David Pittard says its “good to be back” in the Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup after taking a top six finish on his return to the championship at Silverstone.
An eleventh hour deal with the Team LNT squad saw him replace GT Academy Asia winner Jose-Gerard Policarpio for the weekend, his comeback coming at a circuit he took pole position and both race wins at twelve months ago.
Following a tricky Friday practice day, the 23 year old was able to put himself eighth on the grid for the opening race, with a strong race performance seeing him climb up to sixth place at the finish.
Pittard told TCF: “My aim was to get fifth and I got sixth, so the race wasn’t too bad. I got done over a bit at the start, Jordan Stilp spun up his tyres massively and then cut across my nose, so I had to back out and lost some ground.
“I got a couple of places back after some bumping into Maggotts, a couple of guys came off and we got past [Stefan] Hodgetts into Copse which was sweet. The gap was too long to the top five then, but I feel we had the pace overall for the top five which I’m pleased with. We’re in a good position for tomorrow.”
Pittard is pleased with his progress over the weekend working alongside the Team LNT mechanics, and with a brand new car at his disposal that hadn’t turned a wheel on track prior to the meeting, the weekend is providing him an opportunity work on his car development skills that he feels could be key for his future career.
“The Team LNT guys have been really good,” he reflected. “They’ve listened and looked after every query I’ve had about the car. I know what the car is capable of around here, so it’s a case of finding that again in the new car. I can’t credit the team enough.
“Rather than pure pace and results in paper, this is a weekend for me to show my skills with car development and set-up work. From a second and a half off in free practice one, I’ve brought it down to within two tenths which is really pleasing, improving the car from scratch,” Pittard explained.
“Going forward into GT racing, when you’re sharing with an AM driver, the shorter timeframe you can get the set-up sorted in the better. It’s a quality I want to develop and this weekend is giving me an opportunity to do that.”
