Tom was heading into the penultimate round of the GT4 European championship with high hopes. His teammate, Fiona James, had spent a lot of time at the circuit and Tom was as motivated as ever to secure some solid results and crucial points in the championship.
Practice on Thursday and Friday was that of mixed conditions. The two-hour Thursday session was mainly dry and Tom posted a time in the top 10 after only four laps of running after the previously ill Fiona had the rest of the time. On Friday in the wet, Tom posted a time good enough for P3 overall with a little bit left in the bag.
Qualifying started very early on Saturday morning. Throughout the night there had been some showers over Zandvoort. As Tom went out on track the track was almost dry thanks to the wind, so that the track was only going to get better. Tom set a banker lap in which was good enough for P3 overall. As times got faster and faster, Tom waited until the best moment to set yet another time which again was good enough for P3. Tom then came in so that the team could make sure the car was at it’s optimum when Tom then went for his final run. The last run didn’t go to plan. Struggling with tyres, Tom could only improve by a few tenths which, disappointingly, was only good enough for P14.
In race 1 Tom made an excellent initial getaway but was unable to capitalise due to the narrow nature of the circuit. Tom stayed in P14 as the pack headed into the tight hairpins. Tom made a brilliant move on the MDM motorsport BMW for P13. Just two laps later, Tom made a brave move up the inside of the Number 2 Mercedes. Unfortunately, Tom was not seen until it was too late. The two collided with Tom coming off worse and breaking the suspension.
Race 2 started with Fiona in the car. With a good getaway Fiona was hoping to make progress up the field until disaster struck. The cars on the 5th row came together and there was a big knock on effect with Fiona getting collected in the process. A sad end to the race and the weekend.
Tom Wood “It wasn’t the best of weekends by any means. I’m glad to say Fiona is okay after her crash as it was quite a big impact!
It’s been a big learning curve this weekend, so I hope to use the knowledge I have gained this weekend in the future.”