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Archive for September, 2009

Joe wins the big prize in Portugal!

After leading the championship all season Joe finally managed to secure the GT4 European title with a race to spare.  With yet another car change Joe was driving a brand new Ginetta G50 which had only done 10 shake down laps before being transported down to the Algarve circuit.

As with all of the circuits that Joe has raced at this year the Algarve was a brand new circuit that had to be learnt in double quick time.  Fortunately he was being supported by two great engineers from the Ginetta factory Paul and Simmy and with further back up from life time friend and mechanical genius Johnny Nabbs.

After an impressive qualifying session which netted a 2nd and a 1st on the Saturday, the first part of the task was complete.  Race 1. On the rolling lap the task became a lot easier as the main challenger experienced electrical problems and failed to make the start.  Joe had a great start and maintained 2nd place behind the BMW M3.  The pressure was still on as the next closest rival was in 3rd place in the impressive Aston Martin.  With a successful pit stop completed the news came though that the Aston Martin had a mechanical problem and was out of the race.  This now meant that it was possible for Joe to win the championship in the first race, all he had to do was finish one place behind in the BMW.  With no immediate pressure from the 3rd placed car Joe was able to stop pushing so hard and concentrate on bringing the car home safe and sound which he did in 2nd place to win the 2009 championship.

Posted by joe in Race Reports