutumlu and his teammate Archie Hamilton claimed a third place podium at the wheel of the Chevrolet Corvette C6/ZR1 in the International GT Open Race 2 at Silverstone. This was his fourth podium in the series this season.
Tutumlu, after a difficult qualifying session, taking into account that the American muscle car is slightly less competitive in wet than in dry conditions, started 10th on the grid but was quickly on the pace - even when he lost some places on the first lap to avoid a clash with other cars.
After fifteen minuteshe was running in 6th place, as he overtook Francesco Pastorelli and Aditya Patel among others. The Belgian squad decided to pit earlier than expected in order to pass Federico Leo and Matteo Beretta. Tutumlu had caught them but it was better to choose this strategy and pass both cars in the pit stops. And it worked out so well that when Hamilton was back on track, the Briton was 2nd. Later in the race Hamilton was overtaken by Darren Turner, a factory Aston Martin driver, driving a TF Racing V12 GT3. On the whole Sunday's podium together with a fourth place in race one is a good result, and now Tutumlu reaches the summer break sitting 5th overall.
Isaac Tutumlu:“This podium feels so good! We started from the back because the qualifying session was quite difficult due to rain. Although I lost some places on lap one, my race pace was good enough and I was able to overtook several cars and getting closer to the leaders at the same time.".
“We decided to pit a lit earlier, because it was the best choice to pass the Porsche and the Ferrari ahead, without losing time. We didn´t change the tires when pitted, because we thought it was the correct strategy. Although tire wear was important at the end, my teammate could finish third. Turner passed him, but he is a factory driver, who knows this track perfectly and his team, TF Racing, tested here before. Last but not least the Aston Martin was making its debut and didn´t carry extra-weight or something like that. We still have six races, with our next stop at Spa-Francorchamps. We will keep fighting for the title there”.
