Jonny Adam will be attempting a unique double, as well as hoping to match a domestic record, this weekend after entering both British GT rounds at Oulton Park and the Nurburgring 24 Hours.
The Scot’s factory Aston Martin Racing commitments mean he only arrives in Manchester on Friday night after spending most of this week testing at Monza and in Germany. Then, having completed British GT practice and qualifying aboard his TF Sport V12 Vantage on Saturday, the GT3 championship leader heads back to the Eifel region by plane for his night and morning stints at the ‘Ring before finally landing in the UK late on Sunday in time for Monday’s two one-hour races.
“It will be a hectic weekend, but I’m feeling up for it,” he told Autosport. “With four of us sharing the Vantage GT3 in Germany it’s fine for me to miss the first few hours of the race and then jump in either at night or in the morning.
“I’ll be back in the UK at about 2300 on Sunday, so should be rested in time for British GT on Monday.”
Winning at both events would be a big enough achievement, but Adam is also chasing a number of domestic records this weekend at Oulton.
He and co-driver Derek Johnston could become the first pairing to win three successive outright British GT races since David Ashburn and Glynn Geddie in 2010. Equally, no crew has won the first three rounds of a season since Tim Mullen and Chris Niarchos managed the feat in 2006. That was also the year the same duo won four on the spin, a record Johnston - who was victorious at Donington’s 2015 finale - can equal at Oulton.
Adam is also chasing a significant individual achievement: the Scot is one victory short of equalling the British GT3 race wins record jointly held by Hector Lester and David Ashburn, who both have 11.
A 10 second pit-stop success penalty in the opening race as a result of winning at Rockingham makes matching a number of those records unlikely. Instead, Adam’s focus is on scoring solid points in his attempt to become the first back-to-back British GT3 champion.
“Derek and I have enjoyed an incredible start to the 2016 season. He’s been driving brilliantly, but the success is also down to TF Sport who have prepared an excellent car for us,” he said. “But this weekend will be a lot more tricky with the pit-stop success penalty, so we’d be more content to come away with a solid points haul from both races.
“You always push for victory but I think three in a row will be difficult. Barwell, Team Parker and AmD looked fast in testing last week so we'll just see where we fit into the mix.”