"It’s true that there is some pressure, especially being the only British team in GT1..."
Gigawave Motorsport will be the only British GT1 team taking part in the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy, with a British-built car, the Aston Martin DBR9.
So how is driver Philipp Peter feeling about the event ?
“I am really looking forward to Silverstone,” Philipp said. “It feels as if the season is starting quite late, as I have not actually raced since the Dubai 24 Hours back in January, which is quite a while, especially compared to some other drivers. The team has prepared very well, and has put in a lot of effort. I have a strong team-mate in Allan Simonsen, and it is very good as we have the same way of setting up the car, and the same feeling. Henry Barczynski has really done an excellent job to bring all the best possible elements together, and the team is extremely committed. So there is some pressure to do well.”
What about this season ?
“This year’s Championship is looking very strong, most probably one of the strongest ever. There are so many cars close together, with at least six or seven driver pairings able to get on the podium at each race. It definitely will not make our job easier, considering this is the first season for a new team. But we will try to do the best we can. We’ve tested, but you can never do all you want to. Still, I am really happy with what we have done. The team has put everything together. The car is up to level, with all the latest evolutions from Aston Martin. It was quite good that we had rain in Nogaro, as it took some time to set up the car for the wet conditions. If it rains during a race weekend, you really don’t have time to work on this – and you never know, it could be wet at Silverstone. At Nogaro, we were able to work with our tyre partners, Michelin, to understand which tyres we needed for which kind of rain – and we had all kinds of rain at Nogaro ! But of course, it meant we didn’t have as much time to find a good dry set-up for Nogaro later in the year.”
And the first race ?
“It’s true that there is some pressure, especially being the only British team in GT1, being a new team and racing at home. But I think it’s good to have pressure; we know it will be hard but I think there is pressure on everyone for the first race of the season. More specially, I would have to say that I am curious – curious to see where we stand, especially as Silverstone is a very different circuit from Monza.
Any thoughts about the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy ?
“I know it is a very prestigious trophy, and something very special to win. But it is not the sort of thing you think about when you are actually racing. You are out there to do the best you can. You only really realise what something like that means when you’ve actually done it. When you’re standing on the podium, or see your name listed, or engraved, then you realise what it really means. And that is very special indeed.”