Wilkinson battles though bruising GT Open weekend in Hungary

LEEDS driver Ollie Wilkinson is hoping that lady luck returns to back his International GT Open bid after he and team-mate Bradley Ellis were forced to battle against the odds in two tough races at the Hungaroring over the weekend.
By The Newsroom
Published 9th Jul 2018, 15:26 BST
Updated 16th Jul 2018, 15:56 BST
Ollie Wilkinson in his Audi R8 LMS GT3.Ollie Wilkinson in his Audi R8 LMS GT3.
Ollie Wilkinson in his Audi R8 LMS GT3.

Heading into the fourth round of the GT Open season, the Optimum Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 crew were sitting inside the top six in the Pro-Am championship, but struggled to make inroads after having to deal with a range of issues in both races in Hungary.

During his stint at the wheel in Saturday’s first race, Wilkinson moved the car up to eighth-place in the Pro-Am class before Ellis took over and gained another two places as sixth place was achieved.

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In Sunday’s second race, Ellis got a good start, but was hit from behind in the early laps. While the damage to the Audi wasn’t race-ending, it did cause some damage to the front brakes. Wilkinson took over for the second half of the race and brought the car home in fifth place in class.

The results mean that Wilkinson and Ellis trail the Pro-Am class leaders, Fabrizio Crestani and Miguel Ramos, by 26 points. The next round will take place at Silverstone on September 1-2.

Wilkinson said: “It was ultimately a frustrating weekend, because we seemed to have a lot of issues that were beyond our control. Lady Luck wasn’t with us this weekend. Hopefully she’s back for Silverstone.”

Related topics:HungaryLeeds