Loose wheel derails Duncan’s Silverstone glory bid

A possible Silverstone British GT victory slipped away from Duncan and his Von Ryan Racing team-mate Gregoire Demoustier when he was forced into the pits for a lengthy repair.

As usual, the duo were carrying the handicap of an extra 75kg of ballast in their McLaren MP4-12C – but, despite this, they managed 13th place in qualifying and started the race as the top McLaren.

Duncan said: “Qualifying was very good, and we knew our race pace was going to be strong. Greg started, had a pretty good first stint and got up to as high as, I think, fifth. Then there was a safety car and the team opted to pit early.”

Unfortunately when Duncan took the car out for his stint he found the right rear wheel was loose: “When I went to push the rear of the car started to snake around all over the place, so I brought it carefully back into the pits.”

There the team found the loose wheel had damaged an upright, and 15 minutes were needed to change it.

Both drivers went out for further stints, but the chance of a good result was long gone and they took the flag 15 laps down in 32nd – Duncan signing off with a very quick 2:07.092 lap at the end.

He said: “I honestly believe that without the mistake, and if we’d carried on, a win was on the cards. We were looking very, very strong and the pace of the car was fast. Apart from the mishap the team did a very good job and hopefully our luck will change soon.”

The Avon Tyres British GT Championship returns to action at Snetterton on June 15. Further news regarding Duncan’s 2013 racing programme is expected very shortly.

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