SOLIHULL’s Mark Kimber says his latest race of the British GT Championship at Silverstone has provided a learning curve for the remainder of the season, after a difficult weekend in the showpiece event.
Kimber finished 10th in the GT4 class, with co-driver Jacob Mathiassen in tow, after the three-hour race.
The 17-year old was not helped by torrential conditions that hampered his preparations during Friday’s test session and Saturday practice, meaning he was left with little experience of the circuit going into qualifying prior to the main event of the day.
To make matters even more difficult, the track at Silverstone had dried before Sunday’s action, making the set-up of Kimber’s BMW M4 GT4 unsuitable for dry running.
Kimber was left with no qualms about how the pair fared on the national circuit.
“It was a difficult race,” he said.
“Jacob had a good first stint but then we started to struggle as the race went on. We just didn’t quite have the pace.”
He felt that a more positive race was in the offing had he been allowed normal preparations leading up to the race.
“We did struggle with the set-up a bit, our rivals in the class have more experience of driving the circuit in the dry.
“We had strong pace at the start of a stint when the tyres were fresh so we’ll look at the data and analyse where we’re losing out and learn from that going forward for the rest of the season.”
Although he finished further down the pecking order, Kimber accumulated more crucial points towards the GT4 Silver Cup, resulting in a P10 finish, whilst gaining invaluable experience of racing in wet weather – a first for Kimber in the Championship.
“I think our car is definitely good in the wet, it is predictable to drive so you can push closer to the limit,” said Kimber.
“The team really know what they’re doing and that helped to give me a lot of confidence, which was reflected in setting the eighth fastest time in free practice one.”
The Century Motorsport driver returns to action at Donington Park in under two weeks time, where he will compete in the first two-hour race of the season on the weekend of June 22 & 23.
Currently sitting in 17th in the Drivers Championship, and with Century Motorsport in 12th, he believes the East Midlands circuit could prove fruitful for himself and his team.
“We should have good speed at Donington,” he said.
“It’s a circuit I enjoy driving, and Jacob and myself will be working hard to get the most out of the car.”
