Silverstone Success in GT4

After a difficult start to their British GT4 Championship campaign, Rick Parfitt and Ryan Ratcliffe had a near perfect weekend at Silverstone to claim their first win of 2013.

Amongst a huge grid of 48 cars, which included several European GT4 visitors, the Optimum Motorsport Ginetta G50 ran perfectly. The car qualified 3rd in class behind then Century Motorsport Car of Declan Jones and Zoe Wenham and a hard race ensued. With such a huge grid, Ratcliffe did a great job to stay out of trouble for the first few laps, where many cars had contact. Ryan had a mature first stint in the 3 hour endurance race, keeping pace with many of the more powerful European GT4 machines.

Optimum Motorsport’s strategy played a key part in the race as the team pitted early to tie in with a safety car period. This early stop, during which Parfitt took over from Ratcliffe, put the number 44 Ginetta G50 into the race lead. This lead which would not be lost as Parfitt and Ratcliffe pushed hard throughout their remaining stints to claim their first win of 2013.

‍Ryan Ratcliffe

‍“I can honestly say it was the hardest race I’ve ever done” commented Ratcliffe after the race. “Rick drove fantastically not putting a foot wrong and putting in consistent fast times. To finish 3rd overall with the much quicker European cars was fantastic and a great confidence boost for everyone.”“I just want to thank the whole Optimum Motorsport team and everyone involved for all their hard work, this result has defiantly lifted everyone’s spirits after the frustrating start to the season. I also want to say a huge thank you to all my sponsors for their support - Groundhog UK Ltd, Genquip, ET Fashions and David Mason Watches.”

‍Rick Parfitt

‍"That has to be the hardest race I have ever done, it was like a 3 hour sprint race” said Parfitt after his final stint. We knew we would struggle to keep pace with the European spec cars so our aim was to be first in the British class. Great team work by Optimum got us a pit stop ahead which played into our hands as the race wore on. Both Ryan and I drove harder than we have ever done – we’re just incredibly happy to have delivered the right result after a very frustrating start to the season, especially with friends and sponsors all in attendance.”