Ryan Hooker Bags Two Strong Third Positions and Makes Podium Debut in the Opening Round of the British GT Championship
Ryan Hooker (Upminster) has had a marvellous start to his 2006 motor racing campaign, taking two third positions in the opening round of the British GT Championship this weekend. Held at the fast and challenging Oulton Park circuit in Cheshire over Easter weekend, Ryan and his new team for 2006, Trackspeed, were eager to get the season off to a flying start.
Having tested the car at Oulton Park a fortnight previously, Ryan was able to take part in a further testing day on Friday which left him quietly confident for the two races that lay ahead.
"Friday was a continuance of the testing we had already done" said Ryan, "and we were very pleased with the set up of the car, so much so we only did a few laps during Saturday morning's practice session. The track was damp and tricky for the practice session so there was no point in us tempting fate when we were already happy!"
This confidence in the car's preparations proved well founded when both David and Ryan performed well in the afternoon's qualifying sessions.
David put in a strong lap to qualify them 2nd fastest of their class (GTC), 6th overall on the grid for Race One. Despite finding it difficult to get a clear lap, Ryan put in a superb time to be fastest the fastest GTC car and 4th on the grid overall for Race Two, ensuring they were well set for both races.
The north-west weather managed to stay dry for the first race, which would be an hour long on Saturday afternoon. David started the race and was soon battling for GTC honours with rivals Team Tiger in their Marcos Mantis. Sadly, a gearbox problem raised its head which somewhat thwarted David's attack but he remained in contention as he pitted to hand over to Ryan for the final half hour.
Ryan was soon into race pace but disaster struck as the gear linkage broke leaving the car stuck in fifth gear! Despite this handicap Ryan put in a storming drive even to the point of passing another GTC rival!
"It was exceedingly difficult with only fifth gear" Ryan noted afterwards, "but what I lost in speed at the corners I was able to compensate on the straights as the car still had tremendous straightline speed"
To the delight of the team, Ryan brought the car home in third position in class which earned him his first ever British GT podium.
"It was fantastic to get on the British GT podium for the first time" said Ryan afterwards, "especially given our problems during the race. I feel this has been the first opportunity to show what I can do in the series."
But, there was little time for celebration even with Easter Sunday set aside as a rest day as the team busily replaced the gear linkage in preparation for Monday's race.
Ryan started Race Two and made a good start. Once again the main challenge came from Team Tiger's Marcos Mantis who nipped passed Ryan to take the class lead. However, Ryan was able to remain close on their tail and had a trouble free run in second position before handing over to David for the final stint of the race.
David kept up the pressure on the Marcos but towards the end of the race was put into a spin which dropped them from 2nd to 3rd just a few laps from the chequered flag.
A second trip to the podium was well deserved and whilst there were the obvious opportunities to go even better, Ryan came away from the opening weekend more than satisfied.
"This is a great start" he commented. "Two 3rds sees us second in the championship and this is a very solid footing for the rest of the season. It is an extremely competitive field, that much is evident from this weekend, but I think we have shown that we will be contenders for the GTC title and I am already looking forward to the next race!"
Coverage from Oulton Park can be seen on Channel 4 on May 6th at 7:30am in a dedicated British GT programme alongside further coverage on Motors TV.
The next round will be held on May 20-21 at Donington Park, Leicestershire.
