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Former GT Champion Griffin Set Full-Blown Title Bid |
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Monday, 12 March 2007 |
Leading sports car racer Matt Griffin has confirmed he will drive an RPM Motorsport GT3 Porsche 997 in the 2007 Avon Tyres British GT Championship. The Cork-born, Cambridgeshire-domiciled Irishman will partner Peter Bamford, with whom he shared a car in the last two races last season.
Griffin, the 2003 British GT Cup Champion successfully tested the car at Snetterton last week, following an initial shakedown at Oulton Park and was delighted with his first impressions.
“We had a shakedown test at Oulton Park and then a full blown test at
Snetterton which was really good,” said Matt. “We had a bit of wet and
a bit of dry running and it seems really good. It’s just the beginning
though so we’re working on finding the set up and we seem to be pretty
close in the dry and really strong in the wet so we’ll definitely be
there or thereabouts.
“Next Thursday’s media day will be really good to see where we are
compared to others, we shouldn’t be very far away, I know the Porsches
quite well; the team is very good and we know the car is strong after
winning the FIA GT3 Championship.
“My ambition for this season is to win obviously. I just want to be as
competitive as I can, taking pole positions and fastest laps and
hopefully getting some race wins. I know all the circuits we’ll be
racing on this season as I’ve been in GTs a few years now so hopefully
that will give me an advantage. And the last time I did a whole season
in GTs I won the championship so hopefully that will bode well for me
again this year.”
Banbury-based RPM Motorsport, who finished second in last season’s GTC
class will run two Porsche 997’s and two Dodge Vipers this season,
starting the season as favourites to win both GTC and GT3
championships. Matt is the first to admit that the Robin Mortimer run
team is more than up to the task.
“The RPM team has really grown in the last couple of years. This
year’s campaign with two Dodge Vipers and two Porsches is a big
undertaking for them but I did the last two races of the British GTs in
‘06 and the Silverstone 24 hours and I have to say I was very, very
impressed with the way they work and their engineering ability. I think
they’re well able to handle it.”
Griffin’s return to full-time racing following his horrific track day
test at Goodwood in 2005, in which the driver of the road-going Ferrari
360 he was in lost his life, is also likely to be complemented by some
appearances in the Porsche Carrera Cup with new team QM Engineering
based in Brackley.
“Yes it could end up being a busy year,” joked Matt. “But the busier
the better as far as I’m concerned. I’m also working on a few other
deals for some International endurance races which if they come off
will see me have a very busy 2007.”
Matt’s co-driver Peter Bamford, only started racing in 2006 and within
six weeks gained his international race licence. The non-executive
Director of Rentokil Initial will also compete in the Ferrari 430
challenge with the Ferrari GB dealer team and despite his limited
success can count 3rd in class in the Silverstone 24 Hours and eighth
in his first British GT event at Brands Hatch last year among his
outstanding racing achievements.
Matt and Peter will return to the track at Silverstone next Thursday
March 15th where he will join the rest of his RPM team mates and the
British GT regulars for the official Media Day prior to the start of
the season, at Oulton Park on Easter Monday April 9.
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