SIR CHRIS HOY SHINES ON BRITISH GT DEBUT FOR NISSAN
• Sir Chris Hoy makes his debut in the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 at Oulton Park
• Nissan-powered Thiriet by TDS Racing entry wins ELMS opener at Silverstone
• G-Drive Racing takes first FIA WEC win of the season
OULTON PARK, ENGLAND, Monday 21 April 2014: Sir Chris Hoy left nobody in any doubt as to his intentions to go all the way in GT racing today with a professional performance at the British GT season-opening weekend. The six-time Olympic gold medal-winner made his debut in the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 in front of a big Easter Monday crowd at Oulton Park in Cheshire.
The Pro-Am status of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship calls for the non-professional driver to qualify for and take the start of the first of the weekend’s two one-hour races. Chris qualified the No.80 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 in a very credible 14th place on a grid of over 30 cars.
When the race got underway Chris made a storming start and was up three places to 11th by the end of the first lap. Throughout his run he held off a strong challenge from a hard-charging Ferrari before pitting from ninth place to hand the GT-R over to Alex Buncombe.
Unfortunately the safety car came out at that point and split the race in two. Buncombe held ninth place but was a lap behind the leaders. He fought hard during the closing laps and crossed the line in ninth place at the chequered flag.
Commenting after the race Hoy said: “That was brilliant fun! There were a few exciting moments, especially when I got a touch from another car but he went off onto the grass. My rear view mirror was full of Ferrari for most of my run but I just focused on what I was doing and made sure I did the simple things correctly. It’s a beautiful sunny day here, there’s a great crowd and I feel like I’m a racing driver!”
Buncombe was at the wheel for the start of race two and had a strong and relatively uneventful run to 13th place before it was Chris’ turn to take the wheel.
“I had a problem pulling away from the pits,” said Hoy. “I lost a few seconds there and when I got onto the track I got forced onto the dirty stuff at Cascades and lost a few more seconds. The Safety Car came out during my run and I got caught up behind two GT4 cars who didn’t seem interested in keeping up with the pack so that was frustrating.”
When the Safety Car pitted with just six minutes to go Chris went on a charge, passing three cars on the run to the flag and taking 13th place across the line.
“Although the end results don’t say much we’re pleased with how the weekend went,” said Buncombe. “This isn’t a track that suits the GT-R but we got the best out of it and we’ll have our turn in future races. I was really pleased with the job Chris did today. He did even better than I expected so I’m really chuffed with his performance.”
“I’ve had an absolutely brilliant weekend,” concluded Hoy. “It’s a privilege to be here. I really enjoyed it and now I can’t wait for Rockingham. Those two races have just confirmed how much I enjoy this. I’ve definitely got the bug!”
G-DRIVE RACING TAKES FIRST WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP WIN OF 2014
The LM P2 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship is entirely ‘Powered by Nissan’ in 2014. Somewhat depleted at Silverstone, the smaller than usual class still provided some great on track action in the opening round of the championship.
The biggest trophy went to the G-Drive Racing squad who took their Morgan-Nissan to victory in the ‘6 Hours of Silverstone’, which in reality was the ‘Five and a Half Hours of Silverstone’ as a heavy rain shower brought out the red flag with 26 minutes left on the clock. Joining the G-Drive boys on the podium were the driving teams from KCMG and the No.27 SMP Racing entry.
THIRIET BT TDS RACING WINS LATE RACE DASH TO THE FLAG
The opening round of the 2014 European Le Mans Series looked set to award victory to the Jota Sport team after they took pole position and led most of the four-hour race. Everything changed with 45 minutes to go when Simon Dolan went off the track in the No.38 Jota Zytek-Nissan, crashing heavily and bringing out the safety car.
When the race resumed with just 20 minutes to go it became a frantic sprint to the chequered flag. TDS Racing’s Tristan Gommedy who passed Michel Frey’s Race Performance Oreca-Judd for the lead with just four laps to go won the battle.
ENDS
