A brilliant performance from Phil Glew and Chris Holmes gave the Lotus Sport UK team something to celebrate as the Avon Tyres British GT Championship drew to a close at Silverstone.
Starting from GT4 pole position the #48 Lotus Evora lead the class from the off, with their nearest competitor the #50 Ginetta of Denis/McDonald running close with them in the early stages. As the race wore on Glew pulled away only for the field to be closed up by a 20 minute safety car period midway through the race. Holmes would maintain the lead to take the chequered flag and GT4 win.
Holmes who had only driven the car for the first time the day before was delighted with the result: "Brilliant stuff, I really enjoyed the race. Phil drove the wheels off it to enable me to have a comfortable stint and I really got to learn the car."
Team mate Glew enjoyed the race which rounded off a positive year. "What a great end to the season, the team is awesome, the car has been brilliant and all my various team mates this year have done a great job."
The #49 Lotus Evora of Freddy Nordstrom and Leyton Clarke was unlucky not to finish the race after looking like they were set for a podium finish. Heading in to the race Nordstrom and Clarke had an outside chance of taking the GT4 title but an unknown problem saw the car grind to a halt in the closing stages of the race, ending any chances.
Nordstrom commented: "I'm a bit disappointed with this weekend; car issues and then breaking down at the end of this race cost us the chance of the GT4 title."
Clarke was similarly disappointed: "It's been a bit of a rubbish weekend with the car failing at the end of the race, but that's racing!"
Team manager Gary Ayles had mixed feelings about the result, “Phil and Chris did the job and were fastest across the weekend. Followed by the win, I couldn't ask for much more really! I thought we were on for a win and a third but the car failed on the last few laps. The team will be looking into why that occurred.”
Looking back over the season Ayles commented: ”All the drivers we've had with us this year have done a fantastic job! Roll on next season!”
Demanding 3-hour race for Round 6 of the Avon British GT Championships...
Round 6 of the Avon British GT Championship took place at Donington Park. This round saw a demanding 3 hour race. The usual Lotus Sport UK pairing of Philip Glew and Ollie Jackson was not to be for this race. Guest driver James Nash, former BTCC race winner, would replace Ollie, and meant that the number 48 Lotus Evora had its strongest driver line up to date.
Qualifying
Qualifying saw a 45-minute session where both drivers had to post a fast time. Having little experience in this particular car, James used most of the laps learning the Evora. When Philip took over the session, the 48 car managed an outstanding lap time putting the car on pole by three tenths of a second.
Race
After a dry qualifying the day before, the heavens opened and race day was a very different affair. With the demanding 3-hour race due to start at 4pm, it was Philip who started from pole position on a full wet set up. As the lights turned to greem, Philip made an outstanding start pulling a gap of 30 seconds on the second place Ginetta, even over taking several of the fast GT3 cars along the way.
After his first 45-minute stint, and with the track now dry, it was time to pit and hand over to BTCC ace James Nash. The Lotus Sport UK team did a fantastic pitstop, changing all four wheels, re fuelling and making the driver change, to put James out on track still 15 seconds clear of the 2nd place Ginetta.
The safety car was brought out just as James left the pits and the number 50 Ginetta cleverly timed his pitstop during this period, meaning that he over took the number 48 Lotus during the safety car. James pushed on, and closed the gap back up to the now leading Ginetta.
The second pitstop occurred and Philip jumped back in with his sights on victory, but an ill timed stop meant the team released Philip 3 seconds too early, and the number 48 Lotus had a drive through penalty. Philip now pushed hard, setting a new personal best lap time as his stint progressed, some half a second faster than his BTCC ace team mate, and once again drove magnificently to get the Evora back into the lead!
It was now down to Nash to bring the car home in one piece, and 101 laps later, as the sun set, he did by some 15 seconds, taking the second victory for the Lotus Sport UK team in its first year in British GT's.
Philip commented, "What a weekend! The weather has been just awful, but that's where the little Evora excels, in the wet. The car has had a few issues over the weekend, but the team soon ironed them out and did a fantastic job giving James and I the car we had! James did a mega job, we work really well together, and I hope we can do the same again soon."
DAS sponsors championship winning racing driver, Philip Glew, for 10 years, seeing a total of 60 podiums so far in his career...
Philip Glew’s interest in Motorsport was evident throughout his childhood and from a very young age had massive admiration for the great Ayrton Senna. Philip became interested in driving when his parents bought him a go-kart at the age of 8. His father’s experience no doubt helped fuel the passion throughout the early stages of Philip’s career, as he ran a racing school in the 80s and progressed into managing drivers throughout all stages of racing from Karting to Formula 1.
Philip started competing at the earliest he could, aged 8. He began entering races at his local track, and even appeared on Blue Peter where he drove his kart onto the set following his first ever race and was interviewed by Yvette Fielding. When Philip was old enough to drive a racing car, aged 16, he began to race in Formula Ford.
DAS became the very first sponsor of Philip when he was just 16 as he started racing cars, after DAS’ Managing Director David Riley met him in 1999 at a Formula 1 event.
Philip enjoyed his single-seater career with many highlights including having 10 podium finishes, coming 2nd in the Formula BMW Championship and racing against Lewis Hamilton in the British Formula Renault Championship. Philip then had the opportunity to drive a Porsche 996 in 2006 and competed in the Prestigious British GT Championship. Many highlights to this season including fastest lap at his first ever GT race and winning his first GT race around the famous Brands Hatch.
In 2008 another change in Philip’s career saw him taking the wheel of front-wheel drive touring cars, posing as a completely different challenge, with a new type of driving and requiring a very different technique. After winning the 2009 Renault Clio Cup Championship and an impressive debut in the BTCC, Philip is once again competing in the British GT Championship this year, but this time in a Lotus Evora GT4. He will compete in 10 events throughout the UK and Europe for the 2011 championship and has already obtained Lotus' 1st win at Spa. Philip's career to date returns a 1 in 6 win ratio.
Having worked in the corporate world of motorsport Philip and business partner, Eddie Reynolds realised they could do it better! Along with the Rileys’ investment and their enthusiasm for the sport, Edge Sporting Events was established.
Edge Sporting Events delivers a first class professional motoring experience for personal or corporate functions. Edge can offer fantastic opportunities to be involved in trackdays, hospitality events at their brand new refurbished trackside suite at Brands Hatch or offer Formula 1 hospitality worldwide at all F1 races.
For further info on Edge events, please visit www.edge-se.com.
