Kentish Express Ashford & District
Heathcote’s testing time
Motorsport
Nathan Heathcote admits he needs to regroup after a ‘massively disappointing’ weekend in the sixth round of the Ginetta GT4 SuperCup at Knockhill.
The 22-year-old from Pluckley was racing at the Scottish track for the first time and, by his own admission found the free practice sessions challenging, as he tried to learn the blind crests and corners, whilst calibrating his braking markers.
Come qualifying things seemed to come together for him as he posted a strong lap to take the second fastest time, just 1/1000th of a second behind his Century Motorsport teammate and rival Jack Oliphant.
With good weather all weekend the scene was set for three hard races but unfortunately for Heathcote, luck was not on his side.
Saturday’s race after qualifying saw him have a great battle with ‘Am’ rivals Colin White and James Kell before the safety car came out after Dan Kirby’s race ended prematurely following a crash.
The race was extended from 16 to 18 laps, but, after suffering a 10-second penalty for a false start, Heathcote ultimately finished fourth in his class. He did however become the first driver in the Millers Oils Ginetta GT4 SuperCup championship to pass the 400 mark.
The first of Sunday’s two races also saw more drama for Heathcote as he collided with another car early in the race and went to the back of the pack.
He then made his way up to third but was penalised for an overtake. His 51.094 second lap was the fastest of the race and indeed the whole weekend.
Starting race three frustrated but determined, Heathcote again experienced the rough end of the stick as on lap two a driver went off track and as he re-joined they collided. The resulting smash damaged his steering and meant he had to pull out.
Heathcote admitted: “It’s been a massively disappointing weekend to be honest. “We’ve been on the back foot with new mechanics and trying to learn the track really, so I’m pretty gutted. We need to regroup now before Silverstone (September 28-29), which at least I’ve driven round once before!”