MIKE PRICE, #90 McLaren 570S GT4
“We came to Snetterton in second place in the championship and we needed to start all four races and score solid points in each race to secure the position. Saturday brought challenging weather conditions which suited us well and the Sprint was a proper motor race, very eventful and I worked up to second place. The tyres were used, and the closing laps were harder and I struggling managed to hold off the Signature McLaren by a tenth for 18 points.
“The afternoon Pitstop race was extremely wet and visibility in the fast sections limited, while braking points were taken by the circuit features at times. I held onto fourth when a second Safety Car was put out this time for track conditions, and I made the pit stop to hand over to Callum.
“The stop was well-executed, and he came out in second place still under the Safety Car. The race was shortly red-flagged with the conditions being deemed too dangerous conditions. We disagreed, as there was no aquaplaning and felt that the race win was definitely on. More frustratingly, the organisers stopped the race a lap before 75 percent race distance, meaning that only half points were rewarded and 18 points for P2 became nine.
“Sunday, I qualified fourth for the Sprint and whilst I of course aimed to improve on this, the key was to finish well to secure points for the afternoon Pitstop season finale. The initial start went well I secured a good space on the inside on the run to turn two. Into the braking zone, I was hit heavily in the driver’s door by the Lamborghini and the force turned my car 45 degrees, spearing me into the barrier.
“The race for second in the championship was over and to secure third, we just needed to start the last race for additional bonus points. The team did an incredible job and made sufficient repairs for us to start the last race from the back of the field. I took the start and managed to get past 10 cars including two in class to hand to Callum at the pitstop. He then put in an excellent drive, taking us to fifth in class, which would have been good enough to hold second overall had we not been taken out in the sprint race.
“The immediate emotions were those of disappointment. The events at Donington had robbed us of a chance of coming first-class champions. At Snetterton, this weekend being denied second place by aspects beyond our control. It was gutting and such cruel luck.
“After some quiet reflection though, we really must celebrate our third place which – in hindsight - was not our realistic ambitions when entering GT Cup for the first time. We not only came third of 12 full championship entries, but also took ten podium places, including two wins and 20 race finishes. If someone had offered me that haul pre-season, I would have pulled their arm off!
“My sincere thanks to all at Balfe Motorsport for their fantastic support and commitment and special thanks to Mark Wynne for his engineering prowess and to Callum for his exceptional coaching and brilliant driving. Bring on 2022!” | 
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