Podium finish for new British team in tourist trophy

The new UK-based team, Gigawave MotorSport, made a fantastic start to its first FIA GT Championship year with a podium finish – and six Championship points – in the first round at Silverstone. Allan Simonsen and Philipp Peter both drove a faultless race to bring the team’s Aston Martin DBR9 home in third place overall – having led the race for a full 14 laps.

The outstanding result for the new British team was helped by two bold strategy decisions. Gigawave MotorSport was the only GT1 team to start on intermediate tyres in the wet conditions, and the first to switch to slicks.

“Allan Simonsen started from sixth on the grid and, for the first six or seven laps, he dropped back as the tyres came up to temperature,” explained Gigawave’s Director of Race Technologies, Nigel Stepney. “As the tyres kicked in, he started to pick up places. We then wanted to keep him out there as long as possible, so that we could switch straight to slicks at the driver change.”

“We took a gamble on the tyres,” said Allan Simonsen, “and for the first few laps, the inters were not the tyres to have – but when they came good, the car was really quick.”

By the time Simonsen came into the pits, he was leading the race. After the pit stop, Philipp Peter rejoined the race on slicks and, as the track continued to dry, gradually worked his way back through the GT1 cars and into the lead – which he held until the last few minutes of the race. After a safety car compressed the field, the final laps were an incredibly close-fought battle and Peter used his years of GT experience to bring the car home to a well-deserved third, and a place on the FIA GT podium.

“We are disappointed not to have won outright,” said Peter, “but in reality this is a fantastic achievement for a new team. The car was really well prepared but, by the end, the tyres had gone past their best.”

Team Manager Steve Hagger concluded, “I’m over the moon with the result. It’s a great achievement for a new team to finish on the podium in such a competitive category. All credit goes to the guys in the team who worked so hard over the winter to put everything together in such a short space of time.”