Newbridge Motorsport and Guillaume Gruchet continue to take great strides towards a third place finish in the Britcar MSA British Endurance Championship after scoring a podium finish at Northamptonshire’s Silverstone circuit (Saturday 20 September).
Gruchet used Friday’s (19 September) two free practice sessions to fettle his Porsche 997 GT3’s setup and bed-in his newly rebuilt gearbox in order to give him the best possible chance of consolidating his third position in the Drivers’ standings, before setting the 11th fastest time during Saturday’s (20 September) damp qualifying session.
With track conditions drying, Gruchet headed out onto Silverstone’s 3.66mile Grand Prix circuit for the first of two 90-minute endurance races on a set of Dunlop slick tyres and set about mixing it with those in the points-paying positions.
Needing to finish ahead of championship rivals, Ian Donaldson and Anna Walewska, Gruchet was able to hold onto his third place in the Drivers’ standings at the conclusion of the first race after finishing eighth, which was made even more impressive due to the Frenchman suffering powersteering issues.
With a narrow 30-minute window between the end of Race 1 and the start of qualifying for Race 2, Newbridge Motorsport quickly repaired the issue on Gruchet’s car and sent him back out on track; a testament to the team’s great work ethic.
Needing to again finish runner-up in his class, Gruchet immediately climbed the leaderboard after disposing of six of his rivals on the opening tour of Silverstone’s Grand Prix configuration to position himself sixth overall and second in class.
Gruchet continued to do everything asked of him and ran a comfortable race after bridging a gap to his rivals during the early stages, his efforts to manage tyre wear paying dividends and helping him rise to third overall.
With the pit window set to close, Newbridge Motorsport’s clever strategy played out in its favour. The Milton Keynes-based outfit opted to keep Gruchet out on track for as long as possible before calling him into the pits with under 20 minutes remaining, before returning to the track with a comfortable gap to the fourth-placed BMW M3 GT4 of Tom Howard.
As the sun began to set over Silverstone, Gruchet greeted the chequered flag to take a well-earned podium finish, as well as being rewarded with the ‘Driver of the Weekend’ award.
“It feels fantastic to have stood on the winners’ podium and to receive the ‘Driver of the Weekend’ award,” said Gruchet. “The second race was phenomenal and it’s one of my best races. To finish P3 in a high calibre grid is better than winning for me. It was a very good race, as we did everything that was required and managed our tyres and pace for the duration of the race. I lost radio communication with the team, which actually helped me focus on the job at hand. I had a feeling towards the end of the race that I was in a good position, but had no idea I finished third until I got back to the pits and immediately shouted, ‘Wow! No way!’
“It is very satisfying to finish on the podium towards the end of the season, as it shows all the great effort we’ve put in at every race has paid off. I’m extremely grateful to the Newbridge Motorsport team, as they have given me not only a great car this season, but also fantastic support, and without them this podium wouldn’t have been possible.”
On the other side of the Newbridge Motorsport garage, Chris Valentine continues to go from strength-to-strength in the Britcar Trophy Series, improving on his personal best laptimes by over two seconds.
In a competitive field that consists of several Nissan GT Academy drivers in Nissan 350Zs, Valentine explored the limit of both track and car to finish the weekend’s two races as high as sixth and leaves the Northamptonshire circuit full of confidence.
Newbridge Motorsport Team Principal, Richard Tovey, said: “The weekend has been a really positive one for both drivers. Chris Valentine has produced some tremendous racing in the Trophy Series against the Nissan GT Academy guys, and came out in front in the second race.
“Guillaume Gruchet has had a cracking result today and to finish third on the podium, helps consolidate our third position in the Drivers’ standings. We have exceeded our expectations for this weekend and I couldn’t be happier. Onwards and upwards!”
The Britcar MSA British Endurance Series will now take a break before concluding at Donington Park in the East Midlands (1 November).