Newbridge Motorsport heads to ‘The Home of British Motor Racing’, Silverstone, for the second time this season with the intention of consolidating its position in the Britcar MSA British Endurance Championship (20 September).
Running on Silverstone’s 3.66mile Grand Prix circuit, the sixth round of the British Endurance Championship represents another opportunity for the Milton Keynes-based Newbridge Motorsport outfit to bridge the gap to its rivals and strengthen its championship position.
The team has garnered third position in the Drivers’ standings with French driver, Guillaume Gruchet, who, despite racing against higher-powered machinery, has had a strong season and shown the necessary skills to take the battle to his more experienced competitors.
Having closed the gap to the fourth-placed BMW V8 GT4 of Kevin Clarke and Ian Donaldson last time out at Snetterton, Gruchet will be aiming replicate the podium finishes achieved during Silverstone’s season-opener to narrow the points deficit to the likes of Javier Morcillo and Manuel Cintrano.
Going from strength-to-strength in the Britcar Trophy Series, Chris Valentine now has the option to upgrade his race license to an International C grading as of next year, following a successful outing at Snetterton, where he took three second in-class finishes and improved on his personal best laptimes by more than three seconds.
Newbridge Motorsport Team Principal, Richard Tovey, said: “The main goal for this season was to gain experience in endurance racing, and to be where we are in the championship standings has exceeded all expectations and makes me feel very proud of what the team has achieved. Realistically, we can’t finish any higher than third in the championship, so we are looking to consolidate our position this weekend.
“We rebuilt the gearbox in Guillaume’s (Gruchet) car and reconfigured its new software, and we will use Friday’s free practice sessions to shake down the car and scrub in tyres. With Chris (Valentine), he will have an instructor sitting beside him during testing. He will give him a few tips on how to extract the best from both himself and the car.”
Qualifying for the Britcar MSA British Endurance Championship is scheduled to get underway at 10.00 on Saturday and this will be followed by two 90-minute races at 12.05 and 16.30.