Greystone GT turned in one of the most heroic performances of the GT4 European Series at Spa-Francorchamps last weekend to rescue more valuable championship points from a near-impossible situation.
Drivers Tim Whale and Adam Carroll gained an astonishing 29 places in the first of two races in Belgium aboard their GETTRX McLaren 570S GT4, but were denied an even better finish the following day after becoming involved in a multi-car incident.
A persistent sensor issue affected the car throughout practice and qualifying; Adam not managing a single flying lap during his portion of qualifying while a solution was found.
Starting 52nd on the 56-car grid – and 17th in the Pro-Am class – the Northern Irishman was on an immediate charge. He gained 16 places on the first lap alone and despite seeing his progress blunted by several laps behind the safety car, reached the mid-race pitstops 25th.
The ex-BAR Formula 1 test driver did this without the full benefit of the car’s electronic stability-control system too, due to the sensor issue.
Tim took over driving duties at this point; the Worcester-born racer, who is now based in Barcelona, closing in on a four-way fight for 19th place overall and sixth in Pro-Am.
Some decisive passing moves allowed him to take over the spot, but with his rear tyres rapidly degrading and the on-track battling proving hard, he slipped to a still incredibly impressive points-scoring ninth place in Pro-Am and 23rd overall by the chequered flag.
From 11th on the Pro-Am grid – and 25th overall on what was only Tim’s second lap of the event and was achieved without the benefit of new tyres –, Tim was confident of making up more ground early in Saturday’s second race.
Unfortunately, he was involved in a seven-car incident at the first corner; running deliberately wide to avoid contact, but still ending up as an innocent victim of a collision on the inside of the corner as another car turned sharply into him.
The hit broke the McLaren’s right-front suspension and put it out on the spot, much to the frustration of the team.
Just two rounds remain of the 2022 season; the next taking place at Hockenheim, Germany, on September 2-4.
Tim Whale said: “I’m pretty pleased with my own performance, but obviously we didn’t get the results we wanted. I did one lap before qualifying, didn’t have new tyres and got baulked on my best lap, so the starting position was alright, but I know I could have been fifth or sixth in class if everything had gone as planned. Adam’s effort in Race One was Herculean. We had no traction control, which meant the tyre performance fell away while I was battling for sixth. I wanted to finish so after getting into sixth, I just had to be a bit more conservative and lost a few spots.”
Adam Carroll said: “It’s been a tough weekend. We had a persistent electrical fault that kept coming back through practice and qualifying, so I never got a full timed lap with the car I should have had under me. We started almost last and I overtook 27 cars in my stint. We had an issue with a sensor that led to the traction control being unusable and made the McLaren very tough to drive, so I was pretty proud of that recovery. Tim’s driving has been the highlight for me. This is still only his fourth event back after a 20-year lay-off and to see the way his racecraft has come on in such a short space of time is pretty phenomenal. His qualifying time was fantastic. One flying lap before that session and on old tyres too… We’ll get the result his speed deserves very soon.”
Mark McLoughlin, Team Principal, said: “What a superb performance from both Tim and Adam it’s been this weekend. For both of them to do what they did in the opening race, despite having had so few laps in practice and qualifying, was truly fantastic. Adam showed all his class to tear through the order and Tim proved just how his racecraft is really coming back to him by the way he fought and overtook after the pitstop. We’ve had some pretty bad luck this year so far and the way Race Two ended almost before it started – through no fault of Tim’s – just sums up our season. But that just makes us work harder and I’m sure the success that the team and drivers deserve will come.”
