Mid season update - Pace Finance-backed duo targeting race wins to clinch British GT championship.

The much-awaited return of the British-GT season is around the corner, with the spotlight fixed on the upcoming race at Brands Hatch on September 9th and 10th. Turning heads so far with remarkable victories at Oulton Park and Donington, the duo powered by Pace Finance, Ian Gough and Tom Wrigley, are challenging for the overall and Pro-Am GT4 championships.

Competing in the all-new McLaren Artura run by Race Lab, their Oulton Park triumph cascaded into Silverstone, where they showcased incredible pace in a battle of endurance. Despite a heartbreaking mechanical failure putting them out of podium contention in the grueling three-hour race, their spirits remained high.

Silverstone was a fantastic outing for the team until the final 30 minutes! We’d worked hard to overcome the impact of BOP (Balance of Performance) that had been applied to the car and from our analysis, we think we would have been leading after the final pitstops. Sadly we retired from the race so we’ll never know but the performance was strong in front of our sell-out 180 VIP guests as part of our Race to Save Lives campaign.
Ian Gough

Silverstone may have dealt them a curveball, but they rebounded fiercely at Donington, capturing a thrilling overall GT4 victory. Gough and Wrigley's calculated drive ensured they exploited their success-penalty-free advantage to perfection.

With the current standings placing Ian Gough and Tom Wrigley at an impressive second overall in the British GT Championship while leading in Pro-Am, the journey continued to the challenging Snetterton circuit. Unforeseen overheating issues dimmed the McLaren's performance however a 3rd place in Pro-Am despite the adversity, proved their mettle.

Snetterton was a set back for us. We were down on speed this weekend. We later identified an overheating issue, triggering our power unit into a safety mode which reduces power. We attempted to reduce the drag of our car as much as possible, removing downforce to offset the power loss. But in retrospect we think this compounded our problems with a lack of overall balance in the car. One to forget.
Ian Gough

Then, a journey to the picturesque Portimão circuit in Portugal presented its own trials. Initial testing promise was overshadowed by further overheating issues. But with remarkable strategy calls in the three hour race, the Pace Finance-backed McLaren snagged a podium finish in a race of attrition for others.

We’d anticipated challenging for the win this weekend but that wasn’t to be. All of a sudden our testing performance had gone and it took us until the race to identify the issues. We managed to get some resolved but the overheating issues we’d suffered at Snetterton were back and there was just nothing we could do to offset the loss of speed. A podium is flattering for us today. The points are valuable in a weekend where our championship rival suffered and closes the gap to the lead of the championship.

Since getting the car back to the workshop in the UK and with the summer break, we’re pretty confident that all the power issues are resolved. Whilst the results don’t particularly show it, we had a mid-season pace slump which prevented from challenging for race wins. Podiums have been hard earned.
Ian Gough

As the team gears up for the penultimate round at Brands Hatch, the Pace Finance-sponsored team is ready to reclaim their early-season form. Holding 3rd in the overall championship and a 2nd in Pro-Am, race victory is on their mind for Brands Hatch to move them up the championship order.