– Post-race penalties elevate Hong Kong driver to overall victory in Round 7
– Contempo Concept-sponsored #18 AMG turns up late championship charge
– Tse and Goetz will fight for more podium finishes in the remaining 2 rounds
After claiming the accolade as the first Hong Kong motorsport athlete to take the overall win in a British GT Championship race last month, Kevin Tse (HKG) has gone and repeated the feat by taking his second victory of 2024 last weekend. In a double-header weekend at Snetterton Circuit, the Contempo Concept-sponsored #18 Mercedes-AMG GT3 managed to stage an excellent comeback after a difficult first race, to claim maximum points and continue the rich run of form in the closing stages of the series. Tse and teammate Maximilian Goetz (GER) finished second on the road for race 2, however, a post-race penalty for the leading Lamborghini promoted the duo to the top step of the podium.
Race 1 was set to be a difficult one for the formidable Pro-Am driver pair, carrying the maximum Compensation Time of 10 extra seconds to be served during the pitstop as a result of their dominant win in Spa. Tse struggled to string together a competitive clean lap time during qualifying and only managed P11 due to traffic and track conditions. The Hong Kong driver started his opening stint well and elevated himself up to P8 before the pit cycle. Goetz came out of the box in P14 but eventually, the German driver finished the race in P9.
Qualifying 2 was much more representative of the pace that was in the #18 Mercedes-AMG as Goetz clocked in the third-fastest lap time and secured himself a second-row start. He managed to stay out of trouble and maintained position behind the sister 2 Seas Motorsport car in the first half of the race. Eventually, he came in for the mandatory pit stop and handed the car to Tse in P3. The sister car was unfortunately handed a drive-through penalty for an unsafe release, promoting Tse to P2 where he remained for the remainder of the 1-hour sprint. Although the Asian driver took the checkered flag in P2, the leading Lamborghini was handed a 30-second penalty for a yellow flag infringement, handing the #18 driver pair their second win of the season and maximum championship points.
The crew had a flawless race, continuing their late charge in the championship after an unfortunate string of bad luck at the start of the season. Scoring 2 and 25 points respectively in both races has promoted Tse and Goetz up to P6 in the Drivers’ Standings. The duo will be looking to continue this form and finish the season on a high with 2 rounds remaining at Donington Park and Brands Hatch.
