Max Coates Was The Class Of The Field In The G50's At Donington - Photo Credit: Chris Gurton Photography
Yorkshireman Max Coates enjoyed a superb weekend in the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup at Donington Park, the Redbrick Racing driver taking three class wins out of three in the G50 Cup.
The deal for Max to compete in the second meeting of the season came late on Wednesday afternoon, allowing the Welcome To Yorkshire-backed driver to get out for the pre-event testing at Donington on Thursday, ending up third on the timesheets.
Qualifying was next up and Coates put his Lightwater Valley-backed car second in class on the grid, just a tenth off pole. The first race followed on Saturday afternoon and a great start saw Coates take the lead at the exit of the first corner. Coates didn't relinquish it from there on in, taking a comfortable three second win for his second class victory of the season.
The second race was a lot closer for Coates. The Harron Homes-backed driver didn't make the best of starts and fell back to third from pole. Seizing the opportunity, Coates moved into second when a rival ran wide, before starting to get caught up in a battle with some of the faster G55 models. After a short safety car period, Coates mounted an attack for the lead and after a great drive out of the penultimate bend saw him stream past to take the win.
The final race saw Coates not make the best of starts, falling back to third from pole once again. After initially getting caught behind some G55's, Coates was able to battle for the lead after a safety car period, before holding it to make it three out of three for the weekend.
The results puts Coates 3rd in the championship despite his two mechanical problems at the first meeting, however now the race is on to find the sponsorship to ensure he's out at the next meeting at Thruxton in two weeks time.
yourracingcar.com-backed Coates said: “Couldn't have gone much better really could it? We're chuffed to say the least. The first win was relatively comfortable to be honest, got the lead at the first corner, pulled away and controlled it from there.
“Second one I really had to work hard for, I was third after the first corner and I had to fight back through, which I did and was great. The third was the hardest to win, contending with G55's, the safety car, a broken steering pump towards the end, all sorts of things going on making it so difficult. We managed to come through and Redbrick Racing and all the sponsors, for getting me here, I can't thank them enough, it's brilliant.
“I said a couple of weeks ago that top five's would be good for the first couple of meetings, maybe a podium, then hopefully look to win a couple of races towards the end of the season. To do a triple on the second weekend is a bit special really.
“It's a bit early to start talking about a championship push, as to win a championship you have to be at all the rounds to begin with. That's going to be the hardest bit I think. If we can get here, I think we've shown this weekend that we can do the job, so it's now a case of getting the budget to be able to race at Thruxton next and from then on.”
