- Briton’s pole, fastest lap and victory gives Duel Racing unassailable A3T class title
- Overall 24H Series crown still up for grabs at Brno
Phil Quaife (Tunbridge Wells, Kent) and Memac Ogilvy Duel Racing wrapped up the 24H International Endurance Series A3T class title with a race to spare last weekend (September 4-6) thanks to their second victory of the season at the Hankook 24 Hours of Barcelona.
It was an extra sweet experience for the McLaren Test and Development Driver who set pole position and fastest race lap en route to helping himself and Moutran brothers Nabil, Ramzi and Sami clinch victory at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya aboard their family-run SEAT Leon Cup Racer.
Although one round still remains, the quartet has already established an unassailable 24-point lead in the standings courtesy of two wins, a second and third place from their four appearances thus far.
Victory in Spain owed everything to shrewd driving, teamwork and consistent pace throughout. Having served notice of the SEAT’s potential in practice, Quaife – with the help of clever strategy from the Duel Racing pitwall – spent the second half of Friday’s qualifying session nursing his slick tyres while others persisted with wets. When the damp track dried he was perfectly poised to make the most of his optimum tyre temperatures, securing pole position by over a second.
The 29-year-old, who also claimed overall victory at the same event in 2012 as part of McLaren’s factory-supported Lapidus Racing GT3 effort, was then behind the wheel for the start of Saturday’s twice-around-the-clock encounter. A strong opening stint helped maintain the team’s advantage at the head of the field before the vagaries of traffic and a strong factory SEAT contingent saw the car slip down to second.
But a 24-hour race is about much more than speed, and it was in Duel Racing’s preparation that victory was ultimately secured. A trouble-free run meant the squad was ideally placed to pounce when the class leaders hit trouble with just three hours remaining, before its drivers reeled off the final laps without incident.
As well as clinching class victory at Barcelona, the result sees Quaife, his co-drivers and Duel Racing head to the final round at Brno in the Czech Republic on October 9-10 with a chance of also winning the overall Drivers’ and Teams’ titles. With only the five best scores counting across the campaign’s six events another victory and the 20 points that go with it could be enough to secure the 24H Series crown.
“Everyone once again played their part in a fantastic result at Barcelona and it goes without saying that we’re all delighted to have wrapped up the class title a race early,” confirmed Quaife. “It was a perfect weekend for me personally but you don’t get anywhere in endurance racing without the whole team pulling together, and that was certainly the case between Nabil, Ramzi, Sami and everyone at Duel Racing.
“The car ran perfectly and I was happy with my pace in comparison to the more experienced SEAT drivers aboard the front-wheel drive Leon, especially in qualifying where we were on pole by a decent margin. I was lucky to find space as the track was so busy but just managed to squeeze in a quick lap at the end following a good strategy call from the team. Collectively we then drove a very consistent race by setting good lap times while staying out of trouble and the garage. In the end it proved to be the perfect combination.”
For more information on Phil Quaife please visit www.philquaife.com