This weekend marked the second round appearance for the newly established Lapidus racing team, this time at the world famous Spa Francorchamps circuit, the home of the Belgium Grand Prix and the Spa 24 Hours challenge. Back behind the wheel of their McLaren GT3 were regular team mates, Adam Christodoulou and Klaas Hummel.
The weekend started off quickly with a high point. Testing went well, which gave the pair a huge boost of confidence heading into qualifying, and it concluded with Hummel landing an impressive 7th in class.
The second qualifying period was in Christodoulou's hands. With new brake disks to bed-in, a pit stop for new tyres, and attempting to get a qualifing time meant the fifteen minute window was always going to be a bit of a squeeze.
Despite this, the final lap started fantastically, and the car achieved purple in the 1st and 2nd sectors - hitting the fastest track speeds yet during the period. Unfortunately in the 3rd and final sector traffic got in the way, and Adam lost time through the last two corners, short changing them a pole position, and leaving them to finish up in second place.
Race one began on a beautiful dry Saturday afternoon. Klaas was behind the wheel for the first half, and by the first pit stop he had climbed up to 5th place, gaining quickly on the cars in front. With a perfectly executed pit stop, driver change and fuel the pair had gained another scalp, moving up into 4th.
Christo then took the hot seat and brought the car into P3. With only a few laps left, the second placed Ferrari put up a good fight but not good enough to hold off the McLaren. This left only the final challenge - to earn the lead - but too quickly the race was over, and the chequered flag confirmed a well earned second place and podium finish.
The setting Sunday's second race contrasted hugely with the prior day's racing. A horrendously drab and torrentially wet Sunday afternoon; Adam was first in the car, starting 2nd in class and 8th on the grid. Visibility was at an absolute minimum, and with so much standing water on the track it was like driving on plate glass.
Cars were aquaplaning everywhere, and the skill was in selecting the right braking points, whilst keeping inside the white lines and staying out of trouble.
At the halfway mark the drivers switched, and Klaas took the wheel in 2nd place. Managing to avoid the worst of the conditions, the pair managed to net their second podium of the weekend, and impressively placed themselves 4th in the championship despite missing the opening round.
The weekend had been a resounding success for one of the series newest entries.
Adam's next race will be on 28th – 29th July at the 24 Hours of Spa.
