Mitchell cruelly denied Blancpain win 21 | 05 | 2018
FORFAR TEENAGER SANDY MITCHELL was cruelly denied a maiden podium, and possibly even a win, in the latest round of the Blancpain GT Endurance Series at Silverstone. (Related: Mitchell gets Lamborghini global role)
Driving his Black Bull Whisky-backed Lamborghini Huracan GT3, the 18-year-old Scot, partnered by 23-year-old Italian Michele Beretta and 20-year-old Croatian Martin Kodric, had delivered a brilliant recovery drive to be within a split-second of the lead in their Silver Cup battle.
But with just 23 minutes of the three-hour race remaining, and Kodric closing in on the leading Mercedes-AMG, Mitchell looked on as his Lamborghini was forced into retirement with a suspected gearbox failure.
“It’s gutting,” Mitchell, a member of the prestigious British Racing Drivers’ Club Rising Star scheme, and who was selected to join the Lamborghini Squadra Corse GT3 Junior Program days before Silverstone, admitted.
“All three drivers, plus everyone in the Barwell Motorsport team who prepared the car, worked tirelessly over the weekend to ensure we delivered a strong result.
“As the three-hours progressed, it looked as though we would at least finish on the podium, with every probability we would even win the race, given Martin’s pace. But once again Lady Luck failed to smile on us.”
Mitchell, personally backed by Huntly-based Black Bull Scotch Whisky, and his team-mates had earlier paid the price for a minor excursion on to the grass and gravel during qualifying. As a result they started from eighth on the grid in the Silver Cup, and 38th overall in the 50-car field.
Beretta took the first 53-minute stint and rapidly progressed through the field. When he handed the Lamborghini over to Mitchell, the number 78 car was fourth in the Silver Cup and 25th overall. After the pitstop, the Scot rejoined in P7 and P40 overall.
The Scots teenager then set about climbing back through the field, setting a series of fastest laps as he did, eventually clocking a best of 2mins 00.321secs on the 3.66-mile grand prix circuit.
Having eased the car into third in the Silver Cup, Mitchell slipped back into fourth, and 21st overall, just before handing the car over to Kodric with 65mins remaining. A brilliant pitstop by the Barwell crew saw the Lamborghini emerge in third, before moving into second in the Silver Cup and 17th overall, and hunting down the lead car before the technical problems halted the charge.
Mitchell, despite the obvious disappointment of a second successive non-finish following the electrical problem in Monza, remained upbeat and philosophical.
“The team and the drivers have shown over the two race weekends that we definitely have the pace and ability to be winning races,” he said. “That’s what we have to focus on.
“Sure it’s disappointing that for the second successive race we’ve failed to finish because of a technical issue outwith our control. But as we all know, these things happen in motorsport. There are certain things you can’t directly control.
“Personally, for me it was important to get my first full race distance stint under my belt, having not managed to get into the car on race day at Monza because of the electrical issues.
“I know the team was happy with what I delivered. I settled into the pace very quickly, and really enjoyed the high intensity of the race.
“Now though we need to regroup and focus on the next race at Paul Ricard in France, in just two weeks. I’ve no doubt we’ll come back even stronger, and be gunning for that elusive win.”
In addition to Black Bull Scotch Whisky, Mitchell is grateful to his growing network of loyal sponsors. These include Scots companies Tunnocks, Thorntons, Close Brothers, Stirfresh, InverTay Homes, Provisio Funding and Celurca Investments. In addition, Mitchell is supported by Christie Digital and Stampede Global, two companies which operate on the world stage, and Manchester-based Duerr’s.
Related: Mitchell scuppered by electrical gremlin
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Jim McGill