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Harris ends campaign with podium.

Wednesday, 3rd October 2007

Tech 9 enjoy solid finale at Rockingham.

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Matt Harris enjoyed a fine finish to his Avon Tyres British GT Championship campaign at Rockingham as the Tech 9 Porsche secured one podium finish and came close to a second in Northamptonshire.

Having qualified well in the 997 – complete with its update kit – Harris ran strongly in his stint at the start of race one to sit in second place before pitting to hand the car over to team-mate Tom Ferrier, who maintained the place through to the end of the race.

“I had a really good qualifying,” Harris reflected. “We were only beaten by the Lamborghini, it was frustrating that I didn’t really put my best lap together as that would have put us on pole. We thought the car would work well here and the big improvements we made in the last meeting have paid off here.

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“I made the start from hell in the race. I was watching the Lamborghini rather than the lights! I was able to run with the leaders and was second when I pitted on the same lap as the lead car. The Safety Car came out at just the wrong time for us in the race, we could have taken the win with a little more luck and shown what we have been capable of all season, but it was great to be on the podium again.”

Starting further down the grid for the second race, Ferrier took the start and pitted just outside the points to hand the car over to Harris. Storming through the order, he climbed to the fringes of the podium but ran out of laps in his quest to take third from Hector Lester.

“Tom started Sunday’s race from tenth on the grid, and when we pitted I think we were running ninth,” he said. “I was determined to be on the podium again and drove the Porsche harder than I have ever pushed a race car before. Towards the end of the race I had two wheels over the kerbs on the entry and exit of every corner and was closing on the

Ferrari

in third. The radio wasn’t working well but I could still get the messages from the team in the pits telling me to keep pushing, and in the last couple of laps I closed right in on him and I can only have been an inch behind at the end.

“It was a good end to the season, and if we had been able to get the car working like this all year it would have been a very different season. There is a narrow window you have to find to make the car work, and we seem to have found it in recent races after the updates we put on the car. It was a good result for the team as they have worked so hard on the Porsche, we have just had some frustrating mechanical issues that hurt us during the season.

“I am off to America now, to race out there for the next year, which should be really exciting.”

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