Ginetta customer team ARC Bratislava took a dominant 1 – 2 LMP3 class finish at Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand at round three of the 2016/17 Asian Le Mans Series. The first Asian Series win for Ginetta came after a stunning early race performance from Ginetta factory driver Charlie Robertson saw him take first the class lead in the #67 PRT Racing Ginetta and then briefly the overall lead as the LMP3 car stayed close enough to the LMP2s to take advantage as the pit stops came. At that point the Ginettas ran first, second and third in class.
After a mid-race stumble the #67 would finish an eventual 4th. The ARC Bratislava cars though did not miss a beat and made steady progress through the field. Into the final hour the team sat in a strong first and second position, with Mike Simpson in the #4 car fending off Konstantins Calko in the sister #7 Ginetta.
The gap at the flag would be just 0.177 seconds, the two Ginettas a lap clear of the closest other car in class and both finishing in the top 10 overall.
Darren Burke: “It was a great opportunity to start the race at such a fantastic circuit. It was a little bit hectic coming out of turn two into turn three, but everyone seemed to file through nicely. I just kept my head down and made up a few positions, as we’d qualified a bit further down the pack. Made up a few positions and by the end of the stint we were sitting at a good position, I think we were third at the end of the first hour. I was very happy with the pace of the car, an improvement on qualifying. A credit to the team for making such good changes.”
Miro Konopka: “I think it was very nice weekend for us to get the double victory. We had a good setup in practice and qualification. In the race all was ok. We were lucky this weekend and I hope so for the future.”
Mike Simpson: “It was a pretty easy race. Darren and Miro did a good job. We had a good gap to the Ligier in third, and our sister car was in second. Probably the easiest 55 minutes of racing I’ve ever had. What’s also nice is that we’re a true pairing of Gold-Bronze-Bronze. So it’s nice to beat some of these kids which are graded differently. Well done to the team. They worked very long hours, and the car was very strong, and we had practically a photo finish with the cars in 1st and 2nd. Looking forward to the next race and maybe the championship.”
The Ginetta G57 P3 was the first LMP3 car into competition, winning every race in the 2015 European Le Mans Series on the way to the inaugural title for Charlie Robertson and Olympic cycling legend Sir Chris Hoy.
Ginetta Results Asian Le Mans Series R3 Buriram, Thailand
First In LMP3 (9th overall): #4 ARC Bratislava Ginetta G57 P3 – Miro Konopka, Darren Burke, Mike Simpson
Second in LMP3 (10th overall): #7 ARC Bratislava Ginetta G57 P3 – Neale Muston, Konstantins Calko
Fourth in LMP3 (15th overall): #67 PRT Racing Ginetta G57 P3 – Ate de Jong, Charlie Robertson
Eighth in LMP3 (22nd overall): #69 Aylezo Ecotint Racing Zen Low, Weiron Tan, Riki Christodoulou
