The #4 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes AMG GT3 of James Cottingham and Jonny Adam held on to win a thrilling hour-long British GT season opener at Oulton Park.
The encounter was held in mixed conditions on a drying track after heavy rain in the morning, prompting many teams to gamble and opt for slick tyres at the start. It made for a topsy-turvy, entertaining race that reached a crescendo in the final few laps when the top four in GT3 were all fighting for the lead, through traffic with the rain coming down once more.
In the end, it was Jonny Adam on his 100th British GT start, that would hold on from the win, which notably secured Cottingham’s first in the championship. The Scot, who inherited the lead after Cottingham controlled proceedings in the opening stint of the race from pole position, was put under intense pressure towards the end of the race but defended well, crossing the line just four-tenths ahead of the Beechdean Aston Martin that took second.
“That was probably the hardest win of them all,” said a jubilant Adam after the race. “With the weather changing.”
Ross Gunn in the aforementioned Beechdean Aston came so close to making it a perfect start to the season for himself and teammate Andrew Howard, who drove superbly on the greasy track before the round of stops against the other gentlemen drivers.
Gunn came alive when on slicks in the rain and had a run on Adam going into Lodge on the final lap. Though both drivers ran wide and almost off the track and tip-toed to the line single-file with the Enduro Motorsport McLaren and second (#1) 2 Seas Mercedes close behind battling for the final podium place.
This occurred after Gunn slipped to third briefly moments before making a run for the lead, as Marcus Clutton in the #77 720S GT3 pulled off a daring move at Lodge to get past the Aston with just minutes remaining. But he would soon drop back again after Gunn dived up the inside at Turn 1 on the final lap of the race and set his sights on Adam.
This left Clutton to fend off a hard-charging Jules Gounon in the D2-liveried #1 Mercedes which lost time after the Frenchman baulked the late-race restart following a dramatic off for Richard Neary into the gravel at Lodge. Neary’s ABBA Mercedes ended up beached in the gravel after an error sent him sliding across the grass, almost into the path of Raffaele Marciello’s #15 Ram Racing Mercedes that came home fifth.
Gounon was all over Clutton by the end but couldn’t sneak past and take a podium spot.
Sixth behind the #15 Ram Racing AMG GT3 was the Century BMW M4, which looked on course for a podium before a drive-through was handed to the team for overtaking under safety car. Dan Harper, who looked rapid in his stint, dropped from third to sixth as a result of the penalty.
In GT4, Academy Motorsport stormed to a 1-2 finish with its pair of Mustang GT4s. Both cars started from the pit lane and opted for slicks, but were leading the class after just six laps, both cars running in formation through the field. The gamble well and truly paid off.
Will Moore and Matt Nicoll-Jones’ #62 example took the victory, leading home the #61 sister car. The #55 Raceway Motorsport Ginetta of Michael Crees and Thomas Holland won GT4 Pro-Am and took third on the final lap. Crees made excellent progress on slicks during the tricky early stages, which also laid the foundations for his team’s Pro-Am victory.
Carl Cavers and Lewis Plato’s Century BMW M4 was fourth overall ahead of the sister car shared by Michael Johnston and Chris Salkeld.
The Paddock Motorsport McLaren Artura of Kavi Jundu and Tom Rawlings finished seventh on the road but was promoted to sixth in the final classification at Optimum’s expense. It could have been far higher, though: Jundu started on slicks and ran second by the pit window, but the car missed the green pit exit light by just three seconds.
“Starting from the pit lane, to be leading after six laps, it was good fun out there to say the least,” race winner Moore said after the race.
Race 2 is set to get underway at 15:50 local time.
Image courtesy of British GT/JEP
