It was another successful weekend for Team Abba Racing in the Dunlop Endurance Championship picking up a 2nd and 1st in Britcar’s 50-minute sprint races.
A puncture during qualifying in the Mercedes AMG GT3 left Richard Neary starting in a second-row grid position. Within a lap he was vying for the lead with the Ferrari 488 GT3 FF Corse of pro-driver Ross Wylie.
The lead swapped between Wylie and Neary on several occasions over the next 20-minutes. It wasn’t until after the pit stop that Neary cemented a commanding position in the race although fully aware of the chasing Ferrari 488 GT3 FF Corse, driven by the current European GT Le Mans champion Johnny Mowlem, hunting him down.
Neary led up until the last lap when the chasing Ferrari squeezed past the Team Abba Racing Mercedes.
A technical issue meant Neary started the second race from the pit lane but within five laps he was chasing the lead car of Ross Wylie. With rain forecast and the safety car deployed Neary took his scheduled pit stop and changed to wet tyres.
Within minutes, with the rain taking hold and laps ticking away under the safety car, the welcomed signal of a green flag gave the thumbs up to Neary to chase down the leader and take victory with just a lap to spare in the 50-minute sprint race.
Commenting upon the two races Neary said: “This has been a really enjoyable weekend’s racing. There was some good, clean, hard, respectful racing by Johnny and Ross and I’d like to thank them both - I enjoyed the challenge immensely.
“I’m looking forward to racing at my home circuit next month when the Championship visits Oulton Park.”
Images courtesy of Ian Cutting Photography