The Blancpain GT Series Asia came to a conclusion last weekend (13-15 October), and for UWA student athlete Aidan Read , the race proved to be incredibly positive, securing a season best result with a second overall position alongside teammate  Alberto Di Folco.

“We’ve been waiting for a race like this all season and we’ve been working really hard as a team,” the Australian racer explained. “It was a new experience coming to Blancpain this year and to finish the season with a podium is great – I’m really stoked!”

“It was a crazy race; the car really came to us in those conditions and it was a joy to drive. I gave it everything and we got the result we have been pushing for all year, so we can only be satisfied with that!”

The all-new Zhejiang Circuit proved to be a quite a challenge all weekend long with wet conditions dominating proceedings. The key to the successful weekend proved to be Aidan’s run in first qualifying that placed him third on the grid for the opening race.

Following two laps behind the safety car, the race got underway five minutes into the one-hour race. Aidan maintained his position at the start and was immediately pressurising the second-place car driven by Aditya Patel for position.

In turn Patel was staking his claim to the lead by pushing Christopher Dreyspring hard. Aidan’s break came when Patel went for the lead and this allowed him to follow though into second position.

Aidan kept the race leader in range before pitting just after half-distance. Teammate Di Folco duly battled deteriorating weather conditions to bring the car home less than six seconds behind the race winner.

The second race saw Aidan make a strong recovery drive from 11th to seventh in heavy rain to cap off a very strong debut GT3 season.

Aidan next travels to Imola, Italy at the end of the month to attend the Lamborghini GT3 Junior Program training camp.

Media references

Originally published by BAM Motorsports as "Aidan Read saves his best to last Blancpain GT series Asia" 17/10/17

Louis Humberstone

Graduate Officer, UWA Sport Marketing, Communication and Events

[email protected]