In a thrilling debut with GruppeM Tech 9's British GTC Porsche GT3, Le Mans youngest racer Adam Sharpe opened his scoring with a resounding win in the first race at Mondello Park on Saturday. On his first visit to the famous Dublin circuit, Sharpe topped off his victory by recording the fastest lap of the race.
"The car handled perfectly and, with Tech 9's focus and determination, this was the ideal setting for me to push hard for an early win" said Sharpe. "Jonathan Rowlands and I worked well together and I'm looking forward to our driver partnership flourishing this season for further team victories."
The race had not been without its dramas - including the team's 11th hour repair of a damaged clutch that had prevented Sharpe from taking part in his qualifying session for Sunday's race earlier on Saturday. "The team were brilliant" said Sharpe. "They completed a clutch change in 40 minutes and the car came off the jacks just as the grid began to form for the first race." The close call seemed to give the two drivers the determination they needed, however, with Rowlands, starting P4 on the Cup class grid, picking off two opponents in his stint and leaving Sharpe to finish the job. He did so after lap after lap of pressure on the Elise, very strong on the winding Irish circuit, which finally yielded to provide Sharpe with victory.
Starting from the back of the grid on Sunday's race, Sharpe entertained the enthusiastic spectators to a series of thrilling overtaking moves during a stint that moved the Porsche to 4th as he took it to the pits. An excellent driver change resulted in Rowlands narrowly gaining a further place to start his stint in 3rd place. A technical stop-and-go penalty resulted in a 5th place finish for the Tech 9 Porsche.
"I managed to pick off a car a lap for the first half dozen laps using the Porsche's superb brake setup to take me much deeper into the slow corners" recalled Sharpe. "The net result of the weekend is that we go into the next round at Snetterton in a strong position based on
