Barry
& Anthony finally on the VdeV UK podium!
Anthony
Dunn & Barry Gates finally made it onto the podium at
the final VdeV UK round at Silverstone.
After
starting from 4th place, Barry got quickly into the groove
in his Chevron Racing Team Ligier JS49 and consolidated
his position, staying with the leading pack on the opening
laps. He took 3rd position when Adam Derbyshire ran wide
at Becketts whilst attempting to take 2nd place from Lee
Atkins.
Over
the next 30 minutes, he continued to put in consistent laptimes
and although suffering with understeer, still stayed in
the hunt and handed the car to Anthony in 4th place. Anthony
also suffered with the handling problems - caused by a broken
diffuser - and although couldn't keep pace with the leaders,
he was still able to run a strong 3rd.
Little by little he was gradually being reeled in by the
TFL & Piranha Juno's of Simon Pullan and Graham Fennymore.
However, he kept his head and although the gap dropped as
low to 4 seconds at one point, he gradually managed to stem
the tide and pulled the gap back out.
3rd
place looked secure, but with 10 minutes to go a momentary
lapse of concentration caused him to go wide at Becketts,
across the grass & narrowly missing a gravel trap. He
rejoined, but debris in the radiators caused a worry with
rising engine temperatures. Luckily, it stabilised and he
was able to take the final spot on the podium - and their
best results of the year.
"We've
been in a similar position a few times this year, but for
whatever reason it hasn't happened" said Anthony "But
it's nice to finish the year with a good result - and hopefully
we can build on this over the winter and into next year".
