Newbridge Motorsport looks to build on its already highly positive 2014 Britcar MSA British Endurance Championship campaign, when the series resumes on Norfolk’s Snetterton ‘300’ circuit this weekend (9 August).
Carved into the natural contours of the Norfolk countryside, the 2.99mile Snetterton ‘300’ circuit encompasses a mixture of long straights and a tight, twisty infield that draws inspiration from many of motorsport’s iconic corners, such as Monza’s Parabolica and the Montréal Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve Hairpin.
Guillaume Gruchet, who currently sits third in the MSA-sanctioned British Endurance Championship standings, has proven on numerous occasions that he has the ability and knowledge to rival the professional drivers running with higher-powered machinery, such as Ferrari 458 Italias and Audi R8 Ultras.
The Frenchman heads to Snetterton with the sole aim of consolidating his position in the championship, while bridging a gap to fourth-placed Darren Nelson and Nigel Greenshaw.
Having made his British Endurance Championship debut at Oulton Park, Chris Valentine returns to the Trophy Series and is hoping to replicate the hat-trick of victories he achieved at Thruxton in June.
The BRSCC Porsche Championship graduate challenged the higher-powered machinery on the grid at Oulton Park, finishing the race without incident as well as bettering his previous best lap record by almost a second.
Newbridge Motorsport Team Principal, Richard Tovey, said: “We’ve put a new clutch and flywheel on Guillaume’s (Gruchet) car, as well as new brakes, so testing on Friday will be very telling if the work we’ve done is moving us in the right direction. We will also be running with a new setup on both cars, which will hopefully be correct for that particular circuit and, having looked at the weather report for the weekend, it may well be a wet. We’ve got a good wet setup up our sleeves too. We are hoping for a good weekend and are focused on consolidating both our drivers’ positions in their respective championships.”
Qualifying for the Britcar MSA British Endurance Championship is scheduled for 10.20 on Saturday (9 August) and will then be followed by Rounds 9 and 10 at 11.50 and 16.35 respectively.
Elsewhere, qualifying for the Britcar MSA Trophy Series will get underway at 09.40 on Saturday (9 August), which will precede Rounds 12, 13 and 14 at 11.05, 14.20 and 15.50 respectively.