News Item
6th April 2003
Sharpe Optimistic After GT Debut
Donington Park, 06/04/03: Adam's busy 2003 race season began with an encouraging fifth position in class in round one of the British GT Championship at the Leicestershire circuit today.
Adam and team-mate Enzo Mucci effectively had to use the 75-minute race as a test session for their 3-litre Atlanta Motorsport V6 Clio Renaultsport, however, after mechanical problems severely restricted their pre-race preparations.
But said Adam: "The result might not look much, but we turned what started off as a very difficult weekend into something much more positive by the time the race had finished.
"The car still had problems with the brakes and that caused me to have a few hairy moments in the race - some at over 100mph - but there is so much more we can achieve with the development programme the team have got planned.
"I was into the one minute and 20 second bracket during the race. Come the end of the season, when the team have had plenty of time to understand the car and I've really got to grips with its set-up, I think we could come back here and take five seconds off that.
"I know that sounds like a huge chunk of time, but it's what we have got to aim for.
"What we did find at Donington is that the Clio is very good on fuel and with the next race a two-hour endurance event at Snetterton we could be in quite good shape in our class."
Adam will now knuckle down to his Management Technology studies at Oxford Brookes University before official GT testing at Snetterton on Good Friday, 18th April, before the race meeting itself on Easter weekend, 19th/20th April.
More university studies will follow before he begins his final preparations for the Formula Palmer Audi single-seater championship that starts at the British Formula One Grand Prix venue of Silverstone in Northamptonshire on Saturday 10th May.
ends
Adam and team-mate Enzo Mucci effectively had to use the 75-minute race as a test session for their 3-litre Atlanta Motorsport V6 Clio Renaultsport, however, after mechanical problems severely restricted their pre-race preparations.
But said Adam: "The result might not look much, but we turned what started off as a very difficult weekend into something much more positive by the time the race had finished.
"The car still had problems with the brakes and that caused me to have a few hairy moments in the race - some at over 100mph - but there is so much more we can achieve with the development programme the team have got planned.
"I was into the one minute and 20 second bracket during the race. Come the end of the season, when the team have had plenty of time to understand the car and I've really got to grips with its set-up, I think we could come back here and take five seconds off that.
"I know that sounds like a huge chunk of time, but it's what we have got to aim for.
"What we did find at Donington is that the Clio is very good on fuel and with the next race a two-hour endurance event at Snetterton we could be in quite good shape in our class."
Adam will now knuckle down to his Management Technology studies at Oxford Brookes University before official GT testing at Snetterton on Good Friday, 18th April, before the race meeting itself on Easter weekend, 19th/20th April.
More university studies will follow before he begins his final preparations for the Formula Palmer Audi single-seater championship that starts at the British Formula One Grand Prix venue of Silverstone in Northamptonshire on Saturday 10th May.
ends