OF STRONG FINISH IN ZHUHAI

Following an exciting opening stint in the 9th round of the FIA GT Championship in Zhuhai, China, twenty-six year old Liz Halliday and her team mate, Justin Keen, were heading towards their best performance of the year when a stone got in the oil pump belt, breaking the belt and forcing the car into retirement on lap 57.

The Lister car charged through the pack having being forced to start at the back of the grid and its driver, Keen, was soon up to 8th by lap 4!  On lap 35, Keen was 5th and handed the car to Liz on schedule at the pit-stop.  Toward the end of her comfortable opening stint the engine of the works Lister suddenly stopped and the race was over for the young American.

Liz Halliday said after the race:  “I cannot believe it!  We have been so unlucky this year, this is just incredible.  We had a tough time during the practice sessions, and the team worked really hard to give us a good race car on Sunday.  Justin made a fantastic start to the race and when he handed the car over we were in the top five!  I had a trouble-free run and I was getting toward the end of my stint when, suddenly, the engine lost power.  The race was over for us and I had no other choice but to stop on the side of the track.”

Several cars had been into the gravel traps during the race, spitting stones on the race line as they were coming back, which might explain the engine problem of the Lister.

Halliday commented:  “The team looked at the data and it seems that the oil pump failed after a stone got caught in the belt, causing it to break.  It’s a real shame.  Justin’s performance in his first stint was great and we were heading for a good result.  Unfortunately, it was not meant to be…”

Liz is now focusing on the penultimate round of the championship which will take place in Dubai on Friday 18th November.  In conclusion she said:  “I’ll just put it behind me and focus on the next race – with some luck on our side I’m certain we can end this season on a high with a couple of nice results.”