Luke Reade got his season off to an excellent start with a double podium in the Masters GT Trophy at Brands Hatch last weekend.

It was impressive from Reade who had not even got behind the wheel of the car before he took to the track on Friday. He brings us up-to-date with his opening race weekend.

!A proper ‘throw yourself in the deep end and see what happens’ type of weekend. We turned up on Friday for our first go in the car, albeit on the Indy layout of Brands Hatch. Being honest, I didn’t really think about the fact that we weren’t on the GP circuit – I was just itching to get stuck in.

And stuck in I got. I was immediately taken aback by the sheer acceleration of the Lamborghini GT3 car. It was insane! The hairs on my arms were on end, it just kept accelerating, and keeping up with the gear changes was a whole other story. 

Having said all that, it was a successful day and everything I had wished for. The car was mega and the thought of taking it out on the full circuit the next day was awesome.

ualifying: First time out of the GP circuit and straight into qualifying. Myself and my teammate Neil trying to get acclimatised to the track. I felt right at home in the limited number of laps we had and managed to – somehow – put the car on pole, by just over 4 tenths of a second! MEGA. The sister Lamborghini came in 2nd place. 

Race one: We had a few small issues that put us out of the running early doors in Saturday’s race.

A badly timed safety car put us a lap down which was gutting. I pushed the car hard to the end, learning every lap. Eventually we ended up P2 at the line, with the fastest lap to boot.

Race two: Another big learning curve, having no tyres left we had to run on a super old set which left us off the ultimate pace. Slightly frustrating not having the pace to catch the lead car, but super happy to bring the car back in another strong P2.

In conclusion I am in awe of this GT3 Lambo, it is a great step in the right direction for us on our journey to Le Mans. I hope we made a lasting impression on the paddock and fingers crossed we can maintain this pace as we step into some new circuits. 

Next stop, Zandvoort! I have never raced outside of the UK, so this is incredibly exciting.No testing, straight into qualifying. I’d better get on my game!”