The SV-led Horsepower Racing (HPR) team overcame trials and tribulations to take maximum points from the headlining Britcar Silverstone 1000km endurance race (22 September).
A problematic outing at Silverstone culminated in a determined display, with HPR’s trio of drivers – Paul Bailey, Andy Schulz and SV Team Manager Tom Ferrier – finishing second overall, first in Class 1 and recording the fastest lap of the race.
Its weekend in Northamptonshire didn’t get off to the most positive of starts, as an engine failure heavily curtailed its free practice running on Friday.
However, with a replacement V12 powertrain on-board, the stunning Horsepower Racing Aston Martin Vantage made a resplendent return to Silverstone’s 3.66mile Grand Prix circuit during the two 45-minute warm up sessions on Saturday morning.
The team had a limited window to optimise its setup as a result and was hurt by the lack of Friday running; the drivers consistently struggled with low grip and high tyre-wear on the abrasive Silverstone track.
A bumper grid of cars took to the Northamptonshire-based venue for the headline race of the 2013 Britcar calendar – the Silverstone 1000k.
High-powered GT machines from the British Endurance Championship – including a healthy invitational entry – shared the tarmac with runners from the British Production Cup Championship.
Schulz was the first to take control of the HPR Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 for an elongated opening stint.
He lost track position to the Wessex-run Riley at Copse corner on lap two, before moving back up to fourth place at the expense of Neil Garner Motorsport’s Mosler MT900R.
Schulz ran fourth for the most part, although a solid and consistent opening stint lasting 75 minutes and a courageous in-lap on heavily worn rubber propelled the team to second place as it made its first driver change.
Bailey narrowed the gap to the leading invitational Barwell/Mp Motorsport Aston Martin entry during his stint; a brief Safety Car intervention on lap 49 delayed the Mark Lemmer-led team on its in-lap to the pits for its second stop of the afternoon.
Despite having not raced in over two years and only completing 13 laps during Saturday’s warm ups, SV Team Manager Tom Ferrier picked up the baton from Bailey in fine style.
During his first 45-minute stint, he lapped consistently quicker than HPR’s chief rivals with the six-hour endurance race reaching half-distance.
As a result of a valiant effort from all three drivers, HPR led its class, held the fastest lap and was also emerging as a threat for the outright race victory.
That is until a spin and a collision with the barriers at the Maggots-Becketts complex during Bailey’s second stint resulted in damage to the car’s front splitter.
Bailey, bitterly disappointed, recovered to the track and wrestled the ill-handling Aston Martin until the scheduled driver change on lap 98.
The pace dropped off dramatically thereafter, preventing the team from mounting a stern challenge for the lead and demoting it to second in class behind the Neil Garner Motorsport-prepared Mosler.
A courageous final stint from Ferrier while battling excessive understeer through Silverstone’s fast corners – of which there are many – and a late unscheduled pit-stop for HPR’s Class 1 competitors, brought the team back into contention for the class victory.
After the final stops had played out, the London-based outfit emerged in second overall and as the Class 1 leaders, an immaculate run to the flag from Schulz ensuring Horsepower Racing took a maximum points score from the Silverstone 1000km.
“I’m so relieved to take such a positive result from this race,” said Bailey. “The weekend began with an engine change after completing a single lap in Friday practice – Aston Martin came to our rescue by giving us a replacement unit, so we’re really grateful to them – and then I span during my second stint in the race. I was bitterly disappointed with myself because I thought I had destroyed our race and championship, but we persisted and came out with the best result we could have hoped for today. To get maximum points with a diminished gap to Team Parker Racing in the standings is fantastic.”
Schulz added: “We had a good run early on and I ended my first stint in a strong position, despite suffering with a lack of grip; we lost a lot of time on Friday due to the engine change and we had to take a flyer with the setup. We had a small slip-up in the race, but it’s a long one and those things happen. We all got stuck in, pulled it back and got to the end with zero front-end grip. We should be really happy with what we’ve achieved today!”
SV Team Manager, Tom Ferrier, concluded: “This was my first race in a long time and I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite having man flu. My last stint without the splitter was hard work, as we had massive understeer through the fast turns. The aim was to stay consistent, which is exactly what we did, and I’m pleased to win the class and finish second overall. It’s a pretty good result and the team worked incredibly well when absolutely everything was thrown at them.”
With Team Parker Racing taking top honours in Class 2, it holds a slightly reduced lead over the SV-led Horsepower Racing team in the overall Britcar MSA British Endurance Championship standings, with only two races remaining at Donington Park (2nd November) and Brands Hatch (23rd November).
By Bam Promo / Scuderia Vittoria / Horsepower Racing
By Bam Promo / Scuderia Vittoria / Horsepower Racing
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