Revie Lake and his teammate Blake Angliss scored their first points of the British GT season at Oulton Park.
Revie Lake kicked off his British GT season at Silverstone at the end of April in a McLaren Artura GT4 running in Mahiki Racing colours. The three-hour race looked promising until an unfortunate accident ended their efforts.
The championship then moved to Oulton Park, where Revie and his teammate scored their first points of the season in both one-hour races.
But overall, it was a far more challenging weekend than it may seem. The team was forced to use a different car due to an unfortunate incident one week before the race weekend.
"Well, the different car wasn’t planned until late in the process due to an incident a week earlier. I lost the car on the wet grass while entering Island Bend during a test day, so we had to use a spare car because the damage was too extensive," Revie explained.
Sadly, the complications continued. When Revie and his teammate took the car onto the track for the first time on Friday, it became clear that the McLaren Artura was suffering from power-related issues. These technical problems could not be fixed in time for Saturday's qualifying sessions, and with the lack of power, it was almost impossible to fight for the top positions.
The team therefore decided to use the whole Sunday to change major components ahead of Monday's races. Due to these changes, the #84 crew was forced to start both races from the pit lane.
"Well, it was annoying, yes, but that’s racing," said Revie about the technical issues.
The difference was visible right from the first race, where Blake was the starting driver and gradually fought his way through the field. After his stint, it was time for Revie to show what he was capable of. The young rookie delivered a promising defensive drive and narrowly missed out on a podium finish, crossing the chequered flag in fourth place.
"To prove that we still have the pace — even if we weren’t front-runners because of the BoP — was positive considering where we were on Saturday after qualifying and the fact that we technically didn’t have a car available for Sunday. So finally bringing home some points and keeping the season worth fighting for is definitely a positive."
In the second race on Monday, it was Revie who started the race. The opening stint for the #84 crew was very strong, as Revie pushed as hard as he could to put the car in the best possible position before handing it over to Blake for the second half of the race.
As the end of the race approached, Blake found himself in a three-way battle, from which he emerged with a solid fifth-place finish.
"It’s a shame we didn’t have the best luck at the start of the weekend, and then there was the BoP situation as well. But I think we as a team should be very happy with the results considering where we were on Sunday. However, I know both Blake and I have it in us to win a race — or more!" Lake said.
Overall, it was a very challenging weekend, but at the end of the day, these difficult moments and races are what provide the most valuable experience.
"I feel I’ve learned to build up to things rather than needing to push at 110% all the time, even on a test day or during a race. So I’m happy with what I learned from an experience point of view, and I’m also happy that we got some points on the board.
"Scoring points in both races at Oulton Park has at least given us a chance to stay in the fight. All we can do now is work as hard as we can and keep pushing until the end."
"Going through Eau Rouge for the first time will be so exciting, considering I’ve only ever driven it on a simulator (and only up in this time). Hopefully, we can achieve a good result in the two-hour race and bring home some nice silverware despite the 30°C+ temperatures!
As always, you can watch the entire race weekend on British GT Youtube.