A near perfect GT Open race weekend for Optimum Motorsport at Paul Ricard! Round three of International GT Open at Paul Ricard saw Optimum Motorsport build on the momentum gained in Hungary last time out, with the driver pairings of Nick Moss / Joe Osborne and Brendan Iribe / Ollie Millroy taking a sensation one-two result in Saturday’s race. This was backed up by a hard-fought battle to second and third in Sunday’s fourth round, making it a memorable and to near-perfect race weekend for the British-based team.
Saturday’s race itself was relatively straight forward with Joe making a great start from fourth overall in his #72 McLaren to vault second by turn one, with Ollie dropping in behind in the #7. From there the duo lapped at a similar pace, gapping the cars behind until the mid-race driver change. Nick took over from Joe and in a sensational stint, continued to extend his advantage, while Brendan found himself in a battle for third overall, eventually yielding the position to ensure his second-place finish in the Pro-Am class. Sunday’s race was more difficult with Brendan and Nick qualifying in third and fifth respectively in class, the latter dropping back after his best lap was deleted due to track limits. The race brought drama with Brendan and Nick making contact whilst battling for position early in the 60-minute race. They both regrouped and pushed on, handing over to Joe and Ollie once the pitstop window opened. The two Pro-drivers wasted no time; running line-astern they moved up the order, closing down an eight-second margin on the #88 of Christian Klien. Come the chequered flag, Joe was just half a second behind in P2, sixth overall, with Ollie right behind. With four podium positions from a sensational event, the team now begin preparations for next weekend’s fifth round of the British GT Championship at Brands Hatch. The next GT Open race takes place at the Red Bull Ring in Austria on September 12/13. |