Grove Positive After ‘One That Got Away’ for 2 Seas

Stephen Grove described 2 Seas Motorsport’s run in the Lenovo Gulf 12 Hours as ‘one that got away’ after contact with ARC Bratislava cost the team a shot at a strong result at the Yas Marina Circuit.

Grove, together with son Brenton and Mercedes-AMG factory driver Jules Gounon, finished 17th in Sunday’s twelve-hour contest in Abu Dhabi, 22 laps off the race lead.

That significant deficit was the result of a collision in the fourth hour, when Grove was hit by the No. 44 ARC Bratislava Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo of Neale Muston at Turn 6.

The impact damaged the suspension on the No. 4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, which needed to be pushed into the garage for repairs.

Prior to that point, the team had been running in a promising position after it opted to take the first of its mandatory 100-second timed stops at the end of the opening lap, which put it a stop ahead on the cycle.

Despite the setback, Grove struck a positive figure after the race, indicating that both he and son Brenton had made significant progress at the end of their first year with Mercedes-AMG machinery.

“I’ve done some of my fastest times here,” Grove told Sportscar365.

“My middle stint was probably the strongest driving I’ve done in a long time. Brenton got into a low 53 on the last couple of laps.

“It’s one that definitely got away because on the pace we had and the strategy that we have, we really should have done a better job.

‘”But listen, we got taken out. The Lambo, Neale came and apologize for what he did. He was just out of control at the time. He just made a mistake.

“He came down, he came from eight car lengths back. It’s nothing you can do when you’re driving to cover off on that. It is what it is.”

“So we’ve got great miles today. It’s really, really good for 2025.”

The strategy that saw Gounon pit the car at the end of the first lap was reminiscent of a similar call that ultimately allowed fellow Mercedes-AMG squad GruppeM Racing to win the race overall last year.

Grove indicated that it was crucial that the Andorran was in the car during the first stint, as the strategy likely wouldn’t have worked with a slower driver.

“The important part about that strategy was we knew there’d be a ten-second gap when we come out,” Grove said.

“There were some pros in the car, if I went out they’ll catch me in 10 seconds during the stint [and] then I go a lap down.

“So we had to keep a platinum and someone of his caliber in the car he created a gap for us.

“The safety car came later than we thought but when it did, it put us 100 seconds up. It was definitely a strategy. If the safety car hadn’t have come, it definitely wouldn’t have worked.

“We thought more people would do it. So we sort of thought we were probably forced to cover off on it and we couldn’t wait to lap two or three to see what everybody else did.”