GT TESTING UPDATE

9 March 2015

22GT Racing have been busy testing in both the UK and Europe in preparation for their attack on the 2015 British GT Championship.

Following a successful opening shakedown test of their Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 at Silverstone last week, this weekend the team made the long journey down to Circuito Monteblanco on the southern coast of Spain to take part in a two day test which was organised by Aston Martin Racing.

The 22GT team were greeted by cool and sunny conditions on Saturday morning, perfect weather for Jon and Mark to learn the twisty and technical Monteblanco track and to begin getting properly acclimatised to the new car and find its limits.

As the day progressed, temperatures at the circuit climbed above 25 degrees but some good progress improving the car setup saw the team making major leaps forward in terms of the car’s driveability and competitiveness.

A bouyant team and two happy drivers eventually left the circuit in the early hours of Sunday morning after working late to make sure that they understood as much as possible about the days’ running and what improvements they could make to go even faster the following day.

The excellent weather continued on Sunday - as temperatures climbed even higher to around 30 degrees. The team and drivers now felt confident enough to begin to try some qualifying style laps as well as full race distances and racing style pitstops including the crucial driver changeover.

An average improvement in lap times of between 3 to 4 seconds by the end of testing on Sunday were a testiment to how well the team, drivers and car had evolved over the two days of testing and this left the team feeling satisfied and confident prior to the first race of the 2015 British GT Championship at Oulton Park on Easter Monday.

Jon said, “This test has been just what we needed following the Silverstone shakedown last week. At the shakedown we found that there were some crucial areas of car setup which needed improving, and thanks to some great work from the team, plus the fantastic weather and facility here at Monteblanco we have had an extremely productive couple of days. Although there is still more to come from myself, Mark and the car, we have made some huge gains and are now feeling much more confident and comfortable as the first round of the Championship at Oulton rapidly approaches!"

For more information visit Jon's website at www.jonbarnes.com, or you can like him on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter.

ENDS

© Jon Barnes Racing 2023