Academy Motorsport enjoys a different kind of spa day

After what seems like an eternity, last weekend (24th-25th July) marked the return to European racing for Academy Motorsport, as the British GT Championship made the trip to Spa Francorchamps, Belgium for the fourth round of the title campaign.

It was set to be a slight baptism of fire, especially for driver Matt Cowley, who faced the challenging circuit for the first time. Despite being new to the circuit, both he and team-mate Will Moore had it mastered in no time at all.

As qualifying came around, Cowley took control of the first session, claiming the fastest time. A competitive second session for Moore saw the team claim a sixth-place grid spot after qualifying times were combined.

Despite some issues during the Sunday morning warm-up, the team worked their magic to erase any distress as the Ford Mustang GT4 car took to the grid for the start of the two-hour race. As the field weaved its way onto the pit straight, trouble up ahead amongst the GT3 cars saw the instant release of the safety car.

With Moore onboard for the first hour, he raced his way around the challenging Spa Francorchamps circuit, lap after lap, holding station whilst others faltered. As the pit window opened, Moore was one of the first GT4 cars to pit, handing control over to team-mate Cowley for the final hour.

As Cowley took his position on the circuit, sadly he was forced to pit to serve a drive through penalty, however despite this, a series of consistent laps brought him back on pace with those ahead of him, as he began to challenge for a higher position.

In the closing stages, Cowley managed to leapfrog not one, but two of his fellow GT4 competitors, to secure a strong fourth place finish, and third in the GT4 Silver Class, the team’s strongest result so far this season.

Commenting on the race, Academy Motorsport’s Managing Director, Matt Nicoll-Jones, said: “It was great to be back at Spa. It really is a special place, and we’ve missed the European events. Yet again, the team have done a superb job and worked tirelessly all weekend, but this time we got the result.

“Both Matt and Will drove brilliantly all weekend and kept their cool while others came into trouble. We know we have had the pace all season, but we have struggled with the BOP and with being caught out in other people’s incidents, so it was nice to get a result this weekend. There is still a lot more to come from us and the Ford Mustang.”

There is now a two-week break before the next round of the championship at Snetterton, Norfolk, during 7th-8th August. With restrictions having eased somewhat, British GT is looking forward to welcoming fans back to the paddock for the first time since 2019.