It was a weekend of mixed fortunes for TF Sport as an early retirement in the Blancpain Endurance Series ended all hopes of a podium finish in what looked to be a promising debut outing in the highly prestigious GT competition (24-25 May).
Raising the curtain on the weekend’s action was Friday’s (23 May) 60-minute rain-soaked ‘Bronze Test’, which Andy Schulz and Paul Bailey topped for the most part.
As the field tiptoed around Silverstone’s 3.66mile Grand Prix circuit, Schulz explored the limits of grip on his Pirelli wet weather tyres and was first to break into the 2m20s with a 2m28.333s lap that was nearly two seconds quicker than the second-placed Ferrari 458 Italia of Andrea Rizzoli.
Schulz completed ten tours before handing over the reins of the Horsepower Racing Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 to teammate Bailey, who was only able to complete six interrupted laps due to oil deposited on the track and the session being red flagged.
Next on the drivers’ itinerary was Sunday’s (25 May) qualifying, which was the first session of the weekend to be held in dry conditions.
Taking the collective best times from the three qualifying sessions, Schulz and Bailey positioned their GT3-spec Aston Martin an impressive fourth in class.
Lining up on the grid for the three-hour endurance feature race, Schulz was quick to pass the Triple Eight Race Engineering BMW Z4 GT3 of Ryan Ratcliffe on the fast approach to Copse corner.
However, as the 43-car field entered the iconic Maggots and Becketts complex, a slight tap from behind sent Schulz into a spin and off into the gravel trap.
Initial thoughts were that the weekend had come to a premature end for TF Sport with Horsepower Racing, but race marshals were able to dig the V12 Vantage out of the kitty litter, albeit five laps down.
Schulz and Bailey continued to tour the Northamptonshire-based circuit but, with just over 40 minutes of the session remaining, Schulz was forced wide onto the wet grass at the exit of Chapel, which in turn spat him back out across the track and into the opposing barriers at high speed, sadly bringing his race to an unexpected end.
Schulz said: “It was a raceday to forget! Paul and I went very well in the wet earlier in the weekend, but we didn’t seem to have as much pace as expected in the dry, having completed no testing miles on the Pirelli slick tyres that would have allowed us to find a decent dry setup. As a result, we didn’t qualify as well as we would have liked and that left us vulnerable at the start, where I was punted into the gravel. When you’re five laps down in a championship as competitive as Blancpain, you have to wonder whether or not to call it a day, but the decision was taken to carry on and our pace was good enough for a podium finish in the Gentleman Trophy.
“After Paul’s stint I had a slow left-rear puncture, but went back out on fresh tyres only to be squeezed onto the wet grass by a Ferrari, which catapulted me into the barriers at high-speed. Nevertheless, there is some data we can carry through to next weekend’s British GT round and both of us are fresh and familiar with the circuit, so I think we can crack on with new chassis and try to nail the dry setup. Although it could potentially help us if it was wet.”
TF Sport Director, Tom Ferrier, said: “What happened at Silverstone wasn’t ideal and I truly believe Andy (Schulz) and Paul (Bailey) had class-winning pace. We opted to carry on after losing so much time due to the incident at the start, as you never know what will happen. It was a recce for the drivers ahead of this weekend’s British GT round and I think it was a good experience for them, despite not completely as many laps as we would have liked. Still, it’s just the way it goes in motorsport sometimes.”
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