British GT Brands Hatch 9th & 10th September 2023
BMW’S BRILLIANT BRANDS BOILS TITLE RACE DOWN TO TWO
The Intelligent Money British GT Championship arrived at Brands Hatch for the penultimate round of the season over the weekend of the 9th and 10th of September. Title race leaders by 28 points, James Cottingham and Jonny Adam had the chance to be crowned champions after the two-hour enduro if they took the race win but would have to overcome their maximum result compensation penalty of 20 seconds to do so, after winning last time out at Portimao in July. The Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 of Darren Leung and Dan Harper were the Mercedes drivers’ nearest challengers on 111.5 points coming into the meeting and held a margin of 10 points over Ian Loggie in third, whose regular partner Jules Gounon hadn’t competed in every race during 2023. Other circumstances for the table-topping 2Seas Mercedes to take the crown were to come home in second or third with Leung/Harper outside the top five/six respectively and Ian Loggie not to win the race. In GT4, the Optimum Motorsport McLaren of Jack Brown and Charles Clark on 124.5 points enjoyed a 33-point buffer from the Century Motorsport BMW of Chris Salkeld and Michael Johnston as they sought to seal the title a round early, just a single point further in arrears from the BMW lurked the Racelab McLaren of Ian Gough and Tom Wrigley.
Qualifying: Split into two ten-minute sessions, the 'Column One' Am drivers contested the first part and the Pros went out in the second ten-minute spell. Barwell Motorsport's Mark Sansom was the first to set a time but Darren Leung's BMW quickly displaced the Lamborghini. James Cottingham blew the Century Motorsport driver's time away on his first push lap to go half a second clear, before spinning harmlessly at Surtees on his second attempt. The flying Mercedes went quicker still on its second run to end the session 0.527 seconds ahead of the field. Kevin Tse and Shaun Balfe both further demoted the Century Motorsport BMW but Leung improved late on to go back up to second spot until he was usurped by Tse as he took the flag. The times from the first ten minutes would be aggregated with the Pro drivers’ times from the second section and the Beechdean Aston Martin of Ross Gunn was out first. Gunn's first effort was soon bettered by Michael O'Brien and Rob Bell's McLarens before Callum MacLeod and Will Tregurtha took turns at the top. James Cottingham's partner Jonny Adam soon topped Tregurtha's effort before Gunn took another turn on provisional pole until works Mercedes star Jules Gounon threw his hat into the ring to go fastest of all. Gounon's pole time lasted a matter of seconds as Sandy Mitchell took a tenth off of the Mercedes' time but, less than half a minute later, Gunn beat them all in the Beechdean Aston Martin to end the session quickest but the aggregate time wasn’t enough to deny the championship-leading Mercedes. The 2Seas Motorsport car of James Cottingham/Jonny Adam secured pole position for the two-hour race by 0.375 seconds, having ended up sixth in the closely-fought Pro session. The Century Motorsport BMW of Darren Leung/Dan Harper would start alongside the Mercedes, with the Barwell Lamborghini Huracan of Shaun Balfe/Sandy Mitchell and the Andrew Howard/Ross Gunn Beechdean Aston Martin on the second row. Title fighter Ian Loggie/Jules Gounon's Mercedes and Silver-Am pair Kevin Tse/Chris Froggatt, aboard their Sky Tempesta McLaren, formed the third row.
The Intelligent Money British GT Championship arrived at Brands Hatch for the penultimate round of the season over the weekend of the 9th and 10th of September. Title race leaders by 28 points, James Cottingham and Jonny Adam had the chance to be crowned champions after the two-hour enduro if they took the race win but would have to overcome their maximum result compensation penalty of 20 seconds to do so, after winning last time out at Portimao in July. The Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 of Darren Leung and Dan Harper were the Mercedes drivers’ nearest challengers on 111.5 points coming into the meeting and held a margin of 10 points over Ian Loggie in third, whose regular partner Jules Gounon hadn’t competed in every race during 2023. Other circumstances for the table-topping 2Seas Mercedes to take the crown were to come home in second or third with Leung/Harper outside the top five/six respectively and Ian Loggie not to win the race. In GT4, the Optimum Motorsport McLaren of Jack Brown and Charles Clark on 124.5 points enjoyed a 33-point buffer from the Century Motorsport BMW of Chris Salkeld and Michael Johnston as they sought to seal the title a round early, just a single point further in arrears from the BMW lurked the Racelab McLaren of Ian Gough and Tom Wrigley.
Qualifying: Split into two ten-minute sessions, the 'Column One' Am drivers contested the first part and the Pros went out in the second ten-minute spell. Barwell Motorsport's Mark Sansom was the first to set a time but Darren Leung's BMW quickly displaced the Lamborghini. James Cottingham blew the Century Motorsport driver's time away on his first push lap to go half a second clear, before spinning harmlessly at Surtees on his second attempt. The flying Mercedes went quicker still on its second run to end the session 0.527 seconds ahead of the field. Kevin Tse and Shaun Balfe both further demoted the Century Motorsport BMW but Leung improved late on to go back up to second spot until he was usurped by Tse as he took the flag. The times from the first ten minutes would be aggregated with the Pro drivers’ times from the second section and the Beechdean Aston Martin of Ross Gunn was out first. Gunn's first effort was soon bettered by Michael O'Brien and Rob Bell's McLarens before Callum MacLeod and Will Tregurtha took turns at the top. James Cottingham's partner Jonny Adam soon topped Tregurtha's effort before Gunn took another turn on provisional pole until works Mercedes star Jules Gounon threw his hat into the ring to go fastest of all. Gounon's pole time lasted a matter of seconds as Sandy Mitchell took a tenth off of the Mercedes' time but, less than half a minute later, Gunn beat them all in the Beechdean Aston Martin to end the session quickest but the aggregate time wasn’t enough to deny the championship-leading Mercedes. The 2Seas Motorsport car of James Cottingham/Jonny Adam secured pole position for the two-hour race by 0.375 seconds, having ended up sixth in the closely-fought Pro session. The Century Motorsport BMW of Darren Leung/Dan Harper would start alongside the Mercedes, with the Barwell Lamborghini Huracan of Shaun Balfe/Sandy Mitchell and the Andrew Howard/Ross Gunn Beechdean Aston Martin on the second row. Title fighter Ian Loggie/Jules Gounon's Mercedes and Silver-Am pair Kevin Tse/Chris Froggatt, aboard their Sky Tempesta McLaren, formed the third row.
|
|
|
Race: The early afternoon start time on this balmy weekend ensured the drivers would be boiling hot in their steeds, 40+ degree track temperatures wouldn't help their tyre life either. The polesitting James Cottingham Mercedes began the two-hour race on new tyres and this helped it to leap into the lead from the rolling start, whilst Shaun Balfe starting the Barwell Lamborghini dived under front-row starter Darren Leung's BMW at Paddock Hill Bend to slip into second. Behind the top four, championship contender Ian Loggie spun down Paddock Hill Bend after contact from John Ferguson's Mercedes. The contact pushed Loggie into the Sky Tempesta McLaren of sixth qualifier Kevin Tse, which had made a good run around the outside, and the McLaren was knocked sideways before Loggie’s out-of-control Mercedes hit it straight again. Tse's McLaren pitted at the end of the lap with a puncture and was also hit later with a start procedure drive-through penalty, along with the Drivetac Mercedes and Orange Motorsport McLaren. The incident also caused chaos among the GT4s as they scrabbled to miss the prone Mercedes, miraculously everyone escaped without race-ending damage. Up front, Cottingham made good use of his fresh tyres to start pulling away through the early laps from Balfe, Leung and Andrew Howard's Beechdean Aston Martin. Meanwhile, a line of seven cars formed up behind Ferguson in fifth after ten minutes and included Richard Neary's ABBA Mercedes in sixth that had profited from the lap one carnage to move up from starting eleventh. Ferguson soon received a ten-second stop/go penalty for his part in the lap one incident, with Neary and Mike Price's similar Mercedes moving up to fifth and sixth when the chastened Ferguson's RAM Racing car pulled in. As the GT4 lappery began after twelve minutes, Balfe started to eat into the leading Mercedes' 2-second margin and the gap suddenly dropped to just 0.360 seconds after 15 minutes, with the lead pair in the midst of the multi-car GT4 fight over seventh, but Cottingham weathered the storm to pull away again once the traffic cleared. The traffic also cost Leung's BMW a position after Howard's Aston Martin jumped ahead on the eighth lap, with the Century Motorsport car struggling for absolute pace on overheating tyres. Freed from traffic, the top four settled into their positions as the first hour wore on, with Cottingham leading by 3.164 seconds from the Barwell Lamborghini after thirty minutes were completed. Beechdean Motorsport's Howard lay six seconds behind Balfe and Leung's BMW sat another second back from the Aston Martin. That changed when the Safety Car was called for after 40 minutes, the ABBA Mercedes of Richard Neary and Mark Radcliffe's McLaren having collided at Clearways. The Mercedes had run wide onto the grass at Stirlings, soon after losing fifth place to Mike Price, and the Optimum Motorsport McLaren drew up on the outside for Clearways before the green Mercedes outbraked itself and took them both off. The McLaren was able to rejoin after depositing a Recticel section that the ABBA car had dislodged on the edge of the track but the Mercedes was well and truly beached. The errant ABBA car was swiftly dealt with which resulted in just a short lull in proceedings, the Safety Car came in after two laps and 44 minutes having passed. The GT4 DTO McLaren sat between Cottingham and Balfe in the queue, with two more cars separating Balfe and Howard plus another betwixt Howard and Leung. At the restart, Cottingham was able to pull a decent gap with Balfe trapped behind the GT4 McLaren until the start/finish line and eight minutes of green flag running ensued before another Safety Car interruption after 52 minutes undid a lot of Cottingham’s hard work to rebuild his lead of 7.515 seconds. Simon Orange's McLaren was stranded at Westfield having spun off after Mike Price's Mercedes turned in on the attacking Orange McLaren and sent it pirouetting into the gravel. There would be no lapped traffic in between the top three this time for the resumption of racing but the Iain Campbell/James Kell Racelab GT3 McLaren split Leung from Howard. The Safety Car came in after 56 minutes had elapsed and Cottingham again made good his escape to open up a 3.942 margin before the pit window opened after 62 minutes, when all the leading runners came in for their 115-second minimum stop and handed the reins to their Pro partners.
|
|
The previously leading 2Seas Mercedes taken over by Jonny Adam dropped to third after having to sit stationary for an extra 20 seconds as a result of their victory at Portimao in July, falling behind new leader Ross Gunn in the Beechdean Aston Martin and Dan Harper in the Century Motorsport BMW as neither had any compensation time to give up. Jules Gounon's retro D2-liveried Mercedes exited the pits right behind Adam in the car that was facing backwards on lap one and the Frenchman needed to beat his 2Seas stablemate to keep Loggie in the title fight. Martin Plowman's Paddock Motorsport McLaren and Callum MacLeod's Greystone GT Mercedes started by Mike Price headed Sandy Mitchell's Barwell Lamborghini in seventh, the former second-placed car having fallen back after serving a further ten seconds compensation time following its Portuguese podium. Gunn's Aston Martin held a lead of a couple of seconds as the Pro drivers got up to speed but his lead would be taken away after Plowman's McLaren hit the GT4 Ginetta of Joe Wheeler into a gravelly spin at Clearways to bring out the Safety Car two laps after the stops. The top two had the lapped Sky Tempesta McLaren laying between them and Adam in third, the Mercedes now back in contention being sat sixteen seconds down on the front pair beforehand. Gounon, MacLeod, Plowman and Mitchell were all sat in the line directly behind the title-chasing Adam Mercedes. The Safety Car was back in after two laps and 44 minutes remained to the chequered flag. The lead pair streaked away from the rest at the restart. Chris Froggatt's lapped Sky McLaren maintained his place in the queue as Adam fended off Gounon into Surtees, before the silver Mercedes had to defend from MacLeod into Hawthorn. News soon came through of an investigation into both 2Seas Mercedes and the second Barwell Lamborghini of Mark Sansom/Will Tregurtha's pitstops but no further action was required, a huge relief to both championship-contending Mercedes crews. Up front, Gunn and Harper continued to race away from the pack as the race headed for the last half an hour, whilst Adam had opened a small buffer to the close-knit Gounon, MacLeod and Mitchell bunch. With GT4 traffic looming, the lead pair got ever tighter and Harper tried this way and that to hit the front down Dingle Dell after Gunn hesitated when passing the Only Fans GT4 Mercedes. A lap later, the BMW pounced as they stumbled across the GT4 BMW of Lewis Plato through Hawthorn to squeeze into the lead at Westfield up the inside with 28 minutes to go. Despite losing the lead, Gunn kept the pressure up on Harper and the lead was barely over one second as the race reached the closing stages but Harper didn't flinch to take a vital win by 1.055 seconds from the chasing Gunn. Adam scored good points for himself and partner Cottingham with third, whilst Gounon held off a late charge from Mitchell for fourth as 2Seas Motorsport sealed the Teams title. Gounon had moved away from MacLeod and Mitchell inside the last quarter of an hour as the Barwell Lamborghini turned the screw on the Greystone GT Mercedes. There would be late drama for MacLeod inside the final two minutes as the Mercedes pulled off at Sheene Curve out of fuel, which promoted Mitchell's Huracan to fifth. The Mark Smith/Martin Plowman Paddock Motorsport McLaren had crossed the line sixth on-the-road but was penalised forty seconds post-race in lieu of a drive-through penalty, having been judged to have caused the collision with the GT4 Ginetta at Clearways that led to the third Safety Car intervention. Sixth place subsequently went to the Drivetac Mercedes of Chris Hart/James Wallis, which had recovered well from a start procedure penalty.
|
|
|
GT4
Qualifying: As in GT3, each pairing's 'Column One' driver was required to take the wheel for the opening part of qualifying. Aston Millar's DTO McLaren would set the fastest time in part one on his first flying lap. Will Moore's Ford Mustang set the second fastest time ahead of Seb Hopkins' Aston Martin Vantage in third. The McLaren of title race leader Jack Brown sat in an initial fourth, with the second Ford Mustang of Erik Evans in fifth from Michael Johnston's BMW in sixth before the times were combined with the efforts from the still-to-come part two. Despite Josh Rowledge only setting the eighth fastest time in part two, the DTO McLaren still took pole position and was joined by Academy Motorsport player/manager Matt Nicol-Jones/Will Moore on the front row, with their combined times just 0.009 seconds apart. Setting the fastest time in part two moved the Matt Cowley/Erik Evans Mustang up to third after the Academy Ford pair enjoyed a Balance of Performance break prior to the meeting, ahead of the championship-leading Charles Clark/Jack Brown McLaren in fourth. R Racing's Josh Miller/Seb Hopkins Aston Martin and the Only Fans-backed Enduro Motorsport Mercedes of Darren Burke/Harry George completed the top six starters.
Race: There was drama immediately as the GT4 field scattered when they encountered the spun GT3 Mercedes of Ian Loggie stationary at the bottom of Paddock Hill Bend for the first time. One stream went to their right and incurred little delay, including Erik Evans' Mustang, Josh Miller's Aston Martin, Michael Johnston's BMW, Ian Duggan's Ginetta and James Townsend's similar car, whilst a number of those choosing left took a trip across the gravel. The polesitting DTO McLaren of Josh Rowledge and Will Moore's Mustang, which were 1-2 away from the start, were among them, along with the Enduro Motorsport Mercedes of Harry George, the championship-leading Racelab McLaren of Charles Clark, Stuart Middleton's Ginetta G56, Carl Cavers' Century BMW and Ed McDermott's ABBA Mercedes. Evans' Mustang escaped the scene with the lead from Miller and Johnston. Title contender Ian Gough's Racelab McLaren sat in an early fourth place from the Ginetta G56s of Duggan, Townsend and Middleton. Having started to climb the order, Middleton was forced to give up fifth place when ten minutes had passed after being issued with a drive-through penalty for failing to heed the instruction to use the Indy circuit to reach the grid before the start, along with three GT3 cars. Soon after, Gough slid out of fourth at Paddock Hill Bend and rejoined in the midst of a hectic pack scrapping over sixth. Then at Surtees, a burst hose sent the championship-leading McLaren spinning off on its own coolant. Several others skated off on the dropped fluid, including a second off for Gough plus the George and McDermott Mercedes. The championship table-topping McLaren subsequently pitted and was forced to retire, after the car had suffered a similar problem in practice, which blew the title race wide open. The top three of Evans, Miller and Johnston were boosted greatly by the first Safety Car period after forty minutes, with the DTO McLaren in fourth lapped by the leading GT3 cars just as the Safety Car was called. Ian Gough's adventurous race continued just prior to the stops with a trip onto the grass at Sheene Curve, before clattering into the side of James Townsend's Ginetta as he rejoined and the pair clashed again exiting Stirlings - for which Gough received a stop/go penalty as a result. The GT4 pit window opened after 58 minutes had elapsed and the transit times for all three leading cars would be similar, with Evans & Miller both having 26 seconds of Silver-grade compensation time to serve in addition to the 145-second transit time but the Pro-Am BMW of Johnston also had 20 seconds extra to take after its GT4 win in Portugal. The second-placed Aston Martin came in at the first opportunity after 58 minutes but the leading Mustang and the Century BMW both came in three laps later. The timing screens after the stops showed that the Academy Mustang now in the hands of Matt Cowley still led but Chris Salkeld's BMW was now sat just behind as the R Racing Aston Martin of Seb Hopkins fell back to third. The second appearance of the Safety Car allowed Hopkins to close on the BMW but the Aston Martin was mired in a pack of lapped GT4 cars fighting over fourth, which was headed by the impressive Team Brit McLaren. Salkeld gradually fell back through the pack of traffic and was passed on the GP loop by the R Racing Aston Martin with 37 minutes remaining. Ahead of them, Evans/Cowley's Mustang serenely stretched away to win by 18.864 seconds from the Aston Martin of Miller/Hopkins and Johnston/Salkeld's BMW. Will Moore/Matt Nicol-Jones' Mustang came through to fourth and crossed the line in formation with their category-winning Academy Motorsport teammate. Century Motorsport's second BMW M4 in the hands of Carl Cavers/Lewis Plato and the Toro Verde GT Ginetta of James Townsend/Mike Simpson completed the top six. The Josh Rowledge/Aston Millar DTO McLaren suffered a track-limits drive-through penalty late in the race, which dropped the pole position car to ninth in GT4 after being sat in fourth earlier in the race.
Qualifying: As in GT3, each pairing's 'Column One' driver was required to take the wheel for the opening part of qualifying. Aston Millar's DTO McLaren would set the fastest time in part one on his first flying lap. Will Moore's Ford Mustang set the second fastest time ahead of Seb Hopkins' Aston Martin Vantage in third. The McLaren of title race leader Jack Brown sat in an initial fourth, with the second Ford Mustang of Erik Evans in fifth from Michael Johnston's BMW in sixth before the times were combined with the efforts from the still-to-come part two. Despite Josh Rowledge only setting the eighth fastest time in part two, the DTO McLaren still took pole position and was joined by Academy Motorsport player/manager Matt Nicol-Jones/Will Moore on the front row, with their combined times just 0.009 seconds apart. Setting the fastest time in part two moved the Matt Cowley/Erik Evans Mustang up to third after the Academy Ford pair enjoyed a Balance of Performance break prior to the meeting, ahead of the championship-leading Charles Clark/Jack Brown McLaren in fourth. R Racing's Josh Miller/Seb Hopkins Aston Martin and the Only Fans-backed Enduro Motorsport Mercedes of Darren Burke/Harry George completed the top six starters.
Race: There was drama immediately as the GT4 field scattered when they encountered the spun GT3 Mercedes of Ian Loggie stationary at the bottom of Paddock Hill Bend for the first time. One stream went to their right and incurred little delay, including Erik Evans' Mustang, Josh Miller's Aston Martin, Michael Johnston's BMW, Ian Duggan's Ginetta and James Townsend's similar car, whilst a number of those choosing left took a trip across the gravel. The polesitting DTO McLaren of Josh Rowledge and Will Moore's Mustang, which were 1-2 away from the start, were among them, along with the Enduro Motorsport Mercedes of Harry George, the championship-leading Racelab McLaren of Charles Clark, Stuart Middleton's Ginetta G56, Carl Cavers' Century BMW and Ed McDermott's ABBA Mercedes. Evans' Mustang escaped the scene with the lead from Miller and Johnston. Title contender Ian Gough's Racelab McLaren sat in an early fourth place from the Ginetta G56s of Duggan, Townsend and Middleton. Having started to climb the order, Middleton was forced to give up fifth place when ten minutes had passed after being issued with a drive-through penalty for failing to heed the instruction to use the Indy circuit to reach the grid before the start, along with three GT3 cars. Soon after, Gough slid out of fourth at Paddock Hill Bend and rejoined in the midst of a hectic pack scrapping over sixth. Then at Surtees, a burst hose sent the championship-leading McLaren spinning off on its own coolant. Several others skated off on the dropped fluid, including a second off for Gough plus the George and McDermott Mercedes. The championship table-topping McLaren subsequently pitted and was forced to retire, after the car had suffered a similar problem in practice, which blew the title race wide open. The top three of Evans, Miller and Johnston were boosted greatly by the first Safety Car period after forty minutes, with the DTO McLaren in fourth lapped by the leading GT3 cars just as the Safety Car was called. Ian Gough's adventurous race continued just prior to the stops with a trip onto the grass at Sheene Curve, before clattering into the side of James Townsend's Ginetta as he rejoined and the pair clashed again exiting Stirlings - for which Gough received a stop/go penalty as a result. The GT4 pit window opened after 58 minutes had elapsed and the transit times for all three leading cars would be similar, with Evans & Miller both having 26 seconds of Silver-grade compensation time to serve in addition to the 145-second transit time but the Pro-Am BMW of Johnston also had 20 seconds extra to take after its GT4 win in Portugal. The second-placed Aston Martin came in at the first opportunity after 58 minutes but the leading Mustang and the Century BMW both came in three laps later. The timing screens after the stops showed that the Academy Mustang now in the hands of Matt Cowley still led but Chris Salkeld's BMW was now sat just behind as the R Racing Aston Martin of Seb Hopkins fell back to third. The second appearance of the Safety Car allowed Hopkins to close on the BMW but the Aston Martin was mired in a pack of lapped GT4 cars fighting over fourth, which was headed by the impressive Team Brit McLaren. Salkeld gradually fell back through the pack of traffic and was passed on the GP loop by the R Racing Aston Martin with 37 minutes remaining. Ahead of them, Evans/Cowley's Mustang serenely stretched away to win by 18.864 seconds from the Aston Martin of Miller/Hopkins and Johnston/Salkeld's BMW. Will Moore/Matt Nicol-Jones' Mustang came through to fourth and crossed the line in formation with their category-winning Academy Motorsport teammate. Century Motorsport's second BMW M4 in the hands of Carl Cavers/Lewis Plato and the Toro Verde GT Ginetta of James Townsend/Mike Simpson completed the top six. The Josh Rowledge/Aston Millar DTO McLaren suffered a track-limits drive-through penalty late in the race, which dropped the pole position car to ninth in GT4 after being sat in fourth earlier in the race.
|
|
|
|
The decisive final meeting of the year takes place on the 21st and 22nd of October at Donington Park, using the Grand Prix circuit. Championship leaders James Cottingham/Jonny Adam need to finish second to take the title if Darren Leung/Dan Harper's BMW wins again as they protect a lead of 13 points with 37.5 points available for a race win, 27 points scored for second place and 22.5 for third in the longer stand-alone races. In GT4, six crews go to Donington with a mathematical chance of taking the crown but only three have a realistic claim - Jack Brown/Charles Clark's Optimum Motorsport McLaren leads Century Motorsport's BMW M4 pairing Michael Johnston/Chris Salkeld by 10.5 points from Brands victors Erik Evans/Matt Cowley's Academy Motorsport Ford Mustang, who sit another 6.5 points back. Ian Gough/Tom Wrigley's Racelab McLaren lies 34.5 points away from the top, with Josh Rowledge/Aston Millar's DTO McLaren and Carl Cavers/Lewis Plato's Century Motorsport BMW, tied on 36 points adrift, the other crews in with a shout if results fall their way.
Other Highlights
GB4: BRDC Aston Martin/Autosport Young Driver award nominee and new BRDC Rising Star Tom Mills took pole position from Australian Cooper Webster in a curtailed session, after Aditya Kulkarni crashed at Paddock Hill Bend. Mills' second fastest time was just 0.005 seconds slower to give him pole position for Race Two also. Mills led the standings by 98 points arriving in Kent and if he could extend his lead to 105 points after Race Three then he became champion. Mills aced the start of Race One to lead Liam McNeilly, whilst Webster leapt up to third after a steady start by third qualifier Zack Ping saw him slip down to fifth. Mills opened a lead of almost a second by the end of lap two but McNeilly started to peg the gap and closed to within half a second on lap six. Mills withstood the onslaught and began to draw away again after half-distance and took the flag for his ninth victory of the season for his family team by 0.768 seconds from McNeilly and Webster finished another 1.805 seconds back in third. Front row starter Liam McNeilly was slow away from the start of Race Two but just held off Cooper Webster on the outside of Paddock Hill Bend, while polesitter Mills raced into a useful lead. A fast start from Sid Smith saw him vault from ninth to fifth behind Ping on the opening lap. Mills' lead was quickly eradicated by a Safety Car intervention for Kai Daryanani's Evans GP car in the barriers at Surtees. The field was released with just over nine minutes left at the end of lap four. Webster was quickly into attack mode and bravely drove around outside of McNeilly into second at Hawthorn for the fifth time. The order at the front remained unchanged among the top three to the finish so the dominant Mills triumphed for the tenth time this season by 1.201 seconds from Webster and McNeilly. Mills needed to finish in the top five of the Race Three reversed grid finale, should Webster win, to seal the title and in the top seven if the Australian didn't prevail. The grid for the third race was set by reversing the qualifying times from Race One and offered fewer points to the victor but each place made up from the drivers' starting position earned a bonus point. Poleman Kai Daryanani survived an early Safety Car to take a comfortable win by 3.257 seconds from Aditya Kulkarni and McNeilly. Webster put in a typically charging first lap to end it in fifth before the fourth-placed Jack Clifford clattered over the Surtees kerbing on the restart lap, which gifted the Australian fourth down Pilgrims Drop. An error at Sheene Curve for Harry Burgoyne put Webster on the podium before a charging McNeilly denied the Evans GP youngster late in the day with a great move at Paddock Hill Bend. A no-risk drive from Mills saw him become champion with a weekend to spare after a measured seventh-placed finish for his jubilant team run by multiple Castle Combe FF1600 champion father Kevin Mills.
Other Highlights
GB4: BRDC Aston Martin/Autosport Young Driver award nominee and new BRDC Rising Star Tom Mills took pole position from Australian Cooper Webster in a curtailed session, after Aditya Kulkarni crashed at Paddock Hill Bend. Mills' second fastest time was just 0.005 seconds slower to give him pole position for Race Two also. Mills led the standings by 98 points arriving in Kent and if he could extend his lead to 105 points after Race Three then he became champion. Mills aced the start of Race One to lead Liam McNeilly, whilst Webster leapt up to third after a steady start by third qualifier Zack Ping saw him slip down to fifth. Mills opened a lead of almost a second by the end of lap two but McNeilly started to peg the gap and closed to within half a second on lap six. Mills withstood the onslaught and began to draw away again after half-distance and took the flag for his ninth victory of the season for his family team by 0.768 seconds from McNeilly and Webster finished another 1.805 seconds back in third. Front row starter Liam McNeilly was slow away from the start of Race Two but just held off Cooper Webster on the outside of Paddock Hill Bend, while polesitter Mills raced into a useful lead. A fast start from Sid Smith saw him vault from ninth to fifth behind Ping on the opening lap. Mills' lead was quickly eradicated by a Safety Car intervention for Kai Daryanani's Evans GP car in the barriers at Surtees. The field was released with just over nine minutes left at the end of lap four. Webster was quickly into attack mode and bravely drove around outside of McNeilly into second at Hawthorn for the fifth time. The order at the front remained unchanged among the top three to the finish so the dominant Mills triumphed for the tenth time this season by 1.201 seconds from Webster and McNeilly. Mills needed to finish in the top five of the Race Three reversed grid finale, should Webster win, to seal the title and in the top seven if the Australian didn't prevail. The grid for the third race was set by reversing the qualifying times from Race One and offered fewer points to the victor but each place made up from the drivers' starting position earned a bonus point. Poleman Kai Daryanani survived an early Safety Car to take a comfortable win by 3.257 seconds from Aditya Kulkarni and McNeilly. Webster put in a typically charging first lap to end it in fifth before the fourth-placed Jack Clifford clattered over the Surtees kerbing on the restart lap, which gifted the Australian fourth down Pilgrims Drop. An error at Sheene Curve for Harry Burgoyne put Webster on the podium before a charging McNeilly denied the Evans GP youngster late in the day with a great move at Paddock Hill Bend. A no-risk drive from Mills saw him become champion with a weekend to spare after a measured seventh-placed finish for his jubilant team run by multiple Castle Combe FF1600 champion father Kevin Mills.
|
|
Joseph Loake topped the fastest times split for pole position in the first GB3 outing, with championship leader Callum Voisin set to line up alongside. Voisin topped the second fastest times for the Race Two pole from Loake in a reverse of the opening race. Loake made a perfect start from pole for Race One, whilst Voisin was unthreatened in second. McKenzy Creswell held off James Hedley for third into Paddock Hill Bend but contact with Matthew Rees sent the championship second-placed driver Alex Dunne, who had qualified sixth and was a single point behind Voisin pre-meeting, into the Paddock Hill gravel trap and out of the race. The incident brought out the Safety Car, which came in at the end of lap three. The top four began moving away from a big scrap for fifth place back before David Morales' JHR Developments car went off at Westfield to bring out the Safety Car again - which came in with six minutes remaining. Loake waited and waited to get going at the restart but didn’t catch out Voisin as the pair stole a march on the pack. Loake eventually eased away to his fourth victory of the year from Voisin, who took his eighth podium of a consistent season, with Creswell and Hedley completing the top four. Voisin, Loake, Creswell and Hedley formed the top four on the grid set with their second-fastest qualifying times. Original fourth qualifier Matthew Rees copped a three-place grid drop after being found at fault for the first corner contact with Alex Dunne. Voisin held off the threat from Loake to take the initiative into Druids after the pair had run side by side through Paddock Hill Bend and up the hill to the hairpin. An early Safety Car interruption after an altercation at Druids on lap two saw the top four remain in grid order, with Alex Dunne fifth in the queue as the race restarted at the end of lap four. Creswell quickly dropped to fourth after an error at Graham Hill Bend at the restart but the Elite Motorsport driver dived inside Hedley to take back third into Paddock Hill Bend on lap seven, Hedley ran wide into the gravel trying to fend off Creswell and dropped to ninth. Voisin edged away to win by 1.338 seconds, the championship-leading Rodin-Carlin driver's first win of the season. Race One victor Loake came second ahead of Creswell in a close third, Dunne having closed on the Elite Motorsport driver in the late stages. Hedley made up one spot for eighth after his excursion and finished right on the tail of Tymek Kucharczyk. As in GB4 above, the Race Three grid was set by reversing the fastest qualifying times, with the winner similarly scoring 20 points instead of 35 for the win but a bonus point was awarded for each position gained. Pole starter David Mavlyutov maintained the lead off the start from Lucas Staico, Nico Christodolou and Noah Ping through the early corners but a multi-car incident at Paddock Hill Bend forced the appearance of the Safety Car. The Safety Car came in at the end of lap five after a long clear-up and left just eight minutes of racing to go. Mavylyutov caught Staico napping at the restart to open a big lead. Christdolou passed Staico for second immediately by cutting back to the inside on the climb to Druids and reeled in Mavlyutov towards the end but the Turk resisted the pressure to win by 0.551 seconds. Brazilian Staico kept Ed Pearson's Fortec car at bay for third.
In the Ginetta GT championship, Luke Reade only needed to reach the chequered flag to seal the championship title and he finished the job in the best possible fashion by winning the opening race. The champion-elect played second fiddle to Ruben Hage in Race Two as he took his sixth win of the season before turning the tables in Race Three to win once more from Hage. In the concurrent GT5 category, Ella Lloyd just held off a pack including Luke Garlick, Will Rochford and Sam Harvey on-the-road in the restarted opening race contested over six minutes but Lloyd was hit with a ten-second false start penalty which dropped her to fifth on corrected time. Lloyd's penalty was rescinded after video evidence showed she had been directed onto the wrong spot by officialdom so ultimately took the win. Rochford got the lead at the start of Race Two and moved away out front but received a similar out-of-position penalty to Lloyd in Race One. Lloyd was busy fending off Garlick and Harvey but on the sixth lap, she picked up an MSUK marker board after running wide at Hawthorn and had to pit before the car overheated. Fortuitously a Safety Car brought her back onto the tail of the GT5s in sixth. At the restart with four minutes left, the top three GT5s were abreast towards Paddock Hill Bend but Rochford held on from Garlick and Harvey. Behind, Lloyd took fifth straight away from Paolo Santi into Paddock Hill Bend and then Pablo Jequier bounced across the gravel to promote her to fourth. The top four GT5s continued to lap together to the end, with Garlick winning from Rochford on-the-road. Harvey and Lloyd took second and third, whilst Rochford dropped to fifth after his penalty was applied. There was drama in the third bout as long-time leader Lloyd DNF'd after contact with Garlick, which which allowed Rochford through but he had a five-second track limit penalty to apply so it appeared Garlick got the win. However, Garlick also copped a thirty-second penalty for gaining an unfair advantage which handed the win back to Rochford. With Ginetta Junior championship dominator Freddie Slater moving onto pastures new having won 16 of the 21 races to date, the opportunity was there for someone new to take the limelight and an utterly dominant weekend resulted for Reza Seewooruthun. The R Racing driver won all three races after qualifying on pole position but that didn't tell the full story. He was pushed to the flag in Race One by Hugo Schwarze as the German sought to keep his championship hopes alive before Alisha Palmowski moved up to finish right on the tail of the winner of Race Two and Three. Schwarze needed to finish on the Race Two podium to extend the championship battle but the German came home in fifth place to clinch the title for Slater. Nick White wasn't headed in the three Ginetta GT Academy outings after passing early leader Ravi Ramyeed inside the final five minutes of Race One to complete a clean sweep of three race wins.
In the Ginetta GT championship, Luke Reade only needed to reach the chequered flag to seal the championship title and he finished the job in the best possible fashion by winning the opening race. The champion-elect played second fiddle to Ruben Hage in Race Two as he took his sixth win of the season before turning the tables in Race Three to win once more from Hage. In the concurrent GT5 category, Ella Lloyd just held off a pack including Luke Garlick, Will Rochford and Sam Harvey on-the-road in the restarted opening race contested over six minutes but Lloyd was hit with a ten-second false start penalty which dropped her to fifth on corrected time. Lloyd's penalty was rescinded after video evidence showed she had been directed onto the wrong spot by officialdom so ultimately took the win. Rochford got the lead at the start of Race Two and moved away out front but received a similar out-of-position penalty to Lloyd in Race One. Lloyd was busy fending off Garlick and Harvey but on the sixth lap, she picked up an MSUK marker board after running wide at Hawthorn and had to pit before the car overheated. Fortuitously a Safety Car brought her back onto the tail of the GT5s in sixth. At the restart with four minutes left, the top three GT5s were abreast towards Paddock Hill Bend but Rochford held on from Garlick and Harvey. Behind, Lloyd took fifth straight away from Paolo Santi into Paddock Hill Bend and then Pablo Jequier bounced across the gravel to promote her to fourth. The top four GT5s continued to lap together to the end, with Garlick winning from Rochford on-the-road. Harvey and Lloyd took second and third, whilst Rochford dropped to fifth after his penalty was applied. There was drama in the third bout as long-time leader Lloyd DNF'd after contact with Garlick, which which allowed Rochford through but he had a five-second track limit penalty to apply so it appeared Garlick got the win. However, Garlick also copped a thirty-second penalty for gaining an unfair advantage which handed the win back to Rochford. With Ginetta Junior championship dominator Freddie Slater moving onto pastures new having won 16 of the 21 races to date, the opportunity was there for someone new to take the limelight and an utterly dominant weekend resulted for Reza Seewooruthun. The R Racing driver won all three races after qualifying on pole position but that didn't tell the full story. He was pushed to the flag in Race One by Hugo Schwarze as the German sought to keep his championship hopes alive before Alisha Palmowski moved up to finish right on the tail of the winner of Race Two and Three. Schwarze needed to finish on the Race Two podium to extend the championship battle but the German came home in fifth place to clinch the title for Slater. Nick White wasn't headed in the three Ginetta GT Academy outings after passing early leader Ravi Ramyeed inside the final five minutes of Race One to complete a clean sweep of three race wins.
|
|
|