SD Team racing drivers Nick Jones and Sven Müller enjoyed their strongest British GT Championship event of the season so far, with the pair scoring a pair of sixth-place finishes and a new lap record across the Bank Holiday weekend at Oulton Park.
The #66 Team Parker Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R was a constant threat from start to finish across Monday’s twin races, with the team even producing a thrilling fightback after a difficult Qualifying to record the first result. The second could have been even more, with the car running solidly in the podium places before an unlucky spin in difficult conditions set the team back. Regardless, both Jones and Müller have shown podium-challenging potential, and Müller’s star quality shone through with him also obliterating the circuit lap record.
On what was his first competitive visit to the Cheshire track, Müller’s pace was undeniable from the start, going quickest of all in Saturday’s Pre-Qualifying session, well beneath the championship’s existing race lap record.
That form looked to continue into Qualifying in the afternoon, but a change in track temperature caught many out. On his first outing at Oulton for three years, Jones set the 14th fastest time, setting the grid for race one on Monday, while Müller was just pipped for a front-row slot for race two as just 0.2s separated the top six. The #66 would instead line up third, but with the pace to move forward.
And move forward is exactly what the team did during an excellent opening race on Monday. Jones got a good start to immediately surge up two places as the pack ran through turn one. From there he settled into a rhythm, keeping clean and consistent as those around him lost their heads. Jones was into the top 10 by the time the race was neutralised following a heavy crash for a GT4 BMW.
Pitting to hand to Müller under the resulting Full Course Yellow, the German was on full attack come the restart, muscling his way past multiple cars which included a double pass on the Paddock McLaren and Bridger Honda at the chicane. Müller then obliterated the lap record by half-a-second on his eventual charge to sixth.
Starting third for race two, there was even greater potential for a big score, even if the changeable weather made tyre strategy a complete gamble. Müller started on wets after the grid formed up on a wet but drying track, and was soon up to second as many cars rolled the dice on an early stop for slicks. When rain returned soon after, staying out proved the right call, with Müller holding station before pitting for Jones.
With rain still in the air, the team made the call to keep Jones on wet-weather rubber instead of gamble and potentially throw a result away. Jones rejoined in second but the rain disappeared soon after, leaving him struggling to manage a rapidly overheating set of wets.
Jones held on but could do nothing to defend from the Orange Racing McLaren that had taken a punt on dry tyres. Likewise, the Honda NSX also lucked in with a slick gamble. Jones was the top runner on wets for the majority of the second half before the Porsche finally lost grip coming out of Island Bend. Jones did superbly to keep the car out of the wall and rejoin to record a second sixth place of the event.
Nick Jones said: “Overall it’s been a really strong weekend for us. Starting at the back in race one you don’t tend to expect much around Oulton as overtaking can be so tough here, but we got some chances and took every one of them! I just wanted to keep things clean in my stint and managed to pick up a few places before Sven did his thing. We knew the car would be quick, and he was truly rapid this weekend! Things were so marginal in race two with the weather, and wets were definitely the right call at the start of my stint but then we just got unlucky. The tyres started to boil and lose grip as the track dried and I did my best but was just gutted about the spin. Still, the boys on slicks would have filled the podium anyway, so it’s just the gamble you take. I’m still really pleased with how we performed this weekend.”
Sven Müller added: “It was a great weekend with a bit of everything, dry, wet, traffic and two very busy races! The car was really strong here, and I loved racing at Oulton Park. Nick did well at the start of race one and I had some fun overtaking and chasing down other cars ahead to get a good result for us. I didn’t even know I had set the new track record until I was told after, so that’s a nice thing to come away with. Race two was tricky with the changing track and we made the call to play safe and keep Nick on the wet tyres, which offered more grip at the time and were easier to manage than the slicks. But the weather turned and we got unlucky. Still, we will take these results as something really positive to build on.”
Jones and Müller are next in action for British GT’s annual European event at Spa-Francorchamps over the weekend of June 21/22.
