Breakell Racing have raced on three world-famous circuits in three different countries over the last month as their new drivers Grant Dalton and Grant Woolford continued their GT racing education in the team’s Mercedes-AMG GT4.
First up was a trip to the Red Bull Ring in Austria to compete in the P9 Challenge, a European GT championship (04/05 June). It was the Lancashire team’s first race outing with the Mercedes and also the team and drivers’ first visit to the circuit, leading to a steep learning curve for all involved.
Taking advantage of all the track time available, a busy weekend saw Dalton and team principal James Breakell contest both the sprint and endurance sections of the event. The focus was on Dalton gaining as much experience as possible, with the support of Breakell and the team driver coach Alex Toth-Jones.
There was consistent progress for the New Zealand driver across free practice, three qualifying sessions and three races, with improvements to his lap times combined with clear runs in the races meant it was mission accomplished in Austria, with the icing on the cake being a hat-trick of class wins.
Two weeks later (18/19 June) the team were closer to home as they raced in the British Endurance Championship on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit. Dalton was joined by Woolford for this event, with the duo getting some great mileage under their belts in scorching hot conditions in Friday testing.
There was a dramatic change of weather for Saturday however, with torrential rain greeting them for the race. Unfortunately an early spin in the difficult conditions caused damage to the Mercedes’ engine, resulting in them having to retire the car.
The latest outing for Dalton and Woolford saw them head back to the Nürburgring for a second outing on the world-famous Nordschleife. They were once again behind the wheel of a Porsche Cayman, run by friends of the team WS Racing.
Getting reacquainted with the 16 mile circuit during Friday testing, they went on to successfully complete the qualifying session and four hour race the next day with no issues. Crucially, that meant both drivers completed the number of racing laps they needed to, which combined with a great class podium finish, means they can upgrade their Nürburgring licenses. This ensures their next outing in Germany will come in Breakell’s Mercedes-AMG GT4.
James Breakell: “It’s been a busy and very productive few weeks with the two Grant’s. Our focus with them at the moment it to give them as much track time and experience possible, and I’m really pleased with the race programme we’ve been able to put together for them.
“The weekend in Austria couldn’t have gone any better. The amount of track time we got over the event was phenomenal, and the Mercedes ran faultlessly throughout. Unfortunately we had a tougher run at Silverstone, but we’ve all learnt a lot from that experience.
“Everything went to plan again at the Nürburgring though, successfully getting the laps in and the class result needed for the two Grant’s to upgrade their licenses. I’m very excited to get our Mercedes out to Germany and go racing with it on one of the most famous circuits in the world.”
Breakell Racing will contest the next round of the Nürburgring Endurance Series in their Mercedes-AMG GT4 in two weeks’ time (08-09 July), before their Ginetta season continues later that month (30-31 July) with the GT4 SuperCup in action at Knockhill in Scotland.