The WPI Motorsport Lamborghini of Michael Igoe and Phil Keen ran out as convincing winners of the 2-hour opening round of the 2021 Intelligent Money British GT Championship around the Brands Hatch GP circuit, Igoe’s second win in the Championship. and a record-extending 18th for Keen.
Whilst weather threatened to play a part with ominous skies, the decision by all runners to start the race on slick Pirellis proved to be the right call, the track drying rapidly after earlier rain.
The tricky conditions had already led to race Control deciding on a pair of Green Flag laps but sadly that wasn’t enough to fend off all of the trouble, debutant team Enduro Motorsport out before the green flags flew after Morgan Tillbrook lost the rear end of the car at Westfield, the #77 McLaren 720S GT3 into the barriers and out of the race.
In GT4 there was another McLaren in trouble before the start too, the #3 Jenson team Rocket RJN 570S GT4 had an overnight engine change but Alain Valente found electrical trouble in the warm-up that would see them not able to start the race!
So it was 24 cars for the start when the race went green after seven minutes behind the Safety Car
There was GT action aplenty right from the off, Richard Neary battling Adam Balon for fifth and finding a way by, the #8 AMG passing the #1 Barwell Lamborghini.
James Cottingham meanwhile was having a spirited start to his British GT career, the accomplished Historic racer pulling away from RAM Racing AMG team-mate Ian Loggie and putting further pressure on Balon ahead.
Ahead there were. pair of two-car battles as Kelvin Fletcher was looking for a way by Leo Machitski for third, JRM Bentley on Barwell Huracan, and Michael Igoe was battling Howard for the lead – after a spirited defence from the Beechdean Aston man the move was made, into Druids with Igoe pulling away rapidly.
All too soon though the race hit the pause button, the Safety Car scrambled for the recovery of the #15 Toyota Supra GT4 of John Ferguson who had been pitched deep into the gravel after side to side contact from the #9 Century BW M4 GT4 of Chris Salkeld.
After assistance, the Supra would get back to its garage but was soon retired with a damaged lower control arm.
The race would return to green flag running after just under 10 minutes under the Safety Car with Machitski immediately challenging Howard for 2nd and with Kelvin Fletcher harrying both and Richard Neary looking for a way by the Bentley.
Cottingham meanwhile moved by Balon for 6th as the field settled, then an error from the RAM AMG man saw him lose the place again with Neary finding a way by Fletcher soon afterwards.
Cottingham’s run came to an end with an ambitious move up the inside of baton into Paddock Hill Bend, the pair touched and half spin, both ending up facing oncoming traffic in the gravel. The third Safety Car scramble was inevitable, it would be race over for the #69 Mercedes and a delay for the #1 Barwell Lamborghini that would leave them to climb back through the GT4 order to twelfth position just before the checkered flag.
After another ten minutes behind the Safety Car the field compressed once again, and again as the race went back to green flag running there was action with Howard ceding second to Machitski, Igoe making a clean getaway upfront, Neary looking to get by Howard too but running wide at Paddock Hill Bend as he did so, pushing again but running off the circuit in his attempt and allowing Fletcher’s JRM Bentley to get by the Abba AMG instead, Neary’s pace was falling off rapidly and Ian Loggie would get by too in his #6 RAM AMG before the pit window.
A drive-through for the Bentley man though, for overtaking before the line as the Safety Car was withdrawn, would drop the #11 to the back of the GT3 pack just as the pit window opened. He’d pit for the driver change the very next lap together with the majority of the GT3 field.
The pit stop cycle saw some significant position changes as the Pro drivers climbed aboard.
Keen would be away and clear, and would run untroubled to the win but the Beechdean crew would put Jonny Adam out in second place, ahead of the #6 AMG with Yelmer Buurmann now at the wheel, both cars having leapfrogged the #63 Barwell Lamborghini which lost several seconds at the stop, Dennis Lind now at the wheel with Sam Neary out and running hard in the Abba AMG in fifth.
Lind would be the man on the move in the second half of the race, passing Buurmann in traffic for third after a spirited defence, the RAM AMG then coming under pressure for the rest of the race from Sam Neary, the run would claim the GT3 Silver Am win for the father and son team.
The Dane would then set about closing the near 10-second gap to Jonny Adam, but the Scot drove a conservative stint immaculately, with Keen out of reach he was left to manage tyres, traffic and a rampant Lamborghini man behind, the pair crossing the line tenths apart to complete the podium.
There were dramas further back though, Martin Plowman making identical errors on successive laps in the Bentley running through the gravel on both occasions but retaining seventh behind the debuting Team Parker racing #66 Porsche that had a quiet race in the hands of Nick Jones and Scott Malvern.
8th would be the father and son combination of Stewart and Lewis Proctor in their #5 Balfe Motorsport McLaren, Proctor Jr picking up two places late in the race after a clash between the G-Cat Porsche of Greg Caton, who spun off following a tap to the rear from the #24 Simon Green Motorsport Lamborghini of Ross Wylie, the incident coming soon after the Porsche had passed the Huracan at Druids courtesy of a not dissimilar tap to the rear of the Lamborghini from the 911!
The #33 GT3 R would rejoin to complete the top ten.
GT4
Last gasp drama snatched a seemingly sure-fire debut win from the Assetto Motorsport team on their Championship debut with the world competition debut of the new Ginetta G56 GT4.
The Ginetta was always in the mix, and led the GT4 Pro-AM pack early on, a significant factor with a near 30-second difference in pitstop minimum time to factor in between the Pro-Am and Silver sub-classes.
The first half of the race though saw the GT4 pack led by Will Burns in the #57 Century BMW M4 GT4 ahead of Will Moore in the Academy Motorsport Ford Mustang GT4, the Ford’s hopes though were dashed after a double brush with Stewart Proctor’s GT3 McLaren saw the Ford pit and retire.
Behind the leading BMW was a pack led by Richard Williams in the Steller Audi, ahead of James Kell in the #2 Jenson Team Rocket RJN McLaren, Mark Sansom in the Ginetta and Chris Salkeld in the #9 Pro-Am century BMW.
The Cicely AMG GT4’s run was spoiled by a puncture deep into the stint of David Whitmore, just minutes outside the pit window.
And it would be another pit drama that would count the Steller Audi out of the reckoning for the podium, the team dealt a 10 second stop and go for an unsafe release as Williams handed over the #41 R8 LMS GT4 to Sennan Fielding.
A clean run from Sansom though would see Charlie Robertson out an with a 20 second lead deep into the final hour of the race, just as it looked set to be a dream debut for the team and the car though a left rear puncture saw the Ginetta back onto pit lane, the G56 emerging just ahead of the Audi, the pair would finish fourth and fifth, the Audi completing the Silver Cup podium, the Ginetta second in Pro-Am.
Ahead the Ginetta’s nightmare in the closing minutes would see both Century BMWs take their respective class wins, and take an overall class one-two for the team, Gus Burton having won a second stint battle with Andrew Gordon-Colebrooke to bring home the #57 ahead of the #9.
The GT4 podium would be completed by the #2 McLaren with Jordan Collard bringing the car home.
6th in class and third in GT4 Pro-Am would be the #40 Fox Motorsport McLaren of Jamie Stanley and Nick Halstead.
Pics copyright Jakob Ebrey
