Martin Kodric gets his International GT Open and Teo Martín McLaren debuts off to a brilliant start with a podium at Paul Ricard

Wednesday
01
May 2019
at
Paul Riccard
with
Croatian driver Martin Kodric got his International GT Open campaign and Teo Martín McLaren debut off to a brilliant start with a podium at Circuit Paul Ricard this weekend (27-28 April).

The racer finished second in the first race of the opening round of the Championship in the #59 720S GT3 alongside teammate Henrique Chaves.

And a stunning comeback that saw him take the car from P16 to P7 in the second race ensured they finished fourth in the standings overall for a good weekend’s work.

The ADD Management driver said: “It was a good, solid start overall. We were happy with a podium in the first race, of course. But the weekend could have been even better.  My teammate got spun early on in the second race which cost us a lot of time as we had to pit. I was really pleased to overtake well and get a P7 in the end though.

“I came into the Championship wanting to be at the front after the first weekend. We knew we were good enough and so it went to plan.

“To finish P4 in the standings after the first round is a positive start and something we can build on the longer we work together.”

Martin, 21, finished the 2018 season in style, taking the Blancpain GT Series Asia overall title and Silver Cup crown with FFF Racing Team by ACM on the final race of the season. The driver also finished third in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup.

After being selected for the McLaren Young Professional programme, he was delighted to join Teo Martín to take part in the competitive International GT Open.

The team were delighted to be so competitive in their first qualifying session, with Martin expertly guiding the car home in P3, 0s154 off the leader.

He started race one in third and a good stint in his first race in the car saw him leave his teammate in a good position to finish the job off and bring the car home in second – close behind the winner.

Chaves brought the car back in P3 again in his qualifying session, putting the pair in a great position to build on their first podium.


Martin Kodric: "The pace of the car was really good and I really connected well with my team and Henrique. We are now confident for the next round. I think we have a great all-round package - we have to keep consistently doing the right thing and we will improve."

But when he was hit from behind early on in the second race, he spun and the subsequent damaged forced him to pit.  After a safety car they found themselves last and despite a few good overtakes, the success penalty from the earlier podium pushed them even further behind.

When Martin took the wheel in P16, he had a lot to do, but some excellent over-taking and fast laps saw him catch driver after driver and finish with an excellent P7, which left them fourth in the standings.

Martin added: “The pace of the car was really good and I really connected well with my team and Henrique, he’s a good guy and a great driver.

“After the problems in the second race, to come back from where we were meant we left the weekend feeling positive and on a high.

“We are now confident for the next round. I think we have a great all-round package - we have to keep consistently doing the right thing and we will improve.”