HOPES HIGH FOR SPA BRITISH GT RACE

Matty heads into Saturday’s British GT race at Spa Francorchamps hopeful of a strong result after rising above a challenging Friday.

He will start from 15th place and as the sixth fastest British GT car after a wet/dry qualifying session, in which he was the second fastest series entry on a soaking wet track.

Rapid improvements in pace during the second of the two sessions as the track dried out, meant others knocked the Macmillan Racing Aston Martin from that lofty perch, with team mate Jack Mitchell unable to respond. However after feeling comfortable in the car throughout Friday’s running, Matty expects to be able to move forward during the two hour endurance race.

The day started frustratingly for the 20 year old, as a crash for the GT3 Team Parker Bentley entry caused significant damage to the circuit infrastructure and the cancellation of the session before Matty was able to turn a wheel.

With only the second 50 minute session for Matty and team-mate Jack Mitchell to get up to speed with the car around the four mile circuit, it was a task they both rose to, working methodically through a programme and settling on a setup that gives them confidence for the race.

Matty said: “It’s been a good day overall. The red flag that ended FP1 before I got in the car meant that only had half of FP2 to learn the track which isn’t ideal at a place like Spa.

“Although I’ve been here before in Formula Renault, these cars are quite a bit different so it would have been nice to get a bit more time at the wheel before qualifying.

“When we were getting ready to qualify, it started to rain and the session was declared wet, which surprised me because it was barely damp by the pits. We went out on wets anyway and when I got out around the back I saw why – it was absolutely soaking wet.

“The car felt well balanced and I had a good run, managing to put in a couple of quick laps, ending up second-fastest of the British GT4 entries,

“We thought the Aston would go well here and that’s exactly as it proved. The Mclaren grabbed pole again and the Ginettas are fast – as usual – but we’ve got a good balance in the car and it felt good all day. I think we’ve got plenty to race with.”

The race gets under way at 12:35.