Vod:Bul Racing GT

Vod:Bul

Full name	Vod:Bul Racing GT Team
Base	England
Team principal/s	Mike Pitman
Race drivers	30. Alessandro Puoti 31. James Johnson
Test drivers	TBC
Vehicle	Chevrolet Corvette
Tyres	Michelin
GPVWC World GT Series Career
Début	2013 Monza GT Cup
Latest race	2013 Brno GT Cup
Races competed	4
Constructors' Championships	0
Drivers' Championships	0
Race victories	1
Podiums	3
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
2012 position	N/A

Vod:Bul Racing GT is an English World GT Series competing in the 2013 season. It is the second of three Vod:Bul teams announced to compete in the GPVWC in 2013 (the other teams being in Formula Challenge and the Supercup). Its current drivers are the Italian Alessandro Puoti and the Englishman James Johnson, though it initially started the season with the all-Dutch lineup of Calvin Hermse and Ghovand Keanie.

History

2013

After initially returning to the GPVWC with just a Formula Challenge team, Mike Pitman decided to boost Vod:Bul's image and range by entering a team into the World GT Series, choosing to run Chevrolet Corvettes. Pitman quickly snapped up young Dutch driver Calvin Hermse to race for the team, despite his driving for rivals Wauters in Formula Challenge. The second driver was announced just before the first race at Monza; Ghovand Keanie, who had competed in the final race of the previous season, completed an all-Dutch line up at the team.

The first race of the season showed great promise, with Keanie starting the race in 4th position. Tangled up in a first corner incident, Keanie continued to fight in the mid-top 10 throughout the race, but unfortunately lost out in the final lap due to an apparent puncture, crossing the line 8th, though he was later demoted to 13th by the race stewards for misdemeanours. Hermse was less fortunate; driving with a less-favoured steering wheel, Hermse was forced off the road on the first lap and suffered damage. He eventually retired after further damage, roughly 8 laps from the end.

The second round at the Red Bull Ring would be a disaster for the team, with both cars retiring. Not long after the round, Ghovand Keanie was effectively banned from all GPVWC competitions, rubbing further salt into the team's wounds. With Keanie no longer able to drive, team owner Mike Pitman had to find a replacement, but soon snapped up Englishman James Johnson, who had recently ventured into the GPVWC after success in other leagues.

Johnson's great pace was immediately apparent, finishing second on his debut at Spa, rapidly closing in on the lead towards the end of the race. The result sent the team rocketing up the constructors' table. Unfortunately, Calvin Hermse decided to leave the team after finishing 16th at Spa, citing his desires to focus on progressing in the Career Ladder and also expressing his beliefs that the team deserved a quicker driver than he could be at that time.

Though sad to see Hermse leave, the team was able to quickly snap up another newcomer, Alessandro Puoti of Italy. Puoti, like Johnson at the race before, also showed immediate pace, close to that of his teammate. Puoti started immediately behind Johnson on the grid and came very close to finishing the race immediately behind him as well. In the end, the Vod:Bul cars came home an excellent 3rd and 5th, the best result any Vod:Bul team had managed so far in 2013. The team had managed to go from only 3 points after the first 2 rounds to 50 points by the end of the 4th.

Complete World GT results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position) (results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Vehicle	Tyres	Drivers	№	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Points	Pos
2013	Chevrolet Corvette	G			MON	RBR	SPA	NUR	SIL	BAT	BRN	IML	WAT	117	2nd
			Calvin Hermse	30	20†	Ret	16
			Alessandro Puoti				16	5	DNS		Ret
			Scott Sovik							Ret
			Oskari Kantonen									Ret
			Harley Hamnett										Ret
			Ghovand Keanie	31	13	Ret
			James Johnson				2	3	4	11	1	3	8