Ryan Hooker Makes Solid Start To International Campaign
Ryan Hooker Secures Two Good Finishes In FIA GT3 Opener
Ryan Hooker (Upminster, Essex) made a solid start in the FIA GT3 Championship, bringing his Trackspeed Porsche 997 home in 12th and 10th position, alongside partner James Pickford at Silverstone this weekend.
Ryan has stayed with Trackspeed, with whom he raced to British GTC Reserve Champion placing in 2006, to make the move into International level sportscar racing. With a grid of over 40 cars, including Aston Martins, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, the 2007 FIA GT3 Championship is hugely competitive and visits five countries over the season to take part in ten races.
The opening race was Ryan's home circuit, Silverstone and this was his first opportunity to drive the 997 in anger. Comparing notes with team-mate James Pickford, who has previous knowledge of the Porsche 997, proved invaluable and together the pairing was strong from the outset. The weekend consisted of two hour long races, with each driver taking the wheel for half an hour per race.
On Saturday, Ryan took part in Qualifying One and was finding time with every lap, improving by 2.8seconds from his practice best the day before, and though finding a clear lap was a challenge he secured 24th on the grid of 41 cars for Race One. In Qualifying Two, James went all out and grabbed a lap which used every inch of the circuit (and then some!), taking 7th on the grid for Race Two!
Ryan started Race One making a good start, even describing it as 'peaceful' in motorsports terms! Again, as he became more familiar with the car his best lap times fell by over another 2 seconds and he was easily in contention with the snake of cars including the other Porsche entrants.
As the pit window opened Ryan came in and made a textbook changeover with James. Sadly though, the car was released too early from their pit space and James was called back in to take a stop go penalty. Having risen through the ranks to easily be contesting inside the top six, the penalty dropped the car back down the rankings. James put in a sterling drive to pick off competitors and rise back to 12th position but more satisfyingly, to come home as top Porsche.
"If there hadn't been the unfortunate stop and go we'd have been in place for a top six finish" said Ryan afterwards, "so that was one disappointment but we were still able to come away with positives. The car proved reliable, I was able to keep a good consistent race pace and James put in a storming second half. Coming top Porsche, and getting the trophy for that, certainly gave us something to smile about!"
The second race saw James start and early into his stint a misfire affecting right hand corner and a stiff throttle were two issues to contend which continued into Ryan's drive though it was hard to tell from the timing sheets! Ryan brought the car home in a strong 10th place with James describing Ryan's stint as 'a bloody amazing job' given the car's difficult handling.
"It was a firm start to the season" Ryan commented. "To be the quickest of the Porsches was very encouraging, though the Porsche is aerodynamically disadvantaged to the other makes. There are a number of developments on the way and we will have to see if and when the field levels out. I'd like to thank James for being a great partner this weekend and the team for their hard work. With James and the team I had some very interesting data analysis sessions and it's made for a good base to work from for the remainder of the season.
Ryan's next race sees him travel to Romania for the double header on 18-20th May with the race run on a street circuit in the centre of the country's capital, Bucharest.
Ryan has stayed with Trackspeed, with whom he raced to British GTC Reserve Champion placing in 2006, to make the move into International level sportscar racing. With a grid of over 40 cars, including Aston Martins, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, the 2007 FIA GT3 Championship is hugely competitive and visits five countries over the season to take part in ten races.
As the pit window opened Ryan came in and made a textbook changeover with James. Sadly though, the car was released too early from their pit space and James was called back in to take a stop go penalty. Having risen through the ranks to easily be contesting inside the top six, the penalty dropped the car back down the rankings. James put in a sterling drive to pick off competitors and rise back to 12th position but more satisfyingly, to come home as top Porsche. 
"It was a firm start to the season" Ryan commented. "To be the quickest of the Porsches was very encouraging, though the Porsche is aerodynamically disadvantaged to the other makes. There are a number of developments on the way and we will have to see if and when the field levels out. I'd like to thank James for being a great partner this weekend and the team for their hard work. With James and the team I had some very interesting data analysis sessions and it's made for a good base to work from for the remainder of the season.