Adam Sharpe Motorsport (ASM) drivers, Adam Sharpe and George Haynes, ran fantastically in the 4 hour BritCar race at Spa last weekend. The team took an overall 3rd place (and a 2nd in Class) podium following a hard fought race meeting.

Sharpe, who flew by helicopter – in line with the training for his Private Pilot’s Licence – to Le Mans on Friday last week for scrutineering, then returned to Spa again by helicopter to arrive just in time for qualifying. Fortunately George Haynes was able to make it out for testing on the previous day to setup car up with the team. Sharpe put the VelocityPay.co.uk backed ASM Ford Falcon 3rd on the grid, for what promised to be an exciting race. "Great setup on the car and a little more time in the car and 2nd could have been ours but 4 hours is a long time and allot will happen" commented Sharpe after the qualification.

Sharpe ran the first stint and quickly brought the car to 2nd overall and soon enough was leading the race following the front running Porsche’s early pit stop. Sharpe brought the V8 in for the team’s first stop leading the field and handed over to co-driver George Haynes. Haynes drove a superb stint, holding 2nd place following the Handkammer BMW taking over the lead due to its superior fuel efficiency.

Following ASM’s second pit stop, Sharpe jumped back in for his second stint - the last of the race. Sharpe maintained ASM’s 2nd position with some quick, solid driving until 3 laps from the end of the race. When, making his way round Au Rouge for what ought to have been the penultimate time, he was hit hard in the rear of the Falcon following a mistake by a blue flagged back marker. This sent the Falcon into a fast speed spin but Sharpe rescued it and was forced to drive the remainder of the lap on a broken diff, rim and rapidly shredding tyre to the pits. The team was quick to realise that they would still achieve a 3rd place overall finish in the pit lane due to laps completed and the time they had put between them and the 4th placed runner. So, the wheel was replaced and Sharpe took a steady drive down the pit lane to take the chequered flag for 3rd overall and 2nd in class.

Sharpe commented after the race, “it was great racing and I really enjoyed it out there. George put in a great stint and maintained the pace I brought in from the start. Towards the end of the race, the Falcon was going constantly well into the last stages of the race and we were all very disappointed that the au rouge incident happened! It cost us a place on the podium but we are still very pleased to have taken a deserved 3rd overall and 2nd in class. Congratulations to all of the team today, another excellent result for ASM and once again thanks to my sponsors VelocityPay.co.uk and Lifeforce for supporting me out here in Belgium!”

Sharpe was off again early on Sunday morning, flying back down to Le Mans where he joined up with his Le Mans team – Noel Del Bello Racing – for the official test day. The Noel Del Bello Racing factory backed Porsche GT3 RSR ran well and Sharpe and his co-drivers Tom Cloet and Patrick Bourdais worked hard on the set up of the car. Sharpe commented that "I only got a few laps in during the test, as we had to qualify one of the drivers in the morning and towards the end of the day we unfortunately had a clutch issue which resulted in an early finish to the test. The laps I did were only to check the car for driver comfort and to find a good setup for the consistant lap times needed for the 24 hours, so I am not too concerned with the little time I got and the relative slow lap times of the car at present. I am more than confident that the RSR will be on the pace during the race weekend.