The second race of the Blancpain GT series Asia took place at the Buriram International Circuit over the weekend, May 20-21, and the race would be Ban Chang based driver Sandy Stuvik’s first home event of the season.
Free practice took place on Friday and the Thai driver’s Lamborghini Huracan GT3 had sustained extra BOP balast, meaning the car was further disadvantaged in comparison to its competitors. This would prove to be a challenge for both Stuvik and his teammate Martin Kodric as they pushed the car as hard as they could, only to place in the lower half of the top 10.
Qualifying on Saturday morning saw Kodric in the car for qualifying 1 and Stuvik behind the wheel for qualifying 2. Kodric set a blistering lap to secure 6th on the grid for race 1 while Stuvik qualified in 13th for the second race in a very competitive field of almost 30 cars.
Race 1 would be a pivotal moment in the weekend for the Thai driver and his teammate. Kodric got off to a flying start and gained 4 positions within the first lap. 10 minutes into the race, keeping a good pace and maintaining his position, Kodric was unable to avoid a spinning GT4 car dangerously trying to rejoin the track after having taken out the leading Ferrari of Chinese racer Liu. The damage sustained in the resultant collision meant that the #66 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 was out of not only the Saturday race but Sunday’s contest as well.
A disappointed Sandy Stuvik commented later: “I’m very sorry to all the Thai fans that were cheering for me and I wish I could have gotten the chance to drive in front of them as I’m confident a podium was on the table.”
The next race in the series will take place at the Suzuka racetrack in Suzuka, Japan from June 24-25.
