It was three abreast across the line at the start of the first of Snetterton’s two one-hour sprints: Graham Johnson’s #50 PMW Expo Ginetta, Jack Mitchell’s #42 Generation MacMillan Aston Martin and the #51 pole-sitting Lanan Racing Ginetta staring each other out on the run down to Turn 1 at Riches, the #59 Ecurie Ecosse McLaren having getting its nose into the fray, too.
It was Jack Mitchell’s bold move around the outside that took the advantage though. The others all made it through cleanly, Johnson’s Ginetta ahead of Reed’s, but Sandy Mitchell’s #59 Ecurie Ecosse McLaren had been squeezed back in the opening scuffle.
By the end of the first lap this order had changed though. The #42 Aston of Jack Mitchell still led, but was now trailed by the #407 Beechdean Aston Martin of Jack Bartholomew. Reed and Johnson’s Ginettas were tucked in behind. Mitchell’s McLaren had dropped to sixth, behind Marcus Hoggarth’s Ebor GT Maserati, which had jumped through in the opening skirmish.
Alex Reed was right on the tail of Bartholomew, Mitchell’s McLaren steadily gathering itself to take back places and settle into fourth. Championship leader Graham Johnson was staying out of trouble in fifth as Will Phillips, who had also taken advantage of a stumble by the #60 Maserati, now sat sixth in the #45 RCIB Ginetta.
Having looked a strong contender all season, Jack Mitchell’s #42 Generation AMR Aston Martin seemed more than comfortable in the lead, extending its gap over Reed’s Ginetta to nearly four seconds by the end of lap 10.
Sandy Mitchell meanwhile had moved the #59 Black Bull Ecurie Ecosse McLaren 570S past the Beechdean Aston into third. This leading group held a gap of nearly nine seconds over Graham Johnson’s #50 PMW World Expo Ginetta, who seemed quite happy to sit tight and stay out of trouble, a seven-second pit penalty awaiting him at the imminent stops.
Jack Bartholomew was the first to pit with a cluster of mid-pack Ginettas; of the remainder, Johnson and Reed left it a couple of laps later, the leading pair of Mitchells the later callers. Of these the beneficiary was the McLaren, which got back out quickest to lead Matty Graham, now aboard the #42 Generation MacMillan Racing Aston Martin with Ross Gunn’s Beechdean Aston closing in third.
Alex Reed had made the best of clear air in delaying his call, but their 10-second penalty from the Spa win would drop the Lanan Ginetta to fourth, now in the hands of Joey Foster and nine seconds back from the leading trio.
The championship-leading PMW World Expo/Optimum Racing Ginetta, Mike Robinson now installed, resumed sixth and quickly got stuck in to Jordan Stilp’s #45 RCIB Ginetta, taking the fifth position and starting to edge towards the Lanan Ginetta.
The race at the front was starting to develop again. Ross Gunn had got the better of Matty Graham to take second, though this was achieved by tipping the #42 car into a spin at the Wilson hairpin; the move under investigation.
Gunn had sufficient pace and time remaining to think about Ciaran Haggerty, who was only six seconds down the road ahead with 16 minutes to run. The 2015 GT4 champion dialled in his experience, catching the McLaren at least half a second a lap. Graham’s #42 Aston though was being warned for exceeding track limits, no doubt trying to make up lost time and sensing a potential second place should any subsequent protest stick.
Graham’s gap over Foster in fourth was seven seconds, his gap to Robinson in fifth similar, these following positions fairly static. Gunn pressed on hard, the McLaren’s lead down to less than half a second over the #407 Aston Martin with a lap to go, this nose to tail as Haggerty fought aggressively to keep his lead in the final minute.
Ciaran Haggerty just held on at the flag by 0.360s to take the McLaren’s first and well-deserved GT4 win, the stewards’ enquiry for his earlier incident upholding Gunn’s second position, meaning the #42 Generation MacMillan Racing Aston Martin retained its third place.
Sandy Mitchell: “It’s amazing to finally get the win we’ve worked so hard for as a team. I got a really bad start; it was looking good over the line but the Aston came around the outside at turn 1 and I got kind of wedged in and dropped down to sixth. But the car felt really good and I was able to stick at it and made some good overtaking moves to get back up towards the front. We got the jump on them during the pit stops and Ciaran did a great job under pressure from Ross, who was closing in at an incredible rate. He hung on well, right down to the line. We feel like we’re on top of the car now and definitely as long as there are no failures we expect to be able to win more races.”
Jack Mitchell: “The Aston has felt good all weekend and we’re gaining confidence as a pairing. I got the jump on the field around the outside at the start, after which I just tried to keep to our system and keep it between the white lines. I soon had the gap up to 5 seconds and managed to back off a bit to ensure we had a strong car at the driver change. Matty did a great job to stay in touch with the leader but we came under pressure from the other Aston, who tagged us into a spin at the first hairpin.”
