Round six of the 2015 British GT Championship sees the teams travel to Brands Hatch for a two-hour race on the Grand Pix loop. As the season begins to wind down, scoring points becomes more and more crucial for all the teams and drivers looking to win their respective titles.
The number of entries for the meeting has fallen to 30 from 34 that were present at Spa, but that shouldn’t detract from the action. In GT3 Leonard Motorsport and Marc VDS used the round at Spa to prepare for the 24, so won’t feature at Brands. Brussels Racing meanwhile just took the opportunity to race at its local circuit. Track Group’s GT4 Lotus Evora was also a one-off entry.
Finishing fourth at Francorchamps allowed Ecurie Ecosse to extend its championship lead over the delayed Oman Racing Aston Martin of Liam Griffin and Rory Butcher; a penalty for a jump start prevented them from challenging for a win. Marco Attard and Alexander Sims will be hoping for similar fortunes this weekend, as they edge ever closer to a second consecutive British GT title.
They’ll have to be wary of the challenging Aston Martins though. Last year at Brands Oman finshed second and third while the Beechdean squad – who won last time out at Spa – are now level with Griffin and Butcher in the standings. Jonathan Adam and Andrew Howard will have to overcome a success penalty of 20 seconds during their pit stop though, so winning will be tough.
Joe Osborne and Lee Mowle sit fourth overall in GT3 in Triple Eight Racing’s BMW Z4, and will be hoping to bounce back after mechanical woes ended the pair’s race in the Ardennes prematurely.
GT4’s field is still very healthy. GPRM return to the series after skipping Spa in its Toyota GT86 with newcomer James Fletcher sharing the car with Stefan Hodgetts at the wheel.
In terms of the championship, ISSY Racing proved at Spa that they can compete with Ross Gunn and Jamie Chadwick’s dominant Beechdean Aston Martin. Oz Yusuf and Gavan Kershaw will need to finish above the young-duo on the fast-flowing 2.3 mile circuit if they are to have any real chance of winning the GT4 title. The gap between the two teams is currently 21 points.
Sunday’s race is live on Motors TV UK at 13:10 BST.
Stephen Kilbey
