We tested at 'The Bend' a couple of weeks before the race so felt we were well prepared. We had also been doing quite a lot of work with the BMW representatives in Germany to ensure that our BOP (Balance of Performance) settings were more appropriate in relationship to the other manufacturers, which was successful, and our straight-line speed was closer to our rivals.
In race 1 Jay started from grid 14 and was making progress from the jump moving up to 11th before his pit stop. His engineer EP timed his pitstop to perfection and he came out of the pits in 7th then did an amazing job to push his way forward to a thoroughly well-deserved 3rd place and first podium in GT4 racing in only his 5th ever race weekend.
For race 2 Jay had 5 seconds added to his compulsory pit stop time which cost him 6-8 positions, when the field did their CPS bunched up, under safety car conditions. Despite that bit of bad luck, in the second half of the race he went on to have an amazing duel with the higher-powered Mustangs and other front running pros, earning praise from some of his vastly more experienced competitors.
In race 1 Nathan had his most assertive start to a GT4 race, immediately on the offensive and making moves forward. After the compulsory pit stop he came out of the pits 14th outright and 5th in Pro-Am. He did a great job posting very competitive lap times to progress up to 4th at the end, only a few seconds away from the 3rd place car.
In race 2 Nathan wasn’t in the best health which cost him some track time in the first part of the race. After the CPS (compulsory pit stop) we managed to jump forward 15 places with ideal pit stop timing which helped Nathan get into a rhythm, his lap times improved and he was able to take 5th in Pro-Am at the finish.
Needless to say, Jay's Siver class podium finish in race 1 was an absolute standout performance. Particularly as he is racing against an array of vastly more experienced drivers including current Supercar drivers and championship winners in other categories.
Nathan had another positive weekend learning plenty and having the unique experience of being in the same race while his son takes 3rd outright - a “big tick ✔️” as he would say!
We are really looking forward to our home race at Queensland Raceway in 5 weeks time.
