Bryant & Cottingham overcome engine dramas to finish third overall in Spa 6 Hours- 1st October
Olly Bryant and James Cottingham returned to the Spa 6 Hours meeting full of confidence having won the race in 2021. With the 1965 Ford GT40 fully refreshed for the task, Olly set a time in qualifying good enough for P3 on the 100 car grid.
Olly adopted the same cautious approach to the race as per last year. Olly boxed at the 2 hour mark and took advantage of a safety car. Despite being delayed at pit in by a TVR in need of push by the marshalls, a quick driver change and re-fuel was achieved. James took over as the rain began to fall. A solid stint brought held the car in the top positions before Olly resumed with just under 2 hours 30 remaining. Olly caught the Gallant/ Minassian driven car and moved the car into second overall on the same lap as the Hart/ Hart / Pastorelli driven GT40. With just over 90 minutes to run, disaster struck, as the car started to misfire badly. Olly carried on, against his better judgment, and despite the massively reduced engine performance, aided by wet weather and safety cars, the duo came home in 3rd place overall, just over 1 lap behind the winners. It was later diagnosed as a pushrod failure, an incredible task to keep going and to bring the car home.
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