Global Racing Aston Martin scarcely misses a beat at SilverstoneResolute round-the-clock effort secures more Speedworks silverwarePodium maintains unblemished record for iconic British sportscar

Speedworks Motorsport put a classic British sportscar on the podium in a British sportscar classic last weekend, as its Global Racing-branded Aston Martin Vantage GT4 preserved its unblemished rostrum record in 2015 with third place in-class in the Britcar Silverstone 24 Hours.For its second appearance in the prestigious round-the-clock encounter – staged around Silverstone’s legendary Formula 1 circuit, home to the annual British Grand Prix – Speedworks’ four-strong driving crew was composed of team sponsor and former BTCC points-scorer Tony Hughes, Global Insurance Management MD and track day enthusiast John Gilbert, ex-Formula Renault BARC Champion Ollie Hancock and promising young gun Devon Modell.Competing in the 12-strong GT4 category, the Northwich, Cheshire-based outfit qualified third amongst its peers and an excellent 13th overall out of the race’s 34 protagonists, and when the lights went out, Modell immediately seized the initiative, going on to battle for the class lead throughout his opening stint in the #41 entry.Come Saturday evening, the car was setting the GT4 pace, and with ten hours remaining, it had climbed to an incredible third position outright, lapping fastest of anybody during a torrential downpour in the middle of the night as Hancock artfully and confidently mastered the treacherous conditions.Unfortunately, minor contact with a rival early on Sunday morning necessitated an unscheduled pit-stop and cost the Global Racing machine ground. Impressively undeterred, its driving quartet fought back to take the chequered flag fourth overall and third in-class in what is one of the blue riband outings on the British motorsport calendar, thereby keeping the Aston Martin’s 100 per cent start/podium ratio firmly intact.“Even in relation to other endurance races, a 24-hour event presents a completely unique set of challenges,” acknowledged Speedworks team principal Christian Dick, whose squad is also an established top ten regular in the fiercely-disputed and hugely popular Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. “It’s exhausting for everybody involved – and the characteristically British weather and April showers at Silverstone threw us an additional curve ball!“That said, the car was brilliant – it ran like absolute clockwork and didn’t miss a beat throughout – and everybody in the team did a superb job on virtually no sleep, from the drivers to the strategists, engineers, mechanics, truckies and all the unsung heroes behind-the-scenes.“The boys are so dedicated that they refused to leave the team garage – they literally did pull an all-nighter, and then had to stick around to take everything down and pack it all away once the race had ended. We couldn’t have asked for any more – I’m immensely proud of every single one of them.“Ultimately, it was fantastic to come away with another rostrum for the Aston to maintain its unbroken run – although having now scored three third places in a row, I think we need to aim for a step or two higher next time! Seriously, though, we’re over-the-moon with the result, and to almost make it onto the overall podium at the ‘Home of British Motorsport’ was an awesome achievement.”