UPDATE: The #7 Beechdean Aston Martin has dropped from P5 to P11 due to a 20-second post-race time penalty, issued for Gunn overtaking Brown (#90 Optimum McLaren) just as they deployed the final FCY.
The #3 Optimum McLaren was also disqualified after it overboosted during the race.
Jarrod Waberski and Alex Martin were victorious in Barwell Motorsport’s #78 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 after a caution-ridden and action-packed British GT round at Spa-Francorchamps.
Waberski became British GT’s first outright South African race winner, winning a 2-hour mixed-grid race interrupted by three Safety Car periods triggered by FFSA GT competitors.
It marks Barwell’s 30th win with Lamborghini, and the second time in the 2026 season that a GT3 Silver-Am entry has won outright since the #3 Optimum McLaren GT3 Evo guest drivers Yasser Shahin and Garnett Patterson at the Silverstone 500 season-opener.
Martin took the lead from second, beating the #67 Orange Racing by JMH McLaren of Simon Orange on the run down to Eau Rouge-Raidillon. He maintained track position, building lead gaps that were cut short by interruptions, with at least 25 per cent of the race completed under caution.
Waberski, the FIA Silver-graded hotshot, controlled the race lead in the second half of the race, sustaining pressure from rivals behind and keeping out of harm’s way on lively multi-class British and French GT4 fields, plus the FFSA’s Alpine A110 Cup and Ginetta Cup cars.
“It was a really tricky stint, but to be honest, the car was mega,” the 20-year-old told the broadcast after the race.
“From the start, managing the safety cars and just drove away.
“Honestly, the car was so good, managing the tyres the whole way.
“I lost my voice screaming (in celebration) already, but it’s all thanks to the team, thanks to Alex and what a place to do it on Father’s Day as well to my dad. This is his present!
“And to all the sponsors that came here and watched, mega to have them here and to get my first British GT win with them.”
The FFSA GT grid shared the track with GT3s for the first time, upping the total car count to 54 across five different categories, including British and French GT4 separately.
Orange Racing by JMH’s #67 McLaren duo of Orange and Marcus Clutton claimed second, unable to take the fight to Martin/Waberski, but succeeding at holding off pressure from behind — particularly Clutton against Ben Barnicoat.
Optimum Motorsport’s #77 McLaren pairing of Morgan Tillbrook and Barnicoat carried out a notable comeback since Tillbrook forfeited his second-place grid slot when he pitted at the end of the formation lap, suspecting an issue with the tyres.
The first FCY, 18 minutes in, allowed the #77 McLaren to join the rear of the British GT3 field as Tillbrook did his part to cut through the rear-to-midfield of GT3 cars.
During Barnicoat’s stint, the #77 McLaren made sublime progress.
The Derbyshire-based Briton cut through the order from ninth all the way to third during the final 24-minute sprint to the finish, passing Martin Plowman’s #9 Paddock Motorsport McLaren on the exit of Les Combes, before taking sixth from Century Motorsport’s #44 BMW M4 GT3 Evo, Charles Clark.
Eager still, Barnicoat hunted down the #18 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Ben Green for fifth, which he took after a controlled dive at Bruxelles.
Fourth-placed Aston Martin factory driver Ross Gunn in the #7 Beechdean Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo put up even more of a fight with just four minutes remaining.
Both caught #63 Barwell Lamborghini driver Hugo Cook, patient in FFSA GT traffic.
With 30 seconds remaining on the clock, Barnicoat wrestled past Gunn into La Source before pouncing on Cook for third with a brave move on the Kemmel Straight.
Cook and his teammate, Rob Collard, showcased promising form and beat the #7 Beechean AMR of Andrew Howard and Gunn to fourth place.
Starting from the back, the #18 2 Seas Mercedes driven by Kevin Tse and Green finished sixth after a clean and strong race, chasing down the front-runners.
Second in the GT3 Silver-Am order, seventh overall, were the #44 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 Evo pairing of Jonathon Beeson and Clark.
Reigning GT3 Silver-Am champion Tom Wood was eighth for the #69 Orange Racing by JMH McLaren shared with Steven Lake, rounding out the Silver-Am podium.
The #3 Optimum McLaren overheated on the starting grid due to an insufficiently charged alternator. After being towed off the grid during the formation lap, it finished ninth, driven by Mike Price and Callum MacLeod.
Paddock Motorsport’s #9 McLaren of Mark Smith and Plowman finished 10th ahead of the #15 2 Seas Mercedes, in which both Ian Loggie and Aaron Walker dealt with pace woes.
The #13 Rodin Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo incurred a 10-second time penalty for track limit violations but got involved in key battles with Australians Cameron Campbell and Joshua Buchan.
They finished in 12th, ahead of the #90 Optimum McLaren driven by Marc Warren and Jack Brown.
Warren was eager during the opening laps, tasked with keeping Collard behind him. However, Brown later faced an issue that affected their chances of achieving a strong result.
Grange Racing by FSR’s Lavery & Turner deliver again in GT4
Grange Racing’s #27 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo pairing of Daniel Lavery and Darren Turner delivered a second consecutive British GT4 win.
The new team added another victory despite a three-place grid drop for Lavery for not pitting after the red flag in FP2, thus starting 10th.
Lavery pushed his way up to third position during the early part of the race, challenging Josh Stanton’s pole-sitting #59 Optimum McLaren Artura GT4 and the #74 Innovation Racing Ginetta G56 GT4 Evo of Thomas Holland.
With Holland focused on overtaking Stanton ahead, this allowed Lavery to watch the battle from behind.
Holland eventually took the lead with the inside line into the Bus Stop chicane with him and Stanton amid FFSA GT(4) traffic. With compensation time, however, Innovation Racing could not retain the lead after their pit stop.
Lavery incurred a 10-second time penalty for overtaking under safety-car procedures, but in the same way Lavery earned his team’s maiden win at Oulton Park, experienced Aston Martin factory driver Darren Turner excelled during his stint.
Three different British manufacturers, McLaren, Aston Martin and Ginetta (Toro Verde), fought for the top places in the charge to the finish.
Mikey Porter continued to impress in his first race with the Artura, although much more familiar in McLaren’s GT3 racer, holding off Turner as best as he could.
The #27 Aston Martin showcased better straightline speed, so Turner was able to retain his lead ahead of Porter, who finished second in the #59 McLaren with Stanton, ahead of the #42 Toro Verde GT Ginetta G56 GT4 Evo of Jack Mitchell and Luke Shaw.
Jack Collins brought the #24 ‘Chomp’ Century BMW M4 GT4 Evo fourth with teammate Branden Templeton, second in the Silver Cup behind the class winners, the #42 Ginetta — despite also starting 11th from a post-qualifying penalty.
MK Racing’s #21 Aston Martin pairing Will Orton and Jessica Hawkins finished in fifth place, crucially ahead of their key GT4 championship rivals, Innovation Racing (Holland and Hadley Simpson) in sixth.
Tom Bradshaw and Ian Duggan took seventh in Toro Verde’s #8 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS, followed by Fox Motorsport’s #40 Aston Martin of Joe Wheeler and James Townsend.
BTCC race winner Ronan Pearson battled with four-time BTCC champion Colin Turkington’s #61 West Surrey Racing BMW.
The #97 GBR Stratton Aston Martin finished ninth (Pearson and John Hartshorne) ahead of the #61 BMW, which appeared to slow down towards the end again.
Paddock Motorsport’s #84 McLaren with Revie Lake and Blake Angliss performed power resets and nursed gearbox issues to the flag.
Whilst this race featured a lot of caution period running, it was a perfect precursor to next week’s 79th 24 Hours of Spa and its 70-car grid.
Next on the British GT schedule will be Snetterton on 15-16 August, hosting the second of two sprint-race meetings this season.
Images courtesy of SRO/JEP
