Beechdean Aston Martin Racing (AMR) experienced a difficult weekend at Spa Francorchamps as they continued the defence of their British GT Championship title.

The sixth round of the competition saw two of the team’s cars experience difficulty and fail to finish the two hour race, while the third had to recover from a challenging start.

Wycombe Wanderers chairman and Beechdean team owner, Andrew Howard, was at the wheel of the GT3 when a collision ended his race and he was understandably frustrated.

He said: “It is disappointing to retire from the race on lap one with damage, but motorsport can be like this sometimes.”

Despite not testing at the Belgium circuit, Howard and AMR factory driver Ross Gunn managed to guide their car to a solid sixth place in qualifying.

The 19-year-old’s mood matched that of Howard’s, but he nonetheless insisted the weekend had been a productive experience for him.

Gunn said: “These kinds of results are incredibly difficult to swallow, however being able to drive the GT3 car in qualifying on Friday was a steep but useful learning curve for me. Hopefully I will be back there soon.”

Beechdean’s hopes were now squarely resting on their GT4 cars performing well, but the team of Paul Hollywood and Jamie Chadwick experienced an equally disappointing weekend.

The Great British Bake Off star looked to be in fine fettle as he made his way through the field before a minor mistake on the exit of ‘Fagnes’ led to the car taking heavy damage.

Unable to continue, Hollywood was forced to retire and accepted that he is still learning as a driver, which is a process he is enjoying.

“I’m on a steep learning curve,” he said. “Spa was an incredible experience. I was happy with my pace and lines and felt I learnt a lot.”

On a poor weekend of results for Beechdean Jack Bartholomew and Jordan Albert provided some semblance of positivity in the team’s second GT4 car.

The youngsters went into the race leading the championship, but a bad start saw them fall to the back of the field.

Albert took over from Bartholomew with the car challenging for a top 10 spot and went on to secure what could prove to be a potentially vital four championship points.

The results leave Beechdean sixth in the GT3 team standings and fourth in the race for the GT4 title.

A trip to the Red Bull Ring in Austria is next on the agenda for Beechdean AMR where they will compete in the European Le Mans Series.