Double podium for Optimum Motorsport and points haul for Team Project 1 x Inception Racing

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Not one, not two, but three races across 24 hours last weekend (9-10 July) meant for an action-packed few days of racing in Hungary and Italy in the fourth rounds of both the International GT Open and FIA World Endurance Championship.

An interesting day of free practice on Friday at the Hungaroring (GT Open) ended with Nick Moss storming the rankings, as their (Bronze drivers) dedicated session, in cooler afternoon weather, proved to be fast.

The combined times of the three sessions saw Nick Moss fastest, with a lap time of 1:44.122, leaving the Kessel Ferrari of Roman Ziemnian-Axcil Jefferies, who were fastest in FP1, 0.025s behind. Come Saturday morning, Nick was on qualifying and thus, starting duties, lining up seventh overall (3rd in Pro class) for the race start.

The pole man, Pulcini in the #63 Oregon Team’s Lamborghini pulled away easily - but his start was under investigation with a 10-second time penalty added for starting infringements. Retaining position, Nick got a clean getaway with a drama-free race start until Olimp Racing’s Audi stopped on track with an oil leak, leading it to spin. The safety car was deployed, withers having to pass through the pit lane to allow cleaning of turn 14.

Resuming on lap 15 as the pit window opened, Nick came through, along with half of the field, to hand over control to Joe. Lap 23 saw the safety car deployed once more as Reema Juffali in Theeba’s Mercedes-AMG lost control, hitting the barrier between turn 9 and 10.

Barriers repaired and with minutes left to spare it was a sprint to the finish, with Joe winning a close battle with Krohn in the #16 BMW to claim second overall (P1 in class).

Role reversal for Sunday saw Joe taking on qualifying, starting P2 on the grid. A clean and contact-free stint saw Joe box with 25 minutes remaining cycling through the usual driver change to Nick. Nik, who had passed Jedlinski in an animated phase to avoid a back marker cost a 3-second time penalty for the Brit, who still retained second as the chequered flag dropped.

#56 Team Project 1 x Inception Racing's Porsche in Monza for FIA WEC's fourth round

Over in Italy, Friday’s free practice session saw Ben clock the fastest time within the LMGTE-Am class, showing great pace and confidence around the Temple of Speed.

Brendan was on qualifying duties Saturday afternoon, placing the Team Project 1 x Inception Racing’s #56 Porsche seventh within class for Sunday’s (10 July) #6HMonza.

A spin on the out lap on the way to the grid forced the trio to start from the pit lane, 1 lap down. From there, it was a battle to catch the pack, crossing the line 10th within class and claiming their first points haul since the 1000 Miles of Sebring.

Ollie Millroy, #56 Porsche Driver

“It was great to see the fans out again today, but unfortunately the team didn’t put on much of a show for them. After an issue on the way to the grid, we were forced to start from the pit lane. From there we just spend the next 6 hours playing catch up, ending up 10th in the GTE-Am class.

“I’m super grateful to have been blasting around Monza in the Porsche 911 RSR and looking forward to having another go at Fuji.”

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