The season is starting to really kick in, as I am on a run of three races in a row - at
Silverstone, Houston and Mid-Ohio - driving two different cars, the Aston Martin DBR9 and the Panoz Esperante GTLM.
Silverstone last week saw me driving for the Team Modena/Cirtek team. It was the first round of the
FIA GT Championship and it was a great event. It was really good to see so many quality teams and drivers in the one place, which is great for the series.
Getting back into the DBR9 was also a treat, as I spent a lot of time in the car last year and know it well. Friday was first practice and we had one-and-a-half hours of practice to dial the car in. My first laps were a bit interesting as the car felt very different to what I was used to, and we ended the day three seconds off the pace, which wasn't a good start. We changed the set-up overnight and, on Saturday, were much quicker.
We were now looking at the top three spots on the grid, as the car was in reasonable shape. Qualifying was wet, however, and this changed a few things for everyone. I went out first and didn't get a clear run, then my team-mate, Christophe Bouchut, jumped in with a different set of tyres, but didn't get a good run either. So it was fifth on the grid.
Christophe started the race on a wet track, but it wasn't raining too hard. The choice of tyre was very critical as some chose wets and some chose intermediates, which are like slicks but with grooves in the surface of the tyre. We started on wets and, as the race got going, it wasn't long before we could see that the inters were the better choice. The track got drier and the Masarati and the Saleen were just pulling away as their tyres were well suited to the conditions.
As soon as we could, we pitted and I jumped in for the next stint. By now, slicks were the way to go and I was then one of the fastest on the track as the inters were no long the tyre to have as it was too dry. That reminded me of the Spa 24 Hours last year...!
