It was a trio of victories for Team Abba Racing this weekend in the team’s first appearance in the GT Cup Championship at Brands Hatch (Saturday 31st/Sunday 1st Sept).
In qualifying Team Abba Racing staked their claim early on Saturday with Richard Neary’s best effort of 1 27.133s suffice to seal the deal around the GP circuit, beating fellow GT Cup returnee Michael Igoe (WPI Motorsport) by just under 0.2s.
Seventeen-year-old Neary was quick to convert pole position into the first victory of the weekend in Kent. Holding the lead from a chasing Igoe, would drop back in the second half of the race, easing the pressure on Neary who could calmly grab his and Team Abba Racing’s first victory of the season in GT Cup in their Mercedes GT3.
On day two Sam, in a repeat of Saturday’s 15-minute qualifying session came to the fore to grab pole position from the G-Cat Racing Porsche 911 GT3 of Greg Caton with a time of 1.25.9s.
With a clear view heading into Paddock Hill Bend, Sam Neary kept his advantage over Caton on the opening lap with a solid getaway in the second 25-minute sprint race of the weekend. The pair traded fastest laps in the second half of the contest, but Neary had done enough to control the pace and add a second win by 4.7s from his Porsche rival.
Commenting upon the Sunday’s Sprint race win, Sam Neary said: “It's been incredible driving that car around the GP circuit, it's a great circuit. We were able to get a bit of a gap early on in the sprint race, and that was all we needed, and I could try and control the pace. Dad seems to love the rain, so I think we’re ready for anything now! We've been on the pace, and really enjoyed it all weekend.”
Team Abba Racing duo looked to avenge their endurance race loss on Saturday from the front row of the grid. A great start from Richard Neary set the tone, and he handed the Mercedes over to Sam Neary with a comfortable advantage of over 20 seconds ahead of Jennings.
That cushion extended to 30 seconds after 50 minutes of racing, Sam bringing the GT3 car home for a third GTO and overall race win of the weekend at Brands Hatch from Jennings and Grahame Tilley/Will Tregurtha.