Portugal: Where Harry Gets to Drive a Mercedes AMG GT4.

 

Hot from their emphatic win with the TVR at Silverstone last weekend, team Barton Racing, just days later, took a plane three hours south, to Portugal.

 

Portimão to be precise, or to be even more precise, Autódromo do Algarve, where the annual Historic weekend on the 25th-27th October 2024 was acting host to the up market and final round of the Iberian Supercar GT4 Championship. Two forty-five minute races on the Sunday, preceded by all day testing on the Friday, and then official practice, followed by a pair of very short, fifteen-minute qualifying sessions on the Saturday. Harry was entered along with Nigel Greensall in a very stylish, if somewhat noisy Mercedes AMG that was prepared and run by team VRT who hail from just over the border in Spain.

 

Testing went well, with Harry soon adjusting to the Germanic seating position, both drivers seemingly happy with the general set-up and putting in lap times that boded well for later. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, pre-race, the car shredded its alternator belt, fixed at the expense of track time for Harry. Grid positions after qualifying were 9th place (Race 1) and 26th (Race 2).

 

Sunday brought with it blue skies and a gentle breeze. Forty-three cars lined up for outing one, with Nigel making a great start, handing over to Harry mid-way who continued the good work. After forty-five minutes of hard work, Barton Racing was celebrating a superb 12th overall finish and 10th in the Pro category.

 

Optimism was high for Race 2, but sadly almost immediately, the race was turned into a complete farce. A big accident on the exit of Turn One, and then another at Turn Six triggered a series of double yellows and prolonged safety car interventions that somehow relegated ‘our’ car trailing behind the main field. Then, just to rub salt in the wound, Harry picked up a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. You couldn’t make it up!

 

Taken in the round however, the weekend was all good. Some great racing. A chance for Harry to drive a Mercedes GT4. And the team returned home with a suntan. Not all bad then?