Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen drove a flawless race on Sunday evening to make it two British GT wins out of two at Snetterton for the #33 Demon Tweeks-backed, Barwell-run Lamborghini Huracan. The result ensures they take the championship points lead into the final two-hour round at Donington.
Keen had held his pole position at the start in the #33 Barwell Lamborghini, but was hotly pursued by Jonny Adam in the #17 TF Aston Martin, Alexander Sims in the #6 Barwell Lamborghini and Joe Osborne in the #7 AmD BMW for much of the opening stint, with the four cars covered by little over four seconds by lap 10. Further back, behind fifth-place Jon Barnes in the other TF Aston, Team Parker Bentley’s Seb Morris overhauled Mike Simpson’s Ginetta for sixth.
There was further disappointment for the Ecurie Ecosse McLaren, however, with Rob Bell forced to retire on lap four due to a wheel-hub problem resulting from the car’s Race 1 incident – making it two DNFs out of two for the Black Bull-backed squad. Also retiring a little later on was Jody Fannin in the PFL Motorsport Aston Martin – the culprit in this case being a clutch sensor.
Racing at the front remained fast and close but static for most of the opening stint, while further down the top 10 Ross Wylie managed to get #8 Motorbase Aston Martin past Matt Manderson in the #26 Ultimate Speed-run Vantage.
The leader Keen, fifth-place Barnes and sixth-place Morris faced 10, seven and five-second pit penalties respectively on foot of their race-one results and Morris was the first of the front-runners to visit the pits. Osborne, meanwhile, lost a place to Barnes the lap before they made their respective stops.
A pitstop delay for Adam’s #17 Aston due to a tangled shoulder strap during the driver change saw Derek Johnston rejoin the race in third. Ahead of him, Minshaw and Mowle in the #33 Lamborghini and #7 BMW were first and second, three seconds apart.
Mark Farmer emerged fourth in the car started by Barnes, with Rick Parfitt Jr in fifth in the Team Parker Bentley and Ian Stinton in the #32 Tolman Ginetta sixth. Behind seventh-placed Phil Dryburgh in the Motorbase Aston, Liam Griffin pulled the #6 Lamborghini into the pits for an unscheduled second stop that resulted in retirement: a broken wishbone and steering having been suffered during contact with Mowle’s BMW.
That contact could yet prove significant for the final podium position, as the #7 BMW would be investigated for it by the stewards after the race. As it was, Johnston passed Mowle on track to take second on the penultimate lap and would cross the line just over five seconds behind Minshaw.
Behind third-place Mowle, the order at the flag was Farmer, Parfitt, Stinton and Dryburgh from fourth to seventh, with all other GT3 runners except the #26 Ultimate Speed Aston (21st overall) having retired.
