HHC Motorsport team-mates Carl Breeze and Will Burns have expressed their frustration at an incident between the two, caused by a mechanical problem for Breeze, which led to their double retirement in the opening Ginetta GT4 Supercup race at Snetterton.
The incident came on the run out of Agostini two laps from the end when the pair were battling over second place, with a sudden loss of power for Breeze leaving him slowing down the straight and Burns behind with nowhere to go.
Contact with the rear left of Breeze sent him spinning into the armco and instantly out of the race, while Burns continued around to the Bentley Straight before pulling off into retirement himself – Burns’ fourth DNF in the last six races.
The result, coupled with a differential failure last time out at Croft, has cost Breeze his championship lead, with the 2012 champion now sitting in third place behind race-winner Tom Oliphant and new points leader Jamie Orton.
“I was holding my own in second, then coming out of Agostini, I got a load of lights on the dashboard and the engine died on me,” Breeze explained. “With Will so close behind, he didn’t have enough time to react and hit the back of me, which spun me into the barriers and caused a lot of damage to the car.
“It’s a major disappointment, as it’s been six months of hard work to get into this position, and then in two meetings we’ve had two mechanical failures through no fault of my own or the team, which has cost me a lot of points and put me right on the backfoot in the championship battle.”
Burns reflected: “I went out wide into Agostini to try and get a good exit and tuck up under Carl. All of a sudden his car just stopped, there were no brake lights and I tried to go full lock to the left to get out the way, but I was just too close.
“It’s the worst thing possible that could have happened, especially as it wasn’t my fault and it wasn’t Carl’s fault. It’s something technical in the car that caused it to stop, it was out of our control and I’m gutted for Carl and the headache and work it’s caused the team.”
Both cars are expected to be repaired in time for tomorrow’s opening race, which is scheduled to begin at 09:55, with Breeze to line up fourteenth and Burns fifteenth.