Zolder – Belguim 22^nd August

Following a perfect start to rounds 9 & 10 by securing two pole positions the race results didn’t live up to expectations but despite this Osborne left the Belguim circuit at Zolder still leading the championship by 6 points. Joe was sharing the Team LNT Ginetta G50 with a new driver partner works Ginetta driver Nigel Moore. The pair had raced together last season in British GT to great effect scoring a first at the Thruxton round. The race problem was with the starts as in race 1 Nigel was jumped by the rest of the grid and was running in 8^th after the first lap. Both drivers put in great performances and managed to recover to an impressive 4^th place. In race 2 Joe made a great get away only to suffer brake problems into turn 1 and as in race 1 dropped places to around 8^th.

Yet again both drivers put in stunning lap times and recovered to 5^th place by the end of the race. These results secured a vital 9 points which combined with his rivals suffering reliability problems leaves Joe ahead in the standings as the GT4 European Cup grid heads off to the Algarve for the final 2 rounds and the chance of finally securing the European championship.

Rounds 7 & 8 in Belgium at the 7 km Grand Prix Circuit of Spa were always going to be tough as the Ginetta G50 would struggle against the heavier but more powerful competition such as the BMW M3, Porsche 911 and Aston Martin N24. The two races at Spa were a damage limitation exercise and to end the weekend with the 7 point lead maintained which was a great result.

Our new team GCR performed really well and worked really hard over the weekend to ensure that the car ran without problems. Saturday’s race was full of twists and turns right to the end with the two BMW M3’s running in first and second as they started the last lap. Fortunately from a points position there was a coming together resulting in a DNF for both drivers.

A final position of 4^th and a 7^th place in race two were enough to secure a vital 7 points from the weekend and maintain the all important championship lead. On to Zolder with races on the 21^st & 22nd August.