As the cars formed on the grid for Race 1 the dark clouds decided to empty their contents. Scenes of frantic activity ensued as the teams prepared the cars for a tyre change. Joe as the pole sitter elected to stay on slicks as did the car in second place, where as the majority of the grid went for wets. With the rain stopping Joe and the team were confident the track would dry before the half way mark leaving the slick runners with the advantage. Dropping to 12^th on the first lap Joe battled with difficult conditions and a track that was refusing to dry. The team and driver opted to take the pit stop at the earliest opportunity in order to maximise any improvements in the drying track. Finally with 25 minutes of the 40 minute race gone Joe’s lap times finally started to fall. Moving rapidly through the wet shod cars Joe managed to progress through to 6^th setting the fastest lap of the race on the way. Unfortunately time was not on our side and this was to be the final position for Osborne’s number 52 Ginetta G50. Despite the disappointing result the points situation was looking much better as Joe’s closest rival finished 5^th gaining only 1 more point. Joe commented “I couldn’t believe how slowly the track was drying as in free practice on Friday with a similar amount of rain it took about 10 minutes to dry. Once the track started to dry my times really stated to improve but we needed another 5 minutes.”

Joe’s 100% record of qualifying on pole was maintained this weekend at rounds 5 and 6 at Oschersleben in Germany. Despite the Ginetta G50 being given even more penalties in order to slow the car down Joe still managed to out qualify an impressive field including current GT3 leader Maxime Martin in a Porsche 911.

Another great race in the G50Z. With 10 laps to go I’d managed to get the car up to to third behind the Mosler and Ascari. It was neck and neck but with 5 laps to go I dived up the inside of the Mosler at the hairpin. A few laps later I lunged into the last corner and past the Ascari. Depite the Ascari’s pace on corner one I held on to the lead for my second vistory of the weekend.

Update: I’m pleased to announce I’ve been awarded the Sunoco Driver of the Weekend award!