A new challenge, albeit in a familiar setting, this weekend. Returning to the European Le Mans Series paddock, with a new setup, running for the first time in LM GT3 competition. It was great to be back with the TF Sport family, working with the Grid Motorsport team for this season – and my first competitive run out with the new Vantage GT3. A definite case of same, same, but different!

The race weekend followed on from the Prologue test days in Barcelona, and after a switch of cars due to an incident, we were back on track for the season opener. Not an ideal start to the season, but the efforts by everyone over the week showed what the team is made of, and the sessions all ran well from there. We made steps forward across each run, and a last push to the line during qualifying, gave us a third row grid slot in the dying seconds.

Our LM GT3 campaign got underway in the sunshine at Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona. As expected, at the first race of any season, it was a busy opening stint with several caution periods. We stayed out of trouble and in the fight throughout, trying a different strategy, and the team did a great job during the pitstops. I managed to make up some ground during my stint, but we lacked some top-end speed which limited our chances to really challenge. Despite this, it was an overall positive first event for us as a team, and scored some solid points.

Everyone did their jobs all weekend, and 7th was the best we could push for. We know what we can improve and work on, and that is the focus, ready for round 2. Paul Ricard is up next, at the start of May. We will be back in pink for that one!

European Le Mans Series 2024 –

Team: Grid Motorsport by TF Sport
Car number: #97
Race 1: P7