Weekend Wrap – AMRS SUPER GT 4 HOUR

What started off as a pretty standard race meet quickly became a busy affair as teammates Indiran and Duvashen Padayachee had an unfortunate incident in Practice 1. The damage sustained to their 991 Gen II cup car was such that it could not be repaired in time for the race. This led to a SOS mission to retrieve the RAM Motorsport 991 Gen I cup car from storage for an unexpected cameo meaning the familiar green and black livery would be an ever-present sight across the 4 hour endurance race!

Heading out of practice things were looking positive but not perfect for Mike and Garth in the AMG GT3 with Mike knocking out a PB and Garth setting the 2nd quickest time throughout the sessions. The team were chasing the ideal setup and unfortunately we could never quite get it fully in the window prior to the main event.

Both of the entries made the top 10 shootout early on Saturday afternoon, with Garth putting the Mercedes on to provisional pole until the final car in the shootout pushed the Mercedes back to second on the grid.

The race started positively with Mike given the first stint and jumping to the lead however an even better start was made by the 3rd place Audi leaving Mike to settle in to P2. The setup demons’ bit when Mike couldn’t catch an oversteer moment out of turn 4 spinning and sending us down to 8th place. Despite the worsening handling as the tyres aged Mike was able to fight back to 5th when pitting for our first stop and driver change.

A setup change got the car in a happier place and Garth set about his business charging up the order. At the halfway point RAM Motorsport/GWR ran first and second with the Mercedes leading the Porsche. Unfortunately, the team could not catch a well-timed safety car, which saw some other competitors were able to utilise in a combination of good strategy and good luck utilise to gain several laps on the field. As a result, the AMG GT3 finished fourth outright and third in class.

It was a significant improvement on last year’s effort (P8) for Mike and Garth but just short of an outright podium which was our ultimate goal.

However, for the second year running the father and son combo of Indiran and Duvashen were able to take out the Porsche class victory and a very impressive P5 outright showing the old Gen I still has plenty of life in her yet!