- Ill-timed Safety Car costs #22 Nissan a better finish in Round 2 of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup
SILVERSTONE, England (15 May 2017) – Australian GT Academy winner Matt Simmons has helped the #22 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 finish in 24th place at the Silverstone circuit yesterday. Alongside team-mates Matt Parry and Struan Moore, Queenslander Simmons completed Round 2 of the Blancpain GT Cup Endurance Series after a mixed race. Struan Moore started the race from 14th and swiftly moved up to 10th in the first lap. Moore would lose a few positions late in his stint before a Safety Car nearing the end of the first hour brought all of the cars into pit lane for their first stops. Unfortunately, the #22 Nissan pitted one lap too late and lost a huge amount of time. By the time Simmons had climbed into the GT-R, the car was in 36th position. Simmons made up six positions during his hour-long stint before handing over to Parry who was able to move up to an eventual finishing place of 24th. The trio's Nissan team-mates Lucas Ordonez, Katsumasa Chiyo and Alex Buncombe finished in 16th place, with its result hampered by a low qualifying position (22nd) and a drive-through penalty. The next round of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup will be held at the Paul Ricard Circuit in France on June 22-23.
MATT SIMMONS QUOTES
"My stint was at a pretty tricky time of the race for us," said Matt Simmons.
"I went out under Safety Car and it was OK just to get a feel, but when the race went green, there was a bit of mayhem. The field was mixed up with a lot of Pros and Amateurs. It took a while to get past them.
"In the mid part of my stint, I was able to catch and pass some people, but then again towards the end I had some more traffic to contend with.
"It was just one of those stints, but I feel I got the most out of the car.
"It was kind of one of those races that could have been. There was a big accident and a virtual safety car, but it turned to a full safety car and we pitted right at the wrong time.
"From there, the rest of the afternoon was a battle trying to pass as many cars as we could.
"The potential is there, we just need to have the luck on our side."
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