Performance BMW — September 2017

24 PERFORMANCE BMW

NEWS

to overtaking when a safety car was on

track; this was obviously very unfortunate

and Colin was understandably very

disappointed, however the fi nal decision

had been made.

Drivers Matt Evans and Piers Reid also

decided to enter the well-respected Spa

Ardennes Challenge, a 40 minute race

where there is a compulsory one minute

pit stop to include fuel and driver change.

The fi rst race saw the drivers face a grid

penalty, which meant having to start race

two way back in 50th place, with Piers

taking charge of the duo’s M3 for the fi rst

half of the race. In what was described as

‘heroic driving’ from Piers, he managed to

move up the grid into 14th before handing

over the reins to Matt. Matt pushed hard

in the second half of the race and, after

gaining more places, he and Amspeed

driver Moulton-Smith battled fi ercely for

fi rst, swapping places many times during

the race. It all came down to the very last

lap and, with all the teams on the pit wall

waiting to see who would come around

the fi nal corner in the lead, Matt’s M3

appeared and he crossed the fi nishing line

three seconds ahead of Moulton-Smith, a

sensational win in an incredible race.

Pulling back into the pits, the whole

team were buzzing and, having never

driven Spa before, to take six trophies

home between the three drivers was never

thought possible. After everything settled

down, we got chance to speak to Matt

Evans about the Ardennes Challenge;

“That was the best race so far I’ve had to

date,” the jubilant Evans told us, “it was

full-on with bumper-to-bumper action all

the way. The win could have been either

ours or Amspeed’s but I knew I’d have to

hold him off at the end. The tyres held out

under severe race conditions and proved

to be better than any others we have

driven on prior. I’m just so pleased for

myself, Piers and the whole team to have

achieved what we did at Spa.”

For more information on the AR-1 visit

http://www.nankangtyre.co.uk/performance/

motorsport/ar-1 ●

NSX no match for

these E46 M3s

Piers Reid and

Colin Wells

celebrate on

the podium

PBMW217.nankang.ed3.indd 24 07/08/2017 08:30