Ben Barnicoat and Morgan Tillbrook secured their first British GT victory since the Oulton Park meeting this afternoon, giving Optimum Motorsport their second win from today’s two sprint races.
The #77 McLaren GT3 Evo duo, with Barnicoat installed, started in third place behind Marcus Clutton’s #67 Orange Racing by JMH McLaren, but quickly overtook him at the start.
Ross Gunn in the #7 Beechdean Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo retained the lead during the opening stint, although Barnicoat remained in shouting distance, despite Gunn consistently lapping as the fastest driver in the field.
The two ran nose-to-tail and into the pits, before Beechdean’s winning chances evaporated when Andrew Howard spun on his out-lap after taking over in the stop, allowing the #77 Optimum McLaren driven by Morgan Tillbrook to take the lead.
Tillbrook was not in the clear yet as Simon Orange’s #67 Orange Racing by JMH McLaren inherited second place, and so they battled whilst managing the GT4 traffic.
“I really struggled in the first race,” said Tillbrook, “and we made a few set-up changes; we were too stiff, I think. That really helped in the second race, and then for me, it was managing pace. I didn’t need to push too hard. I just needed to keep that gap from Howard.”
With a second place finish, Orange Racing by JMH achieved its best result so far this season, after fighting for the win with its #67 duo, Clutton and Orange.
Howard later spun again at Coram but kept his place to round out the podium positions for his Beechdean outfit.
Barwell’s #63 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 fought hard through the field. Hugo Cook started the car in 12th place, managing his form against the strong line-up of his rivals ahead.
It was not until Rob Collard, a formidable Bronze-graded driver in this field, charged up the order from seventh place, wrestling past the likes of Jonathan Beeson’s #44 Century BMW M4 GT3 EVO and Steven Lake’s #69 Orange Racing by JMH McLaren.
His final battle was with Cameron Campbell’s #13 Rodin Motorsport Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo, whom he overtook with six minutes remaining to claim fourth.
Rodin Motorsport, meanwhile, secured its maiden GT3 Silver-Am victory with fifth overall, having started on GT3 Silver-Am pole position and staying out of harm’s way in the opening stint, entrusted to Josh Buchan.
Despite Cameron being unable to hold off Collard, Rodin had their best race finish so far in its debut British GT campaign.
Alex Martin brought home the #78 Barwell Lamborghini in sixth place, after Jarrod Waberski started towards the back of the field along with the sister #63 Barwell Lamborghini. The result would not stand though, as they were awarded a 30-second time post-race penalty for a collision between Martin and Steven Lake — dropping them to ninth.
Beeson and his teammate Charles Clark inherited sixth in the #44 Century BMW, second in GT3 Silver-Am, ahead of the #18 2 Seas Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Kevin Tse and Ben Green. Race 1 winners Marc Warren and Jack Brown took eighth in the #90 Optimum McLaren.
The other #15 2 Seas Mercedes finished 10th with Ian Loggie and Aaron Walker, and also incurred a 30-second time penalty after a mechanic carried two wheels during the pit stop.
Steven Lake in the #69 Orange Racing/JMH McLaren ran into an issue towards the end, finishing 11th ahead of the #3 Optimum McLaren of Mike Price/Callum Macleod, who served a 1-second stop-and-go penalty for marginally missing out on the minimum pit stop time.
In a weekend to forget for Paddock Motorsport, its #9 McLaren (Mark Smith/Martin Plowman) encountered gearbox issues with under 20 minutes remaining, forcing the car into retirement for a second time in two races.
Optimum’s #59 duo Stanton & Gamble win in GT4
The #59 McLaren Artura GT4 duo of Josh Stanton and George Gamble were unable to convert their Race 1 pole position into victory, but after inheriting pole following a fuel pump issue for the #42 Toro Verde GT Ginetta G56 GT4 Evo (which did not start the race) Gamble started at the front helped achieve a Race 2 triumph.
He was unable to keep his lead against Tom Bradshaw’s #8 Toro Verde GT Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS until the pair entered Riches, the first corner, when Gamble’s better speed and momentum allowed him to retake the place.
With no pit stop compensation time, and Amateur-graded drivers fighting fiercely behind him, Josh Stanton continued the effort to secure the win by almost 30 seconds.
Gamble, in his second British GT appearance since his only outing at Rockingham in 2017, achieved victory in his first weekend with Optimum Motorsport.
“Everything just went perfectly,” said Gamble. “I managed to build a gap coming into the pits and maintain the lead coming out, and Josh just kept building and building the gap.”
“George made my life quite easy there really,” added Stanton. “I didn’t have to do a huge amount and just bring the car home, and the car’s got great inherent pace in it.”
Championship leader Innovation Racing faced an engine issue with its #74 Ginetta.
It was unrelated to the #42 Ginetta’s issues and handed a 1.5-point championship lead to the #21 MK Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo, Jessica Hawkins and Will Orton.
But it was Grange Racing by FSR’s #27 Aston Martin that finished in second place, missing out on a third consecutive victory by almost 30 seconds, but another win in the GT4 Pro-Am category.
Darren Turner started in sixth place, behind fellow Aston Martin factory driver Jonny Adam, who climbed three places and led a tightly packed train of cars from third to sixth place.
Four-time British GT champion Adam (#97 GBR Stratton Aston) battled ahead of four-time BTCC champion Colin Turkington (#61 West Surrey Racing BMW M4 GT4 Evo), and Aston Martin Academy driver Will Orton (#21 MK Racing Aston Martin).
Turner and his teammate Daniel Lavery now lead the Pro-Am championship after the #42 Toro Verde Ginetta’s woes.
On a more positive note for the Toro Verde team, they scored a third-place finish in GT4 overall with its #8 Porsche line-up of Bradshaw and Ian Duggan, finishing 0.884 seconds behind the #27 Grange Racing/FSR Aston Martin as a result of their intense fight.
Century Motorsport’s #24 BMW duo of Branden Templeton and Jack Collins claimed fourth overall, second in Silver behind the #59 McLaren, and beating their fellow Silver rivals MK Racing.
James Townsend brought the #40 Fox Motorsport Aston Martin, shared with Joe Wheeler, third in the GT4 Pro-Am category.
Ernie Graham and Colin Turkington took seventh in the overall GT4 order for the #61 West Surrey Racing BMW, ahead of the #97 GBR Stratton Aston Martin of John Hartshorne and Adam.
Revie Lake rounded out the field in the #84 Paddock McLaren, shared with Blake Angliss, who incurred a front-left puncture early on.
Images courtesy of SRO/JEP
