Reigning GT4 Pro-Am champions Nick and Scott started the season with a solid points haul at Oulton Park over the Easter weekend. The target for this year is to retain the GT4 Pro-Am crown, and the duo’s championship credentials were highlighted by a race-leading performance in their Team Parker Racing-run Mercedes-AMG GT4 during the second outing of the weekend, only for a braking issue to deny them the chance of an outright victory with only minutes to go.
Regardless, Nick and Scott sit fourth in the GT4 Pro-Am championship heading to Snetterton, and seventh in the overall order when the scores are mixed with the higher-rated semi-professional ‘Silver’ driver pairings.
The 3-mile Snetterton 300 Circuit will host two one-hour sprint races on Sunday, May 19. Last year, despite battling a power deficit to the McLaren and Aston Martin entries, Nick and Scott finished fourth overall in GT4 at the Norfolk venue. This time around they should benefit from some extra power in the revised Balance of Performance settings. Nick and Scott are hoping to go one better than they did last season and secure that outright GT4 podium.
Nick says: “We’re feeling really confident going to Snetterton. Oulton Park didn’t promise much for us and we turned that weekend round to be very successful, all things considered, so we just need to keep that work ethic going and I’m sure we can achieve some good things this year.
“We shouldn’t have the braking issue again, I believe it was a freak thing that was circuit-specific to Oulton. I’ve already tested at Snetterton and the car felt strong. I quite enjoy Snetterton, it’s got a good mixture of corners – not all suit the Mercedes perfectly but that just adds to the challenge. I know I’m driving well, and Scott’s right up there with the quickest in GT4, so fingers crossed we can have another strong weekend.”
Scott says: “I’m really looking forward to Snetterton. Historically it’s not been a particularly strong circuit for the Mercedes, but this year hopefully we’ll trade some power for some weight in the car and that could make a difference, but we won’t know for certain until we get out there on Saturday. The fast, flowing corners at Snetterton really suit our car. Places like Riches (turn 1) and Coram, but the slower infield definitely punishes our lack of torque, so it’s a mixed bag.
“I think we can be very confident after how things went at Oulton Park. The odds were against us that weekend and we still came close to winning a race. Nick is driving brilliantly at the moment, and led that second race on merit ahead of some very good drivers. If we can keep that momentum up there’s no reason we can’t be fighting for the Pro-Am class win and pushing to get higher up the overall order in GT4.”
