Tolman Motorsport is looking to keep its momentum when it goes to the third race of this year’s Avon Tyres British GT Championship, a two-hour endurance race at Northamptonshire’s Rockingham circuit.
The team is using a Ginetta G55 in the GT4 category, and is currently fourth in both the GT4 Drivers’ and Teams’ championships with its drivers Luke Davenport (GT4 PRO category) and David Pattison (GT4 AM). Neither have entered a two-hour endurance race before, and so the team has tested at the venue in order to get as much experience with the track as possible, which has an unique layout in that it uses part of the stock-car style oval circuit and part of the infield road course. Strategy for this race will be of highest importance, as the drivers need to not only look after their own performance, but also the car and its tyres.
“Following the result at Oulton Park and our pre-event test at Rockingham, the team is feeling very good,” says Team Principal, Chris Tolman. “I wouldn’t necessarily go as far as to say we’re confident but we are definitely excited about the third round and optimistic that we can at least repeat our performance from Oulton Park.
“We had limited running time at the test but I am pleased with the pace that we were able to demonstrate. I think the most interesting element will be the length of the race – neither Luke nor David have driven in this length of race before and getting to the end and turning in a good result will be no walk in the park.
“But the entire team is relishing the challenge and I’m sure that we will put in a representative performance.”
“Rockingham is a circuit that many drivers struggle with but I enjoy the technical challenge,” claims Luke Davenport. “Coming off the back of a strong debut weekend and a successful test last week, I feel we are in a solid position to get a good result.
“David is improving all the time and, although we may be at a slight disadvantage to the Astons and Lotus’ in a straight line here, I think we can impress again.”
Round three of the British GT Championship will take place at Rockingham on May 2/3.
