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McLAREN DEBUTS IN THE ALGARVE
M c LAREN DEBUTS IN THE
ALGARVE
Back in February, the Team BRIT crew, headed by Engineering Director Al Locke, jetted out to the Algarve International Circuit in Portimão for the first ever testing session with the McLaren 570S GT4.
British GT drivers Bobby Trundley and Aaron Morgan joined the full crew for three days of winter testing at the iconic track.
Winter testing enables the drivers and crew to test the car in temperatures likely to be similar to those in the UK at the start of the racing season and provided crucial scenario testing experience. After a busy day of setting up the garage, Bobby and Aaron were able to spend the next three days in glorious Portuguese sunshine, getting to grips with their new ride. Al and his team facilitated a range of practice exercises including pit stops carried out with military precision based on the British GT Championship rules and regulations.
It was also a chance for Al to test out the integration of the hand controls with the McLaren technology. Al says: “Our time in Portimão was a vital part of our preparation for the British GT Championship. There is so much that goes into planning for the race season – to do it ahead of an entirely new race series for us and with a completely new car, added major new challenges into the picture.
“Winter testing allows us to spend time purely focused on the car set up, driver skill and crew responsibilities and we learnt a huge amount from this. It’s now paying dividends in our British GT entry, with every race to date safely completed with performances if which we can be proud.”
ALGARVE
Aaron explains: “Visiting Portimão in February was one of the greatest weeks of my life. Everything about our time in Portugal was incredible. The track, the crew, and of course the car. Our team worked so hard to fine tune the car, developing the best set up, ironing out any issues with the hand controls, and coaching Bobby and I to drive the car to its maximum performance.
“It’s an incredible car and I quickly made progress, setting some of the best lap times in my career. This is just the start – Bobby and I have so much to give and we’re going to shock so many people with our performance on the track this year. Disability does not have to stand in the way of anything you set your mind to.” Bobby continues; “My autism means that my anxiety can be crippling at times, especially when dealing with new situations, so even getting to the airport was a massive challenge for me. What the team has taught me over the last three years, is that anything is possible with belief and with the right support around you.
“If you had told the nervous, terrified 10-year-old who was persuaded into a go-kart that he would be driving a GT4 McLaren around one of the most iconic tracks in the world, supported by one of the most professional and specialist technical crews in the industry, he would never have believed it. Driving the McLaren was everything I hoped it would be – incredible – and I was really pleased to have posted such good lap times in my first sessions.
“This is the most exciting, rewarding chapter in my life and I can’t wait to show the world that autism does not have to close a single door, in fact it can open them.”
Let’s hear it for the ‘spelunkers’. The subterranean explorers of the 1970s who did for caving what Jacques Cousteau did for scuba-diving – and the inspiration behind ‘GMT-explorer’ watches, which provided 24-hour timekeeping for lightstarved cavers. Now we’ve resurrected the genre with the C63 Sealander GMT. Not only does it boast a twin timezone movement, a hi-vis 24-hour hand and a dial that’s as legible as it is beautiful, but, happily, you don’t have to be a spelunker to wear one.
