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Mundial - FIA GT

MUNDIAL - GT - TF SPORT

Terça, 25 Agosto 2020 22:24 | Actualizado em Terça, 26 Março 2024 07:25

DOMINANT LIGHTS-TO-FLAG VICTORY FOR TF SPORT AT PAUL RICARD

Paul Ricard hosted round two of the International GT Open last weekend, where TF Sport stormed to victory in the opening race. Drivers Salih Yoluc and Charlie Eastwood then managed to overcome the success handicap in race two, to finish on the podium once again.

It was Turkish driver Salih who set the tone for the weekend in the first free practice session, consistently running at the front of the pack and ended his run second fastest amongst the bronze-graded drivers. Pro Charlie then followed this up in the third session, by matching his teammate’s position within the ranks. 

 

Happy with the set up of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT3 in free practice, the crew were confident come qualifying on the Saturday. Charlie affirmed that confidence by placing #34 at the top of the time sheets on his first flying lap. The pole position was the first of the season in GT Open for the UK-based team. 

 

Pole man Eastwood, stormed the race one start and was promptly far enough up the road to leave the two Optimum Motorsport McLarens tripping over each other for P2 behind. It just so happened to be Salih’s 35th birthday on race day, and Eastwood’s solid pace resulted in him gifting his teammate with a 10 second buffer at the stop. With no handicap to serve, it was straight back out for Yoluc, whose admirable race pace saw the gap to second position almost double by the time he crossed the line to comfortably take the win. The victory was not only the first for both Charlie and Salih at the Le Castellet circuit, it was the first win for the Aston Martin AMR V8 Vantage GT3, in 2020. 

 

Roles were reversed for Sunday and a very respectable lap by Salih placed the #34 Vantage on the second row, in P4, for the start of race two, just five hundredths of a second from third and 0.7s off pole man, Vincent Abril.

 

A great start by Yoluc saw him rise up to P3 on the opening lap and he then managed to pull away from the pack behind. It was here he remained until the driver change. After taking over from Salih and serving the 15s handicap at the stop, Pro Charlie returned to the track a little way down the order and around 20 seconds behind the duo battling for the lead. With just over 35 minutes remaining, Eastwood wasted no time in working his way through the pack and brought the TF Aston over the line to claim another GT Open podium finish.

 

Yoluc and Eastwood are now second in the drivers standings, a mere two points away from Chaves and Ramos in the #59 McLaren. TF Sport are also second in the teams championship standings.

 

The crew are now back in the UK for the next round of the British GT Championship at Brands Hatch, before having their first non-race weekend in five weeks, and then heading to Austria for the round three of GT Open at the Red Bull Ring - 12/13 September.

 

Salih Yoluc - "It’s great for Charlie and I to get our first win at Paul Ricard! I was happy with my performance this weekend and the car has been spot on with set-up since the first practice session, which made our job a lot easier. The handicaps keep the championship close and we now carry over 15 seconds to Red Bull Ring, and whilst we believe the Aston is strong there, it will still be a challenge to lose that extra time in our stints. But that is the sacrifice for finishing in the top three, twice and the aim is to always score as many points as possible.”

 

Charlie Eastwood - “Very good weekend for us! The car was perfect from FP1 and we didn’t change a single thing from that first session onwards. It was a good start on Saturday to get pole by a margin and then being able to get the gap in the first race. Salih did a mega job to hold onto it and it was great to get our first GT Open victory. It was always going to be difficult on Sunday with the 15 second handicap, but Salih made good ground up to third place. I think the handicap dropped us out of contention for the win, as I came back out of the pits around 20 odd seconds behind the leaders and with the race only being 60 minutes long, its a lot of time to try and gain back. So we just nursed the car home the best we could, avoiding all curbs and looking after the tyres. Great result with the double podium and our first win!”

 

Tom Ferrier - “This weekend has been a step ahead of where we were at Hungaroring. I think the car suits Paul Ricard and Salih drove well all week, he was much closer to Charlie than he has been. It was great to get the win, and a podium in the second race was the best we could’ve hoped for with the pit stop penalty. The Aston should be strong at the Red Bull Ring. Even though we will still have the 15 second handicap in the first race, our closest rivals in the #17 Ferrari and #59 McLaren have both got penalties now as well, so it’ll be more of a level playing field between the three of us.”

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