- Tse and Froggatt make it 3 back-to-back race wins with near-perfect weekend
- Maximum points for Contempo Concept-sponsored Sky Tempesta Racing with class wins in Snetterton
- Duo extends Silver-Am championship lead heading into final third of 2023 season
Kevin Tse 謝榮鍵 has continued to impress on his first full-season Intelligent Money British GT Championship campaign, as he managed to secure 2 exceptional class wins for Rounds 5 and 6 of the series last weekend. With this incredible feat, Tse and his teammate, Chris Froggatt, have made it 3 wins on the trot for the Contempo Concept-sponsored Sky Tempesta Racing team and extended their Silver-Am Drivers’ Championship lead to a healthy 24.5 point margin heading into the final 3 rounds.
Tse and Forggatt arrived at Snetterton, fresh off their first victory of the season at Donington Park, looking to carry the winning momentum for the double-round weekend. Sitting on a narrow championship lead, it was essential to perform well to be in a more comfortable position for the tail end of the 9-round race calendar. The pair had somewhat of a challenging couple of Qualifying sessions, where despite managing to clinch class pole position (P5 overall) in the first part of qualifying, they only could get up to P4 in class (P16 overall) for the grid-setting session of the second race.
Race 1 started really well for Tse, managing to hold the class lead and remain in P4 overall for the entirety of his stint. He showed excellent defensive driving skills to keep the Pro-Am cars behind despite mounting pressure before coming in to hand the car over to Froggatt at the 35-minute mark. A well-timed stop along with excellent work by the Garage 59 mechanics, which has been a partner for the Sky Tempesta Racing team this season, promoted the #93 McLaren up to P2 overall. Froggatt battled hard, however, had to concede the position to a pair of fast-approaching Pro drivers, eventually taking the checkered flag in class P1 and a mere 7 seconds away from the overall podium.
With maximum points secured in Race 1, it was Froggatt’s turn to start Race 2 from further back on the grid. The Silver-rated British driver got off to a running start, staying out of trouble and gaining a place on the opening lap. Consistent lap times, kept the team in contention for the class podium as yet another well-executed pit stop promoted the Silver-Am standing leaders up to P2 in class. Tse looked comfortable and planted in on his fresh tires, immediately making an overtake and promoting himself up to the class lead for the first time in the race. He remained locked in for his entire stint, pulling off bold overtakes and going from P13 overall to P8 by the end of the race to make it two-out-of-two class wins for the Sky Tempesta Racing squad.
The duo, which has shown blistering pace all season, has not finished outside the class podium in any of the 6 races so far. They have looked especially quick in their Sky-liveried #93 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo towards the second half of the season with 3 class wins in this ultra-competitive championship. Scoring 50 points from the weekend, Tse and Froggatt have cemented their standing as the Silver-Am championship leaders and extended the gap to 24.5 points. This gives them vital breathing room as Tse heads to Portugal for the first time to take part in Round 7 of the British GT Championship, set to be held at the Autodromo do Algarve from the 22nd to the 23rd of July.
Kevin Tse | Driver, #93 Sky Tempesta Racing McLaren 720S GT3 Evo “The track is very challenging, it is new for the team and new for both Chris and I. We thought that it would be a simple track looking at the map, but in the end, it turned out to be incredibly challenging and very hard to get a good lap time. We played around with the set-up all weekend. We didn’t have a good car for Qualifying so we made more changes on Saturday night and on Sunday the car just felt alive. Both mine and Chris’ pace in the races was very strong. I am very happy to win both races, it is great for our championship. With a few more rounds to go, we are now leading. The next round is at Portimao – I haven’t been there before but I am really looking forward to it as I have many good things about the track. We just have to be consistent and stay away from trouble.”
