British GT Championship finally starts for Academy Motorsport

Academy Motorsport enjoyed a strong start to the British GT Championship at Oulton Park this weekend (1st – 2nd August), surviving where others faltered.

As the team took to the track for the official test session on Friday, this was the first outing since the British GT Championship media day, back in March. However, with a few laps under their belts, driving duo Matt Cowley and Jordan Albert were soon on the pace.

By the end of qualifying on Saturday, the pair had further increased their performance, improving their lap times even more, securing a fifth-place grid slot for race one.

As the opening race of the season progressed, the team looked set to make a podium appearance, until the lapping GT3 cars caused second stint driver, Cowley, to slide onto the grass and out of the race in the final 10 minutes.

Sadly, race two was hampered by a lengthy safety car period, meaning much of Albert’s stint took place at reduced pace. Despite not having much time to challenge for position, both he and Cowley steered their way to seventh place overall and fifth in class by the time the chequered flag fell.

Commenting on the season opener, Managing Director, Matt Nicoll-Jones, said: “I’m chuffed, both Matt and Jordan have done a solid job, especially considering their lack of testing in the car prior to this weekend, they’re a very strong pairing. The car has run faultlessly this weekend, so we’re happy.”

Cowley said: “It’s a shame we didn’t get much chance to race during the second outing, but we’re happy with a solid performance. Both Jordan and I make a good pairing, we work well together and we’re able to keep a good consistent pace with one another, which is vital.”

Albert added: “It’s been great to be back in British GT and with Academy Motorsport, we’ve had a long wait for this so I’m feeling really blessed. This was our first time out since the media day back in March, but we’ve been straight on the pace. Both Matt and myself found a good amount of time between testing and qualifying alone, which shows fantastic progress already.”

The next round takes place at Donington Park in two weeks time (15th – 16th August).