Anthony
& Barry's winning start…from the back of the grid!
Photo:
Oliver Read
Anthony
Dunn and Barry Gates took their maiden win together at the
first round of the Radical Enduro Sportscar Championship
at Snetterton this weekend.
Despite
showing great promise by recording the fastest free practice
time, mechanical problems in qualifying meant that they
had to start from the back of the grid from both of Sunday’s
races. Anthony took the helm at the beginning of the first
race and scythed through the field to lead by half distance,
overtaking many of the more powerful SR8 cars & smashing
the lap record by over a second in the process! He handed
the car to Barry, who continued to eek out the advantage
and although a nail biting safety car period closed the
field back up in the final minutes, he kept his composure
to bring the RPM Motorsport car home and take the win.
Photo:
Oliver Read
The
feat was even more remarkable as it was only the third ever
race weekend for Barry, who is being coached by Anthony
through his IWannaGoFaster.com performance driving tuition
business. "We've worked hard over the end of last year
and the winter so to get this result in the first race of
the year is just fantastic" said Anthony. "The
team gave us a great car, I peddled it hard then Barry did
what was required to bring the car back home - I'm very
proud!"
The
second race also started well with Anthony again fighting
his way through the field to the front of the pack. However,
the joy was short-lived as an electrical problem prevented
Barry from making a quick pit stop & the problem soon
became terminal as the car came to a halt on the circuit.
Despite
the setback, the pair lie third in the championship and
Anthony is very confident of a strong 2007 campaign "It's
a shame that we couldn't take the win again in the second
race although at least it's consolation to know we had the
pace again to win on merit. It's early days yet, but there's
no reason why we can't challenge for the championship if
we can get consistency together & keep scoring good
points".
The
pair race again at Oulton Park at the end of May.
Photo:
Oliver Read
