British GT Championship Snetterton ‘300’ 15th & 16th August 2026
OPTIMUM MOTORSPORT’S OPTIMAL DAY AT SNETTERTON
The fifth and sixth rounds of the British GT Championship brought the contenders to Snetterton in Norfolk for a pair of one hour races over the weekend of the 15th and 16th of August.
Barwell Motorsport pairing Alex Martin and Jarrod Waberski headed the GT3 standings by 11.5 points arriving in Norfolk, with Optimum Motorsport McLaren duo Morgan Tillbrook and Ben Barnicoat leading the chase of the Lamborghini. Another nine points adrift sat the Century Motorsport BMW of Jonathon Beeson and Charles Clark in third. The GT4 drivers’ table was topped by the Thomas Holland and Hadley Simpson combination aboard a Ginetta G56, who held a slender one-and-a-half points margin to the second-placed partnership of Will Orton and Aston Martin F1 ambassador Jessica Hawkins. Century Motorsport BMW duo Jack Collins and Branden Templeton chased the Aston Martin in third and were five points down prior to the Snetterton meeting.
The fifth and sixth rounds of the British GT Championship brought the contenders to Snetterton in Norfolk for a pair of one hour races over the weekend of the 15th and 16th of August.
Barwell Motorsport pairing Alex Martin and Jarrod Waberski headed the GT3 standings by 11.5 points arriving in Norfolk, with Optimum Motorsport McLaren duo Morgan Tillbrook and Ben Barnicoat leading the chase of the Lamborghini. Another nine points adrift sat the Century Motorsport BMW of Jonathon Beeson and Charles Clark in third. The GT4 drivers’ table was topped by the Thomas Holland and Hadley Simpson combination aboard a Ginetta G56, who held a slender one-and-a-half points margin to the second-placed partnership of Will Orton and Aston Martin F1 ambassador Jessica Hawkins. Century Motorsport BMW duo Jack Collins and Branden Templeton chased the Aston Martin in third and were five points down prior to the Snetterton meeting.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into four ten-minute sessions, with the first two exclusively for the GT3 field and the second pair for the GT4 competitors.
GT3 Q1: The first GT3 session would set the grid for the opening race and the Am-graded drivers would take the wheel as they were the drivers starting Round Five. The long lap meant precision was key as there was little opportunity to atone for errors, with the quick times only starting to be set around the halfway mark. Marc Warren set a strong benchmark but Rob Collard was just 0.047 seconds slower with his first attempt. Warren’s next lap was even faster and moved the McLaren 0.223 seconds clear before an Optimum Motorsport 1-2 was sealed as Morgan Tillbrook popped up on the front row with two-and-a-half minutes left and the pair were split by 0.156 seconds. 2024 champion Rob Collard ended the session third for Barwelll Lamborghini after falling to improve on his opening effort. Two more McLarens qualified in the top six, with the fourth-placed Mark Smith-driven Paddock Motorsport car separated from sixth-placed Simon Orange’s example by the second Barwell Lamborghini of Alex Martin but the session was stopped in the dying seconds after the championship leader smacked his Huracan into the barriers at the entry to Oggies. GT3 Q2: The hired guns from the Pro-grade would be the starting drivers for Round Six and consequently would set their grid positions in session two. Ross Gunn held the upper hand for Beechdean Motorsport after the initial attempts before the Silver-Am Rodin Ferrari in the hands of Josh Buchan got to within 0.006 seconds of the pacesetting Aston Martin. However, Gunn moved the goalposts next time by to seal the Beechdean outfit’s third pole position of 2026. McLaren drivers Marcus Clutton and Ben Barnicoat both ultimately bumped the Ferrari, with the top three covered by 0.230 seconds. Ben Green lined up fifth in the leading 2Seas Mercedes, with Martin Plowman’s McLaren sixth. Barwell Motorsport had a torrid session, with Hugo Cook ending up in a gripless 12th after a gearbox issue restricted the Huracan’s running and stablemate Jarrod Waberski was unable to participate after partner Alex Martin’s misdemeanour in Q1.
GT4 Q1: As with the GT3 sessions, the lesser-graded pilots took the wheel for the opening ten minutes. Amid a flurry of late improvements, Revie Lake’s McLaren and Hadley Simpson’s Ginetta leapt into the top two spots in the dying moments of the session and were only 0.028 seconds apart before former pacesetter Josh Stanton steered his McLaren back onto pole as the chequered flag flew. However, the Simpson Ginetta was the last car over the line and split the two McLarens with a time just 0.010 seconds off pole. Daniel Lavery was the top Aston Martin in fourth from Luke Shaw’s Ginetta and Jack Collins’ BMW. GT4 Q2: BTCC race winner George Gamble stunned on his debut aboard the Q1-toppling McLaren as he streaked almost seven tenths clear after the initial efforts. Jack Mitchell closed to within 0.206 seconds of the Optimum Motorsport car with four-and-a-half minutes to go, whilst Tom Bradshaw’s Porsche lurked just 0.035 seconds further back in third after posting his effort a minute behind the lead pair. Mitchell’s Toro Verde Ginetta vaulted to the top of the times by 0.267 seconds with 45 seconds left on the clock and was on target to improve further with its follow-up but Mitchell aborted the effort after setting two purple sectors, with the marker good enough to seal pole position for the driver that had ran to the circuit from his home - a distance of 104 miles! Gamble and Bradshaw would line up in second and third, with Will Orton fourth in the Aston Martin shared with Jessica Hawkins. Two four-time British champions would share the third row as quadruple British Touring Car Championship king Colin Turkington headed his British GT equivalent Jonny Adam.
Qualifying was split into four ten-minute sessions, with the first two exclusively for the GT3 field and the second pair for the GT4 competitors.
GT3 Q1: The first GT3 session would set the grid for the opening race and the Am-graded drivers would take the wheel as they were the drivers starting Round Five. The long lap meant precision was key as there was little opportunity to atone for errors, with the quick times only starting to be set around the halfway mark. Marc Warren set a strong benchmark but Rob Collard was just 0.047 seconds slower with his first attempt. Warren’s next lap was even faster and moved the McLaren 0.223 seconds clear before an Optimum Motorsport 1-2 was sealed as Morgan Tillbrook popped up on the front row with two-and-a-half minutes left and the pair were split by 0.156 seconds. 2024 champion Rob Collard ended the session third for Barwelll Lamborghini after falling to improve on his opening effort. Two more McLarens qualified in the top six, with the fourth-placed Mark Smith-driven Paddock Motorsport car separated from sixth-placed Simon Orange’s example by the second Barwell Lamborghini of Alex Martin but the session was stopped in the dying seconds after the championship leader smacked his Huracan into the barriers at the entry to Oggies. GT3 Q2: The hired guns from the Pro-grade would be the starting drivers for Round Six and consequently would set their grid positions in session two. Ross Gunn held the upper hand for Beechdean Motorsport after the initial attempts before the Silver-Am Rodin Ferrari in the hands of Josh Buchan got to within 0.006 seconds of the pacesetting Aston Martin. However, Gunn moved the goalposts next time by to seal the Beechdean outfit’s third pole position of 2026. McLaren drivers Marcus Clutton and Ben Barnicoat both ultimately bumped the Ferrari, with the top three covered by 0.230 seconds. Ben Green lined up fifth in the leading 2Seas Mercedes, with Martin Plowman’s McLaren sixth. Barwell Motorsport had a torrid session, with Hugo Cook ending up in a gripless 12th after a gearbox issue restricted the Huracan’s running and stablemate Jarrod Waberski was unable to participate after partner Alex Martin’s misdemeanour in Q1.
GT4 Q1: As with the GT3 sessions, the lesser-graded pilots took the wheel for the opening ten minutes. Amid a flurry of late improvements, Revie Lake’s McLaren and Hadley Simpson’s Ginetta leapt into the top two spots in the dying moments of the session and were only 0.028 seconds apart before former pacesetter Josh Stanton steered his McLaren back onto pole as the chequered flag flew. However, the Simpson Ginetta was the last car over the line and split the two McLarens with a time just 0.010 seconds off pole. Daniel Lavery was the top Aston Martin in fourth from Luke Shaw’s Ginetta and Jack Collins’ BMW. GT4 Q2: BTCC race winner George Gamble stunned on his debut aboard the Q1-toppling McLaren as he streaked almost seven tenths clear after the initial efforts. Jack Mitchell closed to within 0.206 seconds of the Optimum Motorsport car with four-and-a-half minutes to go, whilst Tom Bradshaw’s Porsche lurked just 0.035 seconds further back in third after posting his effort a minute behind the lead pair. Mitchell’s Toro Verde Ginetta vaulted to the top of the times by 0.267 seconds with 45 seconds left on the clock and was on target to improve further with its follow-up but Mitchell aborted the effort after setting two purple sectors, with the marker good enough to seal pole position for the driver that had ran to the circuit from his home - a distance of 104 miles! Gamble and Bradshaw would line up in second and third, with Will Orton fourth in the Aston Martin shared with Jessica Hawkins. Two four-time British champions would share the third row as quadruple British Touring Car Championship king Colin Turkington headed his British GT equivalent Jonny Adam.
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Round Five, GT3
The opening one-hour race saw polesitter Marc Warren lead a fast-starting Rob Collard into Riches as the front two pulled away at the head of the field. Alex Martin also gained a place at the first corner and made a bid for third around the outside of the Wilson hairpin before Morgan Tillbrook opened the steering of his McLaren to hold the championship leader off. Later in the opening lap, the Lamborghini looped into a spin at the Brundle/Nelson section whilst running abreast with Mark Smith’s Paddock Motorsport McLaren and fell to the back of the GT3 field. Warren was under pressure from Collard throughout the opening exchanges and there was even contact between the pair on lap two as the Lamborghini aimed for the inside at Brundle, which removed a dive plane from Collard’s Huracan. The pair were already three seconds clear of the rest after one lap and the gap would continue to grow due to the big fight taking place for third, involving three McLarens pedalled by Tillbrook, Smith and Orange as well as Andrew Howard’s Aston Martin. Tillbrook and Smith fought among themselves initially before the Optimum McLaren’s defence allowed the next pair to reel them in. Howard lost ground to the squabble with a grassy spin at Hamilton after twenty minutes before further drama occurred later in the same lap among the remaining members of the group. The Paddock Motorsport McLaren of Smith shunted towards the Bombhole when the American was turned across the nose of Tillbrook‘s McLaren just after taking third through Nelson. Orange pounced on the turmoil to snatch third, with Kevin Tse arriving on the tail of Tillbrook but the Mercedes rotated at the Bombhole just one circulation later. The pit window opened for the GT3 cars at the 22-minute mark for ten minutes, with each car spending a minimum of 75 seconds from pit-in to pit-out plus an extra ten, seven and five seconds stationary ‘Compensation Time’ for the top three finishers from the previous race. The leading McLaren and Lamborghini entered and exited the pitlane after 24 minutes still in close proximity, with the Jack Brown-driven Optimum Motorsport car retaining the lead despite a hesitation pulling away to head the Barwell Motorsport machine that now had Hugo Cook at the wheel. Fourth-placed Tillbrook had to remain stationary for an extra five seconds when he handed over to McLaren ’works’ pilot Ben Barnicoat but the Optimum Motorsport car had jumped ahead of Marcus Clutton’s Orange Racing McLaren when it emerged onto the circuit, thanks to the latter McLaren having to take seven seconds of compensation time for finishing runner-up in Belgium. The championship-chasing Barwell Lamborghini of Martin/Jarrod Waberski had tigered through the pack from their opening lap gyration to fifth place once the pitstops had cycled through, despite having to serve the maximum ten-second compensation time at their stop after winning at Spa. The Huracan was initially under pressure from Ben Green’s Mercedes but the 2Seas machine had a wild spin at Coram during the out lap. Ross Gunn aboard the Beechdean Aston Martin thus moved into sixth place and the Silver-Am Ferrari of Australian pair Cameron Campbell and Josh Buchan sat in seventh. The lead McLaren opened a three-second advantage after the stops but Hugo Cook brought the margin down to just 1.438 seconds with five minutes remaining but the Silver-Am McLaren stemmed the tide to win by 1.389 seconds, the current GT4 champions’ maiden overall victory and were also the leading Silver-Am crew plus the third different crew to prevail for Optimum Motorsport this year. Tillbrook/Barnicoat finished third on-the-road behind the Barwell Lamborghini but the McLaren was penalised 30 seconds for the earlier incident with the Paddock Motorsport car at the Bombhole so the similar Orange Racing machine of Orange/Clutton completed the podium, with the second Optimum 720S GT3 only dropping one place to fourth. The second Barwell Lamborghini of Martin/Jarrod Waberski completed a damage limitation exercise in fifth, with the Beechdean Aston Martin surviving its rapid spin at Hamilton to take sixth. Aston Martin factory driver Gunn chased after Waberski for fifth during the last ten minutes but fell 4.082 seconds shy at the flag after the Silver-Am Lamborghini set a personal best laptime in the closing stages. Ben Green chased down the third-placed Silver-Am Rodin Ferrari for seventh but finished 0.762 seconds adrift, having recovered from its second high-speed spin earlier in the stint. Mike Price/Callum McLeod brought their McLaren home ninth, ahead of a late battle for tenth. Charles Clark in the Century Motorsport BMW started by Jonathon Beeson sought to hold off Aaron Walker’s Mercedes that was handed over by Ian Loggie, with the pair running abreast with four minutes to go but the AMG sailed wide at Riches before completing a pass at Murrays for the penultimate time to round out the top ten.
The opening one-hour race saw polesitter Marc Warren lead a fast-starting Rob Collard into Riches as the front two pulled away at the head of the field. Alex Martin also gained a place at the first corner and made a bid for third around the outside of the Wilson hairpin before Morgan Tillbrook opened the steering of his McLaren to hold the championship leader off. Later in the opening lap, the Lamborghini looped into a spin at the Brundle/Nelson section whilst running abreast with Mark Smith’s Paddock Motorsport McLaren and fell to the back of the GT3 field. Warren was under pressure from Collard throughout the opening exchanges and there was even contact between the pair on lap two as the Lamborghini aimed for the inside at Brundle, which removed a dive plane from Collard’s Huracan. The pair were already three seconds clear of the rest after one lap and the gap would continue to grow due to the big fight taking place for third, involving three McLarens pedalled by Tillbrook, Smith and Orange as well as Andrew Howard’s Aston Martin. Tillbrook and Smith fought among themselves initially before the Optimum McLaren’s defence allowed the next pair to reel them in. Howard lost ground to the squabble with a grassy spin at Hamilton after twenty minutes before further drama occurred later in the same lap among the remaining members of the group. The Paddock Motorsport McLaren of Smith shunted towards the Bombhole when the American was turned across the nose of Tillbrook‘s McLaren just after taking third through Nelson. Orange pounced on the turmoil to snatch third, with Kevin Tse arriving on the tail of Tillbrook but the Mercedes rotated at the Bombhole just one circulation later. The pit window opened for the GT3 cars at the 22-minute mark for ten minutes, with each car spending a minimum of 75 seconds from pit-in to pit-out plus an extra ten, seven and five seconds stationary ‘Compensation Time’ for the top three finishers from the previous race. The leading McLaren and Lamborghini entered and exited the pitlane after 24 minutes still in close proximity, with the Jack Brown-driven Optimum Motorsport car retaining the lead despite a hesitation pulling away to head the Barwell Motorsport machine that now had Hugo Cook at the wheel. Fourth-placed Tillbrook had to remain stationary for an extra five seconds when he handed over to McLaren ’works’ pilot Ben Barnicoat but the Optimum Motorsport car had jumped ahead of Marcus Clutton’s Orange Racing McLaren when it emerged onto the circuit, thanks to the latter McLaren having to take seven seconds of compensation time for finishing runner-up in Belgium. The championship-chasing Barwell Lamborghini of Martin/Jarrod Waberski had tigered through the pack from their opening lap gyration to fifth place once the pitstops had cycled through, despite having to serve the maximum ten-second compensation time at their stop after winning at Spa. The Huracan was initially under pressure from Ben Green’s Mercedes but the 2Seas machine had a wild spin at Coram during the out lap. Ross Gunn aboard the Beechdean Aston Martin thus moved into sixth place and the Silver-Am Ferrari of Australian pair Cameron Campbell and Josh Buchan sat in seventh. The lead McLaren opened a three-second advantage after the stops but Hugo Cook brought the margin down to just 1.438 seconds with five minutes remaining but the Silver-Am McLaren stemmed the tide to win by 1.389 seconds, the current GT4 champions’ maiden overall victory and were also the leading Silver-Am crew plus the third different crew to prevail for Optimum Motorsport this year. Tillbrook/Barnicoat finished third on-the-road behind the Barwell Lamborghini but the McLaren was penalised 30 seconds for the earlier incident with the Paddock Motorsport car at the Bombhole so the similar Orange Racing machine of Orange/Clutton completed the podium, with the second Optimum 720S GT3 only dropping one place to fourth. The second Barwell Lamborghini of Martin/Jarrod Waberski completed a damage limitation exercise in fifth, with the Beechdean Aston Martin surviving its rapid spin at Hamilton to take sixth. Aston Martin factory driver Gunn chased after Waberski for fifth during the last ten minutes but fell 4.082 seconds shy at the flag after the Silver-Am Lamborghini set a personal best laptime in the closing stages. Ben Green chased down the third-placed Silver-Am Rodin Ferrari for seventh but finished 0.762 seconds adrift, having recovered from its second high-speed spin earlier in the stint. Mike Price/Callum McLeod brought their McLaren home ninth, ahead of a late battle for tenth. Charles Clark in the Century Motorsport BMW started by Jonathon Beeson sought to hold off Aaron Walker’s Mercedes that was handed over by Ian Loggie, with the pair running abreast with four minutes to go but the AMG sailed wide at Riches before completing a pass at Murrays for the penultimate time to round out the top ten.
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Round Five, GT4
The championship-leading Ginetta in the hands of Hadley Simpson pulled away up to the stops after getting ahead of the polesitting McLaren of Josh Stanton at the first corner, which fell to fifth after snapping sideways. The Ginetta’s advantage was widened by a collision between Revie Lake’s Paddock Motorsport McLaren and Luke Shaw’s Toro Verde Ginetta at the Wilson hairpin contesting third, the latter’s Ginetta clattering into the innocent Artura and the second-placed Aston Martin of Daniel Lavery was lucky to avoid being caught up in it too. A close battle for second raged between two Astons in the hands Lavery and Jessica Hawkins, the polesitting McLaren, Jack Collins’ Century BMW and the Porsche Cayman of Ian Duggan. The Collins-driven BMW held third until Stanton came through at Agostini after ten minutes and the McLaren clawed back into second shortly before the pitstops were able to begin after 28 minutes but the leading Ginetta was close to seven seconds up the road by then and the McLaren had to serve a hefty total compensation time of 22 seconds during its stop, a legacy of finishing second in GT4 at Spa plus winning the silver category. The Innovation Racing Ginetta now in the hands of Thomas Holland emerged from the pits with an even bigger lead from the similar Toro Verde car of Jack Mitchell but the latter would soon have to serve a five-second stop-and-go penalty for its role in the contact with Paddock Motorsport’s McLaren on lap one, moving Will Orton’s Aston into the runner-up position after Jessica Hawkins held fourth during the opening half in the car and brought the car into the pits one lap before the rest of the top five. Tom Bradshaw’s Porsche sat fourth after the stops but its cycle through the pitlane was just half a second shy of the regulation 105 seconds so the Cayman had to serve a one-second stop-and-go penalty and dropped to eighth behind the West Surrey Racing BMW of Ernie Graham/Colin Turkington. The Innovation Racing Ginetta duly secured its second GT4 victory of the season after the blue-riband Silverstone 500 and the runner-up Aston Martin sealed its fourth second place in five races. The Branden Templeton BMW sat another eight seconds back in third but the Century Motorsport M4 ‘Chomp’ had Darren Turner’s Pro-Am Aston Martin Vantage snapping at its heels around one second behind, having slipped back behind the BMW at the stops.
The championship-leading Ginetta in the hands of Hadley Simpson pulled away up to the stops after getting ahead of the polesitting McLaren of Josh Stanton at the first corner, which fell to fifth after snapping sideways. The Ginetta’s advantage was widened by a collision between Revie Lake’s Paddock Motorsport McLaren and Luke Shaw’s Toro Verde Ginetta at the Wilson hairpin contesting third, the latter’s Ginetta clattering into the innocent Artura and the second-placed Aston Martin of Daniel Lavery was lucky to avoid being caught up in it too. A close battle for second raged between two Astons in the hands Lavery and Jessica Hawkins, the polesitting McLaren, Jack Collins’ Century BMW and the Porsche Cayman of Ian Duggan. The Collins-driven BMW held third until Stanton came through at Agostini after ten minutes and the McLaren clawed back into second shortly before the pitstops were able to begin after 28 minutes but the leading Ginetta was close to seven seconds up the road by then and the McLaren had to serve a hefty total compensation time of 22 seconds during its stop, a legacy of finishing second in GT4 at Spa plus winning the silver category. The Innovation Racing Ginetta now in the hands of Thomas Holland emerged from the pits with an even bigger lead from the similar Toro Verde car of Jack Mitchell but the latter would soon have to serve a five-second stop-and-go penalty for its role in the contact with Paddock Motorsport’s McLaren on lap one, moving Will Orton’s Aston into the runner-up position after Jessica Hawkins held fourth during the opening half in the car and brought the car into the pits one lap before the rest of the top five. Tom Bradshaw’s Porsche sat fourth after the stops but its cycle through the pitlane was just half a second shy of the regulation 105 seconds so the Cayman had to serve a one-second stop-and-go penalty and dropped to eighth behind the West Surrey Racing BMW of Ernie Graham/Colin Turkington. The Innovation Racing Ginetta duly secured its second GT4 victory of the season after the blue-riband Silverstone 500 and the runner-up Aston Martin sealed its fourth second place in five races. The Branden Templeton BMW sat another eight seconds back in third but the Century Motorsport M4 ‘Chomp’ had Darren Turner’s Pro-Am Aston Martin Vantage snapping at its heels around one second behind, having slipped back behind the BMW at the stops.
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Round Six, GT3
Ross Gunn led away from pole as Beechdean Motorsport sought to secure their first overall GT3 victory in 11 years, with McLarens running in second and third but it was Ben Barnicoat leading Marcus Clutton after the Optimum Motorsport car leapt ahead of the Orange Racing by JMH example at the rolling start. Ben Green’s 2Seas Mercedes and the Rodin Ferrari in the hands of Josh Buchan made up the top five, The Barwell pair were line astern in 10th and 11th, with Race One winner Jack Brown the last runner in GT3 after running into the dirt at the Bombhole on lap one. Gunn opened up a lead of over one-and-a-half seconds before the lappery started on lap ten and Barnicoat arrived on the tail of the Aston Martin for the lead once they were through the GT4 field, The pitlane opened for the GT3 field after 22 minutes, with Dean McDonald, Callum McLeod and Aaron Walker the first to pit after 29 minutes as the Pro drivers left it as close to the end of the regulated 32 minutes to make their handovers. Everyone else peeled off next time around, with just under half of the race to run. Barnicoat filled the mirrors of the leading Aston Martin as the McLaren arrived right behind Gunn into the lane, the McLaren’s bid for victory helped by not accruing any compensation time with their earlier penalty. The order remained the same when they drove out with Andrew Howard and Morgan Tillbrook now installed, as Kevin Tse jumped up to third in the 2Seas Mercedes started by Ben Green In a dramatic twist, Howard looped the Vantage into a spin the first time he turned into the Wilson hairpin and lost the lead to Tillbrook. The Optimum McLaren was gifted a four-second lead as Howard recovered from his moment. Tse fell out of third with a spin of his own at the Wilson hairpin with 18 minutes remaining whilst under pressure from Simon Orange, which promoted the Sale Sharks Rugby Union team owner into the spot. The Beechdean Aston Martin hadn’t given up on victory after its lapse, with the third-placed Orange lapping quickly too, and the top three closed right up heading into the closing ten minutes as just 1.504 seconds covered them. Tillbrook showed no sign of wilting under the strain and it was Howard who sailed off at Coram with two minutes remaining to gift second to the Orange McLaren. Tillbrook crossed the line a couple of minutes later to record Optimum Motorsport’s second victory of the day as McLarens sealed the top two placings just 0.756 seconds apart. The triumphant Barnicoat/Tillbrook pair moved into the GT3 championship lead after taking their second victory of the year, the first combination to do so. The chastened Howard took the flag 6.903 seconds back in third, with Howard announcing during the week after the meeting that he would be retiring from full-time racing at the end of the current campaign. The Barwell Lamborghini of Rob Collard rejoined in 11th after sitting for an extra seven seconds during its stop due to finishing second earlier but charged forward inside the closing quarter of an hour. Collard had passed stablemate Martin with 20 minutes left and gained one more place when Tse spun the Mercedes before the Paddock Motorsport McLaren retired from seventh two minutes later with gearbox failure. The Lamborghini then passed the Century Motorsport BMW for sixth at Palmer with twelve-and-a-half minutes to run. The Huracan made its move on Steven Lake’s McLaren for fifth a couple of minutes later and Collard’s charge into fourth was complete when he dived inside the Rodin Ferrari at the Wilson hairpin with seven minutes left. The Ferrari driven by Cameron Campbell fell into the clutches of Lake, the Century BMW of Charles Clark and the title race-leading Lamborghini of Alex Martin, with Martin not able to force his way through the pack with the alacrity of his Barwell teammate Collard. One car was lost behind the Silver-Am winning Ferrari in fifth on the final lap as Martin knocked Lake’s McLaren into a spin at Agostini and Clark’s BMW bounced across the grass in avoidance, with Martin sixth past the flag before a difficult weekend for the Martin/Waberski pairing was finished off when they were penalised 30 seconds for causing the last-lap collision and dropped three places to ninth. The Beeson/Clark Century Motorsport BMW was classified sixth as a result from the Green/Tse Mercedes and the Round Five-winning McLaren of Jack Brown/Marc Warren in eighth. The second 2Seas Mercedes of Aaron Walker/Ian Loggie completed the top ten finishers.
Ross Gunn led away from pole as Beechdean Motorsport sought to secure their first overall GT3 victory in 11 years, with McLarens running in second and third but it was Ben Barnicoat leading Marcus Clutton after the Optimum Motorsport car leapt ahead of the Orange Racing by JMH example at the rolling start. Ben Green’s 2Seas Mercedes and the Rodin Ferrari in the hands of Josh Buchan made up the top five, The Barwell pair were line astern in 10th and 11th, with Race One winner Jack Brown the last runner in GT3 after running into the dirt at the Bombhole on lap one. Gunn opened up a lead of over one-and-a-half seconds before the lappery started on lap ten and Barnicoat arrived on the tail of the Aston Martin for the lead once they were through the GT4 field, The pitlane opened for the GT3 field after 22 minutes, with Dean McDonald, Callum McLeod and Aaron Walker the first to pit after 29 minutes as the Pro drivers left it as close to the end of the regulated 32 minutes to make their handovers. Everyone else peeled off next time around, with just under half of the race to run. Barnicoat filled the mirrors of the leading Aston Martin as the McLaren arrived right behind Gunn into the lane, the McLaren’s bid for victory helped by not accruing any compensation time with their earlier penalty. The order remained the same when they drove out with Andrew Howard and Morgan Tillbrook now installed, as Kevin Tse jumped up to third in the 2Seas Mercedes started by Ben Green In a dramatic twist, Howard looped the Vantage into a spin the first time he turned into the Wilson hairpin and lost the lead to Tillbrook. The Optimum McLaren was gifted a four-second lead as Howard recovered from his moment. Tse fell out of third with a spin of his own at the Wilson hairpin with 18 minutes remaining whilst under pressure from Simon Orange, which promoted the Sale Sharks Rugby Union team owner into the spot. The Beechdean Aston Martin hadn’t given up on victory after its lapse, with the third-placed Orange lapping quickly too, and the top three closed right up heading into the closing ten minutes as just 1.504 seconds covered them. Tillbrook showed no sign of wilting under the strain and it was Howard who sailed off at Coram with two minutes remaining to gift second to the Orange McLaren. Tillbrook crossed the line a couple of minutes later to record Optimum Motorsport’s second victory of the day as McLarens sealed the top two placings just 0.756 seconds apart. The triumphant Barnicoat/Tillbrook pair moved into the GT3 championship lead after taking their second victory of the year, the first combination to do so. The chastened Howard took the flag 6.903 seconds back in third, with Howard announcing during the week after the meeting that he would be retiring from full-time racing at the end of the current campaign. The Barwell Lamborghini of Rob Collard rejoined in 11th after sitting for an extra seven seconds during its stop due to finishing second earlier but charged forward inside the closing quarter of an hour. Collard had passed stablemate Martin with 20 minutes left and gained one more place when Tse spun the Mercedes before the Paddock Motorsport McLaren retired from seventh two minutes later with gearbox failure. The Lamborghini then passed the Century Motorsport BMW for sixth at Palmer with twelve-and-a-half minutes to run. The Huracan made its move on Steven Lake’s McLaren for fifth a couple of minutes later and Collard’s charge into fourth was complete when he dived inside the Rodin Ferrari at the Wilson hairpin with seven minutes left. The Ferrari driven by Cameron Campbell fell into the clutches of Lake, the Century BMW of Charles Clark and the title race-leading Lamborghini of Alex Martin, with Martin not able to force his way through the pack with the alacrity of his Barwell teammate Collard. One car was lost behind the Silver-Am winning Ferrari in fifth on the final lap as Martin knocked Lake’s McLaren into a spin at Agostini and Clark’s BMW bounced across the grass in avoidance, with Martin sixth past the flag before a difficult weekend for the Martin/Waberski pairing was finished off when they were penalised 30 seconds for causing the last-lap collision and dropped three places to ninth. The Beeson/Clark Century Motorsport BMW was classified sixth as a result from the Green/Tse Mercedes and the Round Five-winning McLaren of Jack Brown/Marc Warren in eighth. The second 2Seas Mercedes of Aaron Walker/Ian Loggie completed the top ten finishers.
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Round Six, GT4
There was drama among the GT4 set before the race even got underway when the polesitting Toro Verde Ginetta remained in its garage after suspected fuel pump troubles, so the Optimum Motorsport McLaren of George Gamble sat alone on the front row. However, the Porsche Cayman of Tom Bradshaw took the early lead from the Artura, with Jonny Adam’s Aston Martin getting ahead of Will Orton’s similar car for third. Colin Turkington and Darren Turner filled out the top six as the whole division ran in one long line but Blake Angliss‘ Paddock Motorsport McLaren was an early pit visitor on lap two with a tyre off the rim. Gamble claimed the lead from Bradshaw into the Wilson hairpin after nine minutes and drew away up to the stops, which began after 28 minutes. Like the GT3 field, the GT4 guns left their stops to the last moment and the majority peeled off after 36 minutes, with the exception of the Turner/Lavery Aston and Templeton/Collins BMW. The stops shuffled the order in the category but wouldn’t dampen a great day for Optimum Motorsport as they completed a GT3 and GT4 double in Round Six with a crushing win by half-a-minute, its first taste of GT4 glory this season. Ian Duggan’s Porsche had emerged from the pits still in second place behind Josh Stanton in the leading McLaren and ahead of Jonny Adam’s replacement John Hartshorne in their Aston Martin but the similar Turner/Lavery car was chasing them down, having got ahead of the Will Orton/Jessica Hawkins Aston Martin and the Colin Turkington/Ernie Graham BMW during the stops. The Bronze-graded Lavery was soon ahead of the GBR Vantage and beat the Cayman to the runner-up spot, along with Pro-Am glory, after the Aston Martin took advantage when the Toro Verde car was lapped by the Round Five-winning GT3 McLaren to nip up the inside towards Hamilton and grab the position with ten minutes left. Orton/Hawkins were fifth behind the Collins/Templeton Century Motorsport BMW after having to serve 17 seconds of compensation time but the third-placed Silver pair now top the GT4 standings leaving Norfolk. Earlier winner and erstwhile championship leader Holland/Simpson Ginetta retired after quarter of an hour with an apparent engine issue.
There was drama among the GT4 set before the race even got underway when the polesitting Toro Verde Ginetta remained in its garage after suspected fuel pump troubles, so the Optimum Motorsport McLaren of George Gamble sat alone on the front row. However, the Porsche Cayman of Tom Bradshaw took the early lead from the Artura, with Jonny Adam’s Aston Martin getting ahead of Will Orton’s similar car for third. Colin Turkington and Darren Turner filled out the top six as the whole division ran in one long line but Blake Angliss‘ Paddock Motorsport McLaren was an early pit visitor on lap two with a tyre off the rim. Gamble claimed the lead from Bradshaw into the Wilson hairpin after nine minutes and drew away up to the stops, which began after 28 minutes. Like the GT3 field, the GT4 guns left their stops to the last moment and the majority peeled off after 36 minutes, with the exception of the Turner/Lavery Aston and Templeton/Collins BMW. The stops shuffled the order in the category but wouldn’t dampen a great day for Optimum Motorsport as they completed a GT3 and GT4 double in Round Six with a crushing win by half-a-minute, its first taste of GT4 glory this season. Ian Duggan’s Porsche had emerged from the pits still in second place behind Josh Stanton in the leading McLaren and ahead of Jonny Adam’s replacement John Hartshorne in their Aston Martin but the similar Turner/Lavery car was chasing them down, having got ahead of the Will Orton/Jessica Hawkins Aston Martin and the Colin Turkington/Ernie Graham BMW during the stops. The Bronze-graded Lavery was soon ahead of the GBR Vantage and beat the Cayman to the runner-up spot, along with Pro-Am glory, after the Aston Martin took advantage when the Toro Verde car was lapped by the Round Five-winning GT3 McLaren to nip up the inside towards Hamilton and grab the position with ten minutes left. Orton/Hawkins were fifth behind the Collins/Templeton Century Motorsport BMW after having to serve 17 seconds of compensation time but the third-placed Silver pair now top the GT4 standings leaving Norfolk. Earlier winner and erstwhile championship leader Holland/Simpson Ginetta retired after quarter of an hour with an apparent engine issue.
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Optimum Motorsport's Morgan Tillbrook and Ben Barnicoat replaced the Barwell Motorsport pairing of Alex Martin and Jarrod Waberski at the top of the GT3 table after Round Six and led the Lamborghini crew by 13.5 points leaving Norfolk, with the Orange Racing by JMH entry driven by Simon Orange and Marcus Clutton just another three points back in third. It was all change in GT4 too as Will Orton and Jessica Hawkins became the new overall championship leaders but took away a slim one-and-a-half point lead departing Snetterton, with former table toppers Thomas Holland and Hadley Simpson leading the chase from Jack Collins and Branden Templeton.
Donington Park awaits next for the British GT Championship, with Round Seven and Eight taking place on the 5th and 6th of September.
Donington Park awaits next for the British GT Championship, with Round Seven and Eight taking place on the 5th and 6th of September.