Dumfries youngster places second and fourth in latest Snetterton races
Ross Wylie has re-taken the lead in the Avon Tyres British GT Championship after top placings in the latest races at Snetterton today (22 June).
Wylie, from Dumfries, and co-driver Jake Giddings drove their Beechdean Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage home into second and fourth positions in the two races at the Norfolk venue.
Wylie and Giddings, who started the first race three-points adrift in the standings, now lead the series again by seven-points with four rounds remaining.
“It’s fantastic to be back leading the British GT4 championship after recording our sixth top-four result from the opening six races thanks to Beechdean and the Aston Martin.
“Four races remain and we face stiff competition but we’re in the best possible position going in to the second half of the season.”
Wylie started the opening race from the second row of the GT4 grid having posted the third fastest time in qualifying the previous day and handed over to Giddings after 32mins placed second in class – the local Norfolk driver bringing the Aston home in the hour long race just 3.507secs behind the winner.
“My start wasn’t my best and I lost two places at the first corner but between us, we managed to claim second place to score a healthy amount of points,” reflected Ross.
Giddings lined-up fifth in GT4 for the second race and was fourth on the opening lap but a first corner accident caused an hour long stoppage, Jake fourth at the re-start of the shortened 55mins race that began behind the Safety Car for the opening 10mins.
Wylie took over from Giddings with 23mins remaining placed third and moved up to second with 15mins to go and challenging for the lead moments before the Scot was obliged to serve a stop-go penalty for a pit-stop infringement. Ross resumed sixth but salvaged an unrepresentative fourth place at the chequered flag.
He continued: “Ten seconds was added to our scheduled pit-stop time, a “success penalty” for finishing second in the opening race, and I crossed the pit-lane exit 0.7secs before I should have.
“It was a shame but it’s no good beating ourselves up about a human error. I was much happier with the way I drove in race two.”
The seventh and eighth rounds of the series are staged at Spa in Belgium on 12 July.
“This will mark my first ever visit to Spa, even as a spectator, and I can’t wait to get there,” added Ross. “It’s always exciting driving a new circuit for the first time, I’m particularly looking forward to taking the Aston’s powerful V8 up through Eau Rouge.
“I’ve only ever driven the circuit on a simulator but the elevation changes and high speed corners make it very exciting. Having not driven the circuit, both Jake and I will have to make the most of free practice and hopefully we can have a good result and consolidate our championship lead.
“I should have raced there last year but the Volkswagen Racing Cup race clashed with a Scirocco R-Cup race in Germany.”
