Kiwi Chris van Der Drift has been punted out of the opening race of the International GT Open Championship in France.
Van Der Drift (Bhai Tech Racing) was on target for a solid result in the 28-lap opening race at the Paul Ricard circuit in the McLaren MP4 12C GT3 he was sharing with Luiz Razia.
In the opening laps van Der Drift, who was in second position, was collected by Enzo Ide in the Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 and subsequently was forced into the garage on lap five.
It was a bitter end for van Der Drift who was on the pace and certain the McLaren had the set-up to fight at the front for the duration of the race.
Chris van der Drift – “It was so disappointing to be out then so early in the race due to somebody else’s silly actions, we were looking good for a solid result. I was already battling with the lead car changing places for the lead on a few occasions.
Never the less I know we have shown everyone we have the speed to be at the front, after missing all the pre-season testing I think we did a pretty good job, although we didn’t get any points we will only arrive to the next race more determined.”
