BEECHDEAN-BARWELL TAKE A FOURTH PLACE FINISH TO RECORD THEIR BEST RESULT OF THE SEASON SO FAR AT SPA
Rounds 3 & 4
Saturday 9th & Sunday 10th May 2009
After a positive qualifying session for both races at the historic Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, Andrew Howard and Jamie Smyth had a challenging but successful weekend on the current F1 championship circuit.
In race-one Andrew Howard qualified 4th out of the 26th cars on the grid as the British contingents joined forces with the Belgian GT Championship at Spa.
It was a frantic start to the race which saw Andrew make a great start but by the first corner he was whacked in the side by a Ferrari at La Source hairpin which dropped both cars to the back of the field. Despite damage to the front splitter and dive planes he fought his way back through the pack and handed the car over to Jamie Smyth who took the chequered flag in 8th position.
Race-two took place on Sunday morning. It was a daunting start to the race under the safety car due to heavy fog. Jamie Smyth started the race, driving superbly in difficult conditions to hand over the car to Andrew Howard in 5th at the half way point. Andrew took to the wheel and drove brilliantly through the pack increasing his lap times on the drying track. Just as the Beechdean Aston Martin was in position to pounce on its rival for third, the sun came out and very quickly heated up the track. This then increased the tyre wear as the race entered the closing stages so he had to settle for fourth come the race end.
Andrew Howard, Beechdean-Barwell Racing Driver"We arrived at Spa in optimistic mood. Qualifying went better than expected so we were quite happy going into both races. Race one was pretty frantic and I was disappointed that I didn’t capitalise on a great qualifying position but I have to say that I really enjoyed the challenge back through the pack where we finished in 8th.
Race two on Sunday morning was daunting to say the least. The weather conditions were difficult with the fog, however we kept our head down and Jamie had a good start and kept out of trouble. I took over at the half way point to finish in 4th which is our best result of the season so far.”
The highlights from the British GT Championship will be shown on Channel 4 on Saturday 16th May at 7.30am.
For further information please contact:
Diana Binks
Communications & PR Manager
Tel: 07801 859508
diana@beechdean.co.uk
www.beechdean.co.uk