The silverware keeps rolling in for Kiwi driver Rianna O’Meara-Hunt, who secured a race win and two second placings in the third round of the GT Cup Championship at Snetterton over the weekend.
O’Meara-Hunt’s class victory was her first of the season, and her two further podiums make for an impressive tally of seven top-three finishes in the nine attempts featuring her involvement.
The Tony Quinn Foundation Ambassador partnered with Marc Warren at Forsetti Motorsport for the four-race round, which consisted of two Pit Stop races with a driver change and a solo Sprint Race for each competitor.
Driving an Aston Martin Vantage GT4, O’Meara-Hunt qualified second in class and finished in the same position in her Sprint Race.
Warren started the longer Pit Stop race and handed over to the Kiwi from the lead, and she maintained the position to bring home the victory.
Saturday’s victory added an extra 20 seconds to Sunday’s pit stop, with Warren in third when he handed over to O’Meara-Hunt.
She overturned an 18-second deficit to take second with three minutes remaining in her stint and remained there at the chequered flag.
“Having only managed to pull together the final piece of funding required late Wednesday night for this meet, plans and prep were somewhat limited,” O’Meara-Hunt told Velocity News. “A Huge thanks to long-time partners Golden Homes in the Southern Lakes and the Tony Quinn Foundation.
“My first time seeing the track was a very wet session one of practice day on Friday morning, so it wasn’t ideal, but useful car time all the same.
“With two 20-minute wet sessions in the morning and, thankfully, two 20-minute dry sessions in the afternoon, I managed to end the day somewhat more confident and pleasingly on pace with the team’s championship-leading sister car.
“Saturday was cold and windy but dry for qualifying, where I managed P2 in class behind the sister car.
“First up was my sprint race, where I continued to come to grips with the track and once again brought the car home second for my first podium of the weekend.
“Later in the afternoon was the endurance race, where I teamed up with a new partner for this round, Marc Warren.
“Marc drove a great first stint, handing the car over to me in P1, where I managed to maintain the gaps against the other PRO and PRO SPORT drivers to bring home my first win of the season.”
“Sunday was dry but less windy than Saturday, and the track felt fast,” she added. “Marc qualified the car for his sprint race, and my sole involvement was in the endurance race.
“Marc put the car P1 in class, so we had a great spot in the mixed pack to start from. Due to the win yesterday, we had an extra 20 seconds added to our pit stop time, so 100 seconds in total, meaning we were up against it for a podium.
“An early safety car hindered us some more, leaving less time for Marc to push against the other AM drivers. However, despite this, he handed the car over to me in P3.
“With an 18-second gap to close down for P2, I passed for the position with three minutes remaining of the race. My sector times were consistent, and once again, I was on pace with our sister car, which was stretching out a decent lead in the race.
“Three races and three podiums was a great result and a great bank of championship points.”
O’Meara-Hunt sits second in the GTH Championship standings, 90 points behind the championship-leading teammates of Mikey Porter and Matthew Higgins.
Porter and Higgins’s pace is such that they also lead the overall championship, with O’Meara-Hunt climbing to fifth.
The GT Cup Championship returns for Round 4 of 7 at Oulton Park on June 29.
