A magnificent performance from both of the Academy Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage cars resulted in the Pershore-based squad being crowned British GT4 champions at Donington Park last weekend.
An outstanding display from the team’s #61 car, led by Chris Webster alongside regular GT3 podium finisher Daniel Lloyd, ensured that the car scored its maiden win, as well as the team’s first victory of the season.
Lloyd, who was making his GT4 debut, only took to the track in dry conditions for the first time on Saturday morning, ahead of Sunday’s season finale.
The sister #62 Scope-liveried Vantage GT4 car, raced by regulars Will Moore and Dennis Strandberg, lined up on the front row of the grid after qualifying second; by far the quickest Aston Martin GT4 machine. Webster and Lloyd began 11th for the two-hour endurance event.
It was a magnificent performance from the #61 pairing, as Webster conserved his tyres throughout his stint in order for Lloyd to push in the second half of the race.
With two of the season-leading GT4 cars colliding in the early stages of the race, it allowed Moore’s #62 racer to sprint clear of the chasing pack. But a safety car for a stricken GT3 machine wiped out Moore’s lead and he was soon under pressure.
That was soon wiped out as the car’s main rival was forced to serve a success pit-stop time penalty from the previous round. When Strandberg emerged following the driver change, he once again brought the car into the lead.
But following Webster’s stellar early shift, Lloyd banged in consistent laps to begin closing in on the Swede and fellow Aston Martin Evolution Academy member.
A number of stop/go penalties were applied to cars throughout the field for not remaining stationary long enough in the pits. That included the second placed Ginetta ahead of Lloyd.
With just five of the 120 minutes remaining, Lloyd was soon on the tail of Strandberg who was hunting down a third place finish in the championship. Lloyd made his move into The Loop, only for Strandberg to brake late into Goddards.
The pair made slight contact with the #61 car suffering light body damage. But it was enough for Strandberg to then get held up by traffic. He then lost second to an opportunistic move by the rival Ginetta.
Lloyd’s DCB (Kent)-liveried machine took victory by six seconds with Strandberg having to settle for third. But with both cars on the podium, the 60 points gained from the weekend were more than enough to score the Teams’ championship title.
Team boss Matt Nicoll-Jones was ecstatic at both the weekend’s result and the team’s title triumph: “Everyone at the team must take their share of this success. We have had the quickest Aston Martin by far in the final couple of weekends which is fantastic news as we begin to look to next season.
“Chris Webster as always handed over a really good car to Dan Lloyd, who did an amazing job and took no risks. He did exactly what I brought him into the team for last weekend. I wanted a strong end to the year.
“The team perfectly executed the pit stop for both cars, and there’s nobody that I would have liked to have seen take their first Aston win than Chris. It’s been a really tough season, so this is a great end to it.
“Dennis and Will were unfortunate not to take their first win, but that will undoubtedly come. This has been an amazing end to the season and gives us some fantastic momentum as we look towards winter opportunities and the 2016 season with Aston Martin once again.”