British GT Lap Records Under Threat Says Avon

The British GT lap record could be about to fall, according to series tyre supplier Avon Tyres, and its tyre are set to play an important part.

After close season development, the most recent test (2 February), involved teams from the GT2 and GT3 categories. Despite an ambient temperature hovering around freezing, TracksSpeed’s team manager Piers Masarati, who was testing a Porsche 911, managed to set a time 0.7 seconds quicker than last year’s pole position for the GT3 category. (Piers Maserati set a time of 1 min 11.2. Last season’s pole position time for the GT3 category was 1 min11.9

After the test, Masarati commented: “These new Avons are just fantastic to drive on, I am amazed that we have managed to go that much quicker with such a low ambient temperature. Some of the drivers who were out on them for the first time were convinced the tyres must be very soft to grip so well in the cold, but at the end of a 60 lap test they showed hardly any signs of degeneration!

He added: “Our new drivers Matt Harris and Miles Hulford both had a go in the car and they were both impressed with how it felt on the new rubber.”

The 2006 Avon British GT Championship kicks off at Oulton Park circuit in Cheshire on Easter Weekend (15 -17 April).