Duckhams Yuasa Racing’s podium run continues on British GT Spa visit
Duckhams Yuasa Racing visited the historic Spa-Francorchamps for round five of the British GT Championship at the weekend (June 21-23), leaving with more silverware after closing the gap at the top of the championship standings.
Returning to the Belgian venue for the first time since 2022, the team had a pair of one-hour test sessions on Friday to re-familiarise themselves with the 4.235-mile circuit, ahead of practice, pre-qualifying, and qualifying itself on Saturday.
Unfortunately, a minor technical issue would hamper their overall performance during the two short 10-minute qualifying sessions, one each for drivers Shaun Balfe and Adam Smalley, but the pair finished second quickest in class and ninth overall, when their times were combined.
Lining up eighth on the grid after another car received a penalty, Shaun started the race and had a brilliant start, taking the outside line around La Source to gain five places and run third overall. Just behind him however chaos erupted as several cars came together on the run down to Eau Rouge past the endurance pit lane.
With the race being red flagged until the cars could be cleared, it was 25 minutes until the race would get back underway, now running to a shortened 90 minutes. Starting in the order in which the cars were when the red flag was shown, Shaun was able to hold third place – and the lead in Silver Am – during his opening stint before handing over to Adam, despite having a radio problem meaning he was unable to hear the team.
The Lancastrian was quickly up to speed and gaining on Aston Martin factory driver Jonny Adam for second place, setting a sequence of personal best lap times before gaining second place when that car pulled over to retire. That meant Adam was able to count down the laps to a trouble-free overall second place and class victory.
The team now enjoys a healthy 71-point lead at the top of the GT3 Silver Am standings and sits just three points off the top of the overall championship, as everyone now focuses on rounds six and seven at Snetterton in three weeks’ time (13/14 July).
Adam Smalley
R - 1, G - 2
Championship: Silver/Am Cup – 1 (162.5 points) Overall - 2 (92.5 points)
“We felt good in testing, but we had a little issue in qualifying which put us on the back foot. We started down in P8, but we knew we had a good race car and fixed the issue overnight. Going into the race, Shaun made an incredible start, moving from eighth to third and it was very impressive to see him do that.
“He had a mega stint and managed to hold P3 and then hand over to me in the pit stop. We had a radio failure, so it was a little bit stressful, as we were a lap short of when we needed to pit, and we were all on the pit wall waving him to come in! He handed it over to me and I managed to cross line to take second overall, and get the win in Silver Am. I was really happy with that, and the pace was strong compared to the cars around us.
“All-in-all, we couldn't ask for much more. We're three points off the championship lead. We've been consistent, Shaun has been doing a fantastic job, and the team at Garage 59 did a stellar job all weekend.”
View photos from the race here
