The 2018 British GT Championship visits Silverstone on June 9 – 10 for Round Six of the nine-round series. The three-hour race is the blue-riband event for the UK’s premier GT series and all eyes in the endurance racing world will be focused on the historic 4.00km Northamptonshire grand prix circuit as the Championship reaches the mid-point of the season.
Although Southport-based Ben Wallace, driver of the #88 Team HARD Racing Ginetta G55 GT4, has not raced on this circuit before, he is excited about the challenges that the three-hour race, with multiple driver changes and a recently resurfaced track, will bring.
“I’ve been working hard in the simulator to prepare myself for the weekend as well as focusing on my fitness,” said the LIPS Reifendahl-backed driver, currently lying twelfth GT4 drivers standings. “I’m very much looking forward to racing on the Silverstone GP circuit.”
Performance balancing measures, guided by the SRO, the series organisers, meant that the Ben and Team HARD were unable to demonstrate the full potential of the Ginetta at the previous rounds at Snetterton. Those measures have, however, been eased for Silverstone and Ben is confident that the car will be a lot more competitive for Round Six.
“The ride height has been lowered and weight taken out of the car which is certainly better than we had before,” said Ben. “It will be interesting to see how much quicker the car feels around the GP circuit. My preparation work in the simulator suggests that the circuit is not as intimidating as it looks. Once you’ve become familiar with it, it’s a fast and very enjoyabletrack, even more so after the recent resurfacing.”
Ben’s teammate for the weekend is Alex Reed.
Practice for the British GT grid begins at 09:30 on Saturday June 9 with the four-part qualifying session starting at 15:25. The lights go out for the race at 13:10 on Sunday June 10. Live timing throughout the weekend can be found at www.tsl-timing.com and the race will be live-steamed via the British GT Facebook page.