Irish racing star Alex Denning headed to Jeddah in Saudia Arabia for the final rounds of the 2024 GT4 European season with high hopes. He had reckoned his Elite McLaren would be the car to have on the street circuit and was confident that he was well prepared in terms of fitness and of course Simulator work.
A strong end to the season, said Alex, would make some amends for a tough season, where the luck was not always with the #77 McLaren. It soon transpired that the Dublin driver’s optimism was not unfounded, as the yellow McLaren was immediately at the sharp end of the 37 strong grid. Having gone well in both free practise sessions, Alex was aiming for pole position and he initially achieved this, before his best lap was deleted for a slight track limit infringement. Such was his pace though, that his second fastest lap was enough to keep him on the front row in P2. Typically, Alex made a cracking start in the opening race (of two) and it was he who led the impressive grid down into the first corner. Initially he eased away from his pursuers but the Team Speedcar Audi R8 had charged up from fourth on the grid and, using a straightline advantage of almost 10km/h, eased by on the start finish straight. Having worked out where the McLaren was faster, Alex regrouped and immediately set fastest sectors as he closed up on the tail of the leader. Further back in the pack though, one of the BMWs had hit the wall after contact with a Porsche and the initial yellow flag was soon replaced by a Safety Car intervention.
When the Safety Car pulled and the pack went back racing Alex was on a charge once again. He pulled away from his Elite teammate (and McLaren Junior driver) Josh Ratican and once again closed down the Audi for the race lead. The lead pair were well ahead of their pursuers but just as Alex looked set to challenge for the lead, the Safety Car was deployed once again, a legacy of Josh Miller’s Aston making heavy contact with the concrete wall which lined the circuit. This pretty much ended Alex’s impressive stint as he headed to the pitlane to hand over to Tom Emson, who continued the good work to bring the car home in a strong second, and first McLaren across the line.
Race two, however, would be a different kettle of fish. This time Emson started the race. they ran competitively but were jumped at the pitstop by other teams doing the overcut, losing them a number of places. Undeterred, Alex got the head down and dived down the inside of team mate Rattican into Turn 12. He then turned his attentions to the Academy Motorsport Ford Mustang of Matt Nicholl-Jones. Despite being clearly faster, around the lap and getting alongside on many occasions, he had no answer to the straightline speed of the Ford. “I knew straight away it was going to be difficult to get past the Mustang. It was terrible through the corners but had the grunt to keep us behind on the straights. Because it is single file through the corners on the streets of Jeddah, overtaking mid corner is next to impossible.”
Before Alex took over, the car already had four track limit warnings so when he got just one more, with fifteen minutes to fun, they incurred a penalty. “Ideally, we would have continued to try to attack on the Mustang and build a 5 second buffer to get on the podium for race two. However, we were instructed to swap positions with the sister car and protect their position from threats behind. We swapped positions and finished P6 on the road, P10 after the TL penalty.”
Whilst the ultimate result may have been slightly disappointing in race two, their loyalty to the team, allied to strong results in the last four races, meant that Elite Motorsport clinched the 2024 Teams Championship.
Alex Denning, Elite Motorsport GT4 Driver:
“What a privilege to drive on a street circuit in Saudi Arabia. It was not too long ago that I was racing in Mondello Park and here I am racing a McLaren in Jeddah. It was an honorary moment for me to stand on that amazing podium and think of all the people that have been a part of my journey to get me here. Having had some back luck during the season, there is definitely no better place or time to achieve such a result! It has attracted a lot of attention and has already opened a lot of conversations and opportunities for next year. McLaren have commended my qualifying pace and recognised my team effort to swap positions with the sister car in race two. it’s nice to have that recognised too. As for the venue, the track was so thrilling, a huge concept of risk and bravery was associated with the walls and high speed corners.”
Alex would like to thank his 2024 parters: Barry English from Winthrop Technologies, ClonBio Group Limited, John Coyne, Jones Investments Ltd, Gerry Kelly, Leevin Ireland, Timbertrove, Arcadia Green Coffee, Kylemore Karting, Bradys of Castleknock, Shane Houlihan, Carole Nash Insurance, McHenry Car Sales, Ernie Richardson, Ken Lawford Motors, Gerard Flood, Irish Ferries, Ascher Racing, Perform Nutrition and Westpark Fitness. Also a big thanks to Ed Ives and all the elite Motorsport Team.”
