RACE REPORT

MATTY DOUBLES UP WITH SECOND BRITISH GT WIN

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Matty Graham and Charlie Fagg ensured it was a super Saturday for British GT ‘s Northern Alliance as they took a second win from the back of the grid in the day’s final race at Spa Francorchamps.

Having blitzed their way from 20th to first in a race interrupted by two lengthy safety car periods and effectively shortened to a 35 minute sprint, a caution free second one hour encounter allowed both drivers to show their ability and seal a dominant win.

In a switch of roles, it was Matty who took to the wheel of the Ebor GT Maserati for the opening stint and having scorched his way from 11th to first in the final half hour of race one, immediately set about laying the foundations for further success.

A storming start saw him make up six places from his back row grid slot on the first lap and by the end of the fourth, was part of a six car fight over second, with a mere 1.8 seconds covering all the cars in the train.

Matty vaulted his way up that order over the course of the next lap into third and 2.5 seconds behind his nemesis from race one Jesse Anttila.

Having been subjected to some aggressive defending from the Finn in race one, Matty approached passing the In2 Racing McLaren much more decisively, turning the deficit into an advantage of the same order by the end of the next lap.

That put Matty off in pursuit of the highly regarded Joe Osbourne and while the pair were evenly matched in the first and third sectors, Graham’s pace through the middle part of the lap left the Tolman McLaren driver with no answer, eventually ceding the lead on lap eight.

Into clear air with a little over ten minutes left until he handed the Maserati over, Matty’s aim was to build as big a lead as possible and try and negate the penalty seconds their race one win had added to their minimum pitstop time and his Durham team-mate the best possible position to push for the win.

By the time the pitstops had shaken themselves out, Charlie was fifth and while he wasn’t lapping as quickly as Matty had gone in the first stint, he was still comfortably the class of the drivers out on circuit and making inroads.

When he passed Matty’s former team mate Marcus Hoggarth for third with ten minutes remaining, it was game on, with the Maserati’s pace making easy work of the five second advantage held by the leader.

In the end though, the pace wasn’t needed to get passed as further problems for David Pattison in the Tolman McLaren and a penalty for the Academy Aston Martin for a short pit stop, smoothed Charlie’s path to the lead.

When the field crossed the line, his and Matty’s work ensured not only a second British GT win of the day, but one by a dominant 35.241 seconds.