Ecurie Ecosse taking the positives from trying Rockingham race

Ecurie Ecosse left yesterday’s British GT Championship event at Rockingham (6 May) encouraged by strong performances from drivers Marco Attard and Olly Bryant despite being denied a points-paying finish aboard their Barwell Motorsport-run BMW Z4 GT3.

After posting the fastest time in morning warm-up Attard took the start full of confidence and produced a spirited opening stint aboard the #79 machine. Unfortunately contact with the championship-leading Porsche of David Ashburn resulted in problems removing the right-front wheel during the routine pit-stop, costing the team significant time.

Now a lap down on the leaders in 18th place, Bryant set about making up the lost ground and was soon among the fastest cars on track. Coping well with the bent steering, he enjoyed a race-long duel with the BMW of Joe Osborne that saw the pair carve their way through the field and towards the top-10.

When the chequered flag fell on the two-hour event Bryant had made up seven places to finish just outside the points in 11th spot. Unfortunately, the team were subsequently excluded from the results for the on-track incident with the Porsche.

Despite missing out on points the Ecosse squad can take several positives from the Rockingham weekend. Bryant secured a top-10 in the hotly contested qualifying session while the car that eventually claimed second spot was behind Attard on the road prior to the pit-stops. What's more, Bryant's race pace was good enough for an overall podium.

Olly Bryant: "The result didn't reflect the massive step forward we made with both the car and Marco this weekend. We found a consistent race balance on the tricky infield circuit and Marco has improved massively and demonstrated he can lap as quickly as the other top Am drivers. It was a great shame not to get the result we'd hoped for but we showed we had the pace. I can't wait for Silverstone."

Marco Attard: "Rockingham was a very strong race weekend and we have taken huge steps forward. It's a shame about the contact with the Porsche, which set us back in the pit-stop, but I will take the experience forward in a positive way."

Mark Lemmer, Barwell Motorsport Team Principal: "We worked hard this weekend and were really dialled in. Our result didn't match our performance but that can happen in motor racing. We're now looking strong for Silverstone."

Before returning to British GT action, Ecurie Ecosse will head to Imola for the second round of the European Le Mans Series (18 May) where Andrew Smith, Joe Twyman and Ollie Millroy are looking to build on the team's debut ELMS win at Silverstone.