McLaren Driver Development Programme member Josh Price is targeting more success at Silverstone after taking his second podium of the 2019 British GT Championship season at Snetterton. Driving the #4 Tolman Motorsport McLaren 570S GT4 with team mate James Dorlin the Cumbria based racer took second place in the first race in Norfolk.
Early on in the weekend the #4 McLaren set the stage for its podium visit with a fifth place result from qualifying. Smith set the time, then started the car in the race and pushed his way carefully up to third by the start of the stops. Handing over to Dorlin, the #4 continued its rise in a competitive class, topping out at second place come the end of the race.
The second race wasn’t as good to the team. A twentieth place start turned into ninth by the opening of the GT4 pit window. Dorlin brought the car in and handed over to Josh Smith who continued the cars metoric rise up the timesheets. Unfortunately during the pit stops, Smith was a little slow away from the pit box. The resulting delay was judged to have blocked a GT3 competitor and the stewards awarded a stop/go penalty.
The trip through pit lane dropped the #4 machine down to ninth place again. The result, combined with the podium finish from the previous round, leaves the #4 Tolman Motorsport McLaren just 10 points off the Silver Cup lead in GT4.
“Race weekends never get any easier, if anything it gets harder as everyone is constantly raising the bar,” Smith said. “It was easier in that I knew what to expect from the weekend and the car as I have already had my first experience of a race weekend in GT racing.”
“I was over the moon to be back on the podium, with the pace in testing, and qualifying in fifth, it was really motivating as it showed we had good pace in the race.
“It’s only a short period until Silverstone, but preparation has already begun to make sure any small issues have been ironed out. I’m looking forward to the next race weekend and getting to drive the McLaren 570S GT4 around the Grand Prix circuit. I’m hoping for another strong weekend and to be in the hunt for the podium again.”