Greystone GT scored a magnificent top-six finish as the Silverstone-based team debuted in the International GT Open at Austria’s Red Bull Ring, last weekend, with drivers Andrew Gilbert and Fran Rueda.
With the Silverstone-based team also on British GT duty at Brands Hatch, it was a busy weekend, full of ups and downs, for all involved.
International GT Open
Two-time series runner-up Fran Rueda could not have made a better start to his life as a Greystone GT driver as the Spaniard set the fastest time overall in a damp, but drying, opening practice session at the Red Bull Ring.
His Nottingham-born team-mate Andrew Gilbert – who is now based in Dubai – seemed inspired by this as he made impressive gains throughout his debut weekend in GT3 machinery and proved his ability despite having not yet completed a full season of racing.
Fran qualified strongly in fourth spot in class for Saturday’s opening race – despite a gear-selection issue stopping the McLaren 720S GT3 just as the track was reaching peak grip levels – and started well to reach the mid-race pitstops in third spot.
Andrew took over and battled well against a swathe of vastly more experienced drivers, but saw his hopes of a strong result shattered when he was punted from behind at the fastest corner of the track and spun around.
While his assailant was penalised 10 seconds for the reckless act, Andrew lost more than 20 seconds in the incident, but did recover to finish 10th in Pro-Am.
With series rules requiring each driver to take part in at least one qualifying session, Andrew put the Node4 McLaren 11th on the grid on Sunday and ran as high as eighth in class during his stint, during which track conditions became challenging due to light rain.
Fran climbed aboard during the mid-race pitstops and instantly began lapping two or more seconds faster than the cars around him as he sought to climb from 10th spot.
Frustratingly, two long periods behind the safety car denied him the chance to make up the positions he seemed capable of, but a sensational two-lap blast at the end of the race did allow him to climb to sixth spot – just four seconds away from the class podium.
With a successful top-six result collected, Andrew, Fran and the Greystone GT team now begin preparations for a soon-to-be-announced next outing together.
British GT Championship
What looked set to be an extremely promising race for Stewart and Lewis Proctor in the battle for the Silver-Am title ended in disappointment for the father-and-son duo as the series reached its penultimate round at Brands Hatch, Kent.
Having set the fastest time in the class in both Free Practice 1 and Sunday morning’s warm-up, Lewis was confident of adding to the four podiums the pair had taken already in 2022.
He and Stewart combined to qualify fifth in class for the two-hour race and it was Stewart making gains initially as he climbed into a podium spot within the opening minutes.
Sadly for Stewart, an incident while lapping a slower GT4 car inside the opening half-hour pitched the McLaren 720S GT3 into the barrier at Surtees corner and caused him to retire the car in the pits with suspension and door damage.
He and Lewis – who did not drive as a result – are now fifth in the Silver-Am points and part of an eight-way fight for second spot in the standings with just the finale at Donington Park on October 16 remaining.
Joining Stewart and Lewis at Brands Hatch were British GT debutants Andrey Borodin and Ed Pead, aboard the #24 McLaren also competing in the Silver-Am class.
The duo, who have scored multiple podium finishes for Greystone GT in the GT Cup, showed encouraging form in practice with fourth spot in the category in the opening session.
Unfortunately contact with the barrier by Andrey during qualifying damaged the McLaren’s chassis, leaving the team with no option but to withdraw the car from the rest of the weekend.
Fran Rueda, GT Open driver, said: “It was a big challenge in Austria, especially for Andy, because we got so little dry running and then he had to have his race stints in mixed weather with light rain and some damp patches on the track. He was very unlucky to get hit by the Ferrari in Race One, but he made very strong improvements on Sunday and overtook some cars too. That was a big positive. It’s a shame we had the issue in qualifying because I think I could have qualified in the top three overall, but across the whole weekend we showed the potential of the team and I know good things are coming.”
Mark McLoughlin, Team Principal, said: “Running three GT3 cars in two different countries on the same weekend, and at such a high level, has taken a lot of careful planning and preparation. But reflecting on the weekend as a whole, I’d say everyone within the team can be proud of the job done. The GT Open weekend couldn’t have gone much better. Fran was one of the quickest drivers in the whole field and Andrew didn’t look like someone who’d never raced a GT3 car before! They richly deserve their results. Motorsport is, of course, a rollercoaster at times and Brands Hatch didn’t go the way we’d planned results-wise, but the pace was strong enough from Stewart and Lewis that I think we’d have been on the Silver-Am podium with a clean run and Andrey and Ed showed a lot of potential, all of which bodes well for the finale at Donington.”
