Ryan Hooker Makes Solid Start to FIA GT3 Campaign
07 May 2007
MSportUK Featured Driver, Ryan
Hooker made a solid
start in the FIA GT3 Championship, bringing his Trackspeed Porsche
997 home in 12th and 10th position, alongside partner James Pickford
at Silverstone this weekend.
Ryan has stayed with Trackspeed, with whom he raced to British GTC
Reserve Champion placing in 2006, to make the move into International
level sportscar racing. With a grid of over 40 cars, including Aston
Martins, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, the 2007 FIA GT3 Championship is
hugely competitive and visits five countries over the season to take
part in ten races.
The opening race was Ryan's home circuit, Silverstone and this
was his first opportunity to drive the 997 in anger. Comparing notes
with team-mate James Pickford, who has previous knowledge of the Porsche
997, proved invaluable and together the pairing was strong from the
outset. The weekend consisted of two hour long races, with each driver
taking the wheel for half an hour per race.
On Saturday, Ryan took part in Qualifying One and was finding time
with every lap, improving by 2.8seconds from his practice best the
day before, and though finding a clear lap was a challenge he secured
24th on the grid of 41 cars for Race One. In Qualifying Two, James
went all out and grabbed a lap which used every inch of the circuit
(and then some!), taking 7th on the grid for Race Two!
Ryan started Race One making a good start, even describing it as 'peaceful'
in motorsports terms! Again, as he became more familiar with the car
his best lap times fell by over another 2 seconds and he was easily
in contention with the snake of cars including the other Porsche entrants.
As the pit window opened Ryan came in and made a textbook changeover
with James. Sadly though, the car was released too early from their
pit space and James was called back in to take a stop go penalty. Having
risen through the ranks to easily be contesting inside the top six,
the penalty dropped the car back down the rankings. James put in a
sterling drive to pick off competitors and rise back to 12th position
but more satisfyingly, to come home as top Porsche.
"If there hadn't been the unfortunate stop and go we'd have been
in place for a top six finish" said Ryan afterwards, "so
that was one disappointment but we were still able to come away with
positives. The car proved reliable, I was able to keep a good consistent
race pace and James put in a storming second half. Coming top Porsche,
and getting the trophy for that, certainly gave us something to smile
about!"
The second race saw James start and early into his stint a misfire
affecting right hand corner and a stiff throttle were two issues to
contend which continued into Ryan's drive though it was hard to tell
from the timing sheets! Ryan brought the car home in a strong 10th
place with James describing Ryan's stint as 'a bloody amazing job'
given the car's difficult handling.
"It was a firm start to the season" Ryan commented. "To
be the quickest of the Porsches was very encouraging, though the Porsche
is aerodynamically disadvantaged to the other makes. There are a number
of developments on the way and we will have to see if and when the
field levels out. I'd like to thank James for being a great partner
this weekend and the team for their hard work. With James and the team
I had some very interesting data analysis sessions and it's made for
a good base to work from for the remainder of the season.
Ryan heads the Porsche Manufacturer's Cup Table alongside James
Pickford and Trackpeed stablemates Richard Williams and Alex Buncombe.
Ryan's next race sees him travel to Romania for the double header
on 18-20th May with the race run on a street circuit in the centre
of the country's capital, Bucharest.
You can follow Ryan's season via his website at
www.ryanhooker-racing.co.uk.
RH PR
See 2007 series calendar for FIA
GT Championship
Related Story 07.05.2007 - Nigel Mansell Returns to Ferrari at Silverstone
