BRITISH GT MEDIA DAY MARKS START TO 2017
Matty took to Snetterton circuit in Norfolk on Tuesday afternoon as he took part in the annual British GT media day, as he closes in on securing a drive in the championship for 2017.
Teaming up with York-based Ebor GT for the event, Matty was behind the wheel of the outfit’s Maserati GT MC GT4 for three sessions as the championship introduced its 25th anniversary season to the assembled media.
Providing teams with an opportunity to bank some valuable testing mileage whilst those set to cover the championship obtain their all-important stock imagery, it was a highly impressive day for the driver who ended last season fifth in the GT4 standings and the team that finished sixth.
Starting early, the first session allowed Matty to reacquaint himself with the impressive Italian sports car he drove during a test with the team at Silverstone earlier in March and the Snetterton 300 layout.
Lapping in a time of 1:59.876 on his sixth tour of the track, Matty placed fifth out of 13 GT4 runners before putting in a headline-grabbing showing in the day’s second session.
At ease in the Maserati, which he describes as a more pure race car, Matty again lapped quickly and consistently with his best effort of 1:58.369 not only putting him top of the timesheets for that hour’s running but also ending up the best lap of any GT4 runner on the day.
Maintaining his form, Matty ended the day’s third and final session only five-hundredths of a second away from topping the times again, with a 1:58.821 lap placing him third and underlined his intention to be at the sharp end of the GT4 field this season.
Speaking after the final session, Matty said: “It’s been a good day and has been well worth it. The car has been really fast and I’ve felt quite comfortable and just grown more and more confident, which I think showed in the second session where I was fastest.
“The team were really happy and it’s been good to remind people that I am here and can be competitive in whatever car that I am in. Hopefully, now I can look forward to keeping on learning and progressing and seeing what I can do.”