Day ready for more Aussie success
After winning on debut, rising British talent Jamie Day is back down under and chasing more success in GT World Challenge.
Day made his GT World Challenge Australia debut at Sandown and tasted instant success alongside Liam Talbot.
The pair claimed victory in the last race and will be hoping to continue that winning run in the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 at Shell V-Power Motorsport Park this weekend.
The GT World Challenge Europe regular got his first taste of Australia at the Bathurst 12 Hour and stepped up as Declan Fraser’s replacement alongside Talbot.
After a tough opening race where some off-track excursions saw them finish eighth, Day and Talbot battled hard to win a willing Sunday race.
Despite having experience on some of the best tracks in Europe, Day surprised himself with a first-up victory and credited the team after a big debrief.
“To be honest, there were no expectations,” Day told Auto Action.
“I just took it as a new program and came out here to help Volante Rosso and Liam, so to win in my debut weekend is even sweeter.
“I can only thank the team and Aston Martin because on Saturday night, they stayed up until 3am working to find where we lacked the pace.
“We were strong in sector one but had a few power issues on the long back straight, but to fix that and win shows how dedicated the team are.”
It was not just the team that put in the hours overnight before the victory, with Day also making a big adjustment.
“In race 1, there were a few mistakes from my side, losing the car, but to come back and get the win on Sunday boosted confidence and morale within the team going forward,” he said.
“I just took my time a bit more. On Saturday, we lacked the straight line speed, and maybe I pushed a bit too hard to try and make up for that deficit.
“It is a common curse among drivers, so on Sunday I kept it calm and looked to perfect things, taking it one lap at a time.”
The drive itself came up at short notice for Day, who admitted the bumps at the historic Sandown were a bit of a culture shock.
“It is completely different,” the Brit said when comparing Sandown to what he has raced in Europe.
“I came to Sandown straight from Misano, which is a MotoGP track and dead flat.
“To come here, where the bitumen is continuously changing, was a challenge.
“Then the weather came, and it was my first ever GT3 race in the rain, so to come away with a win is super special.
“To be honest, I did Bathurst 12 hour, but there was no contact of coming back until the week before Misano
“Josh (Hunt) phoned up saying we had a vacancy, so we got in contact with Aston Martin to see what was possible.”
GT World Challenge Australia headlines the SpeedSeries at The Bend this weekend.
Image: Volante Rosso Motorsport
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