+ Jonny Adam makes championship history as Blackthorn and Petrobelli shine
+ Ramyead and Robertson beat the odds as Century records back-to-back Spa wins
+ Provisional result: Round five, Spa-Francorchamps
Jonny Adam has become the most successful driver of the British GT3 era after helping Giacomo Petrobelli and the Blackthorn AMR team to their breakthrough championship victory at Spa, and in doing so recorded his 20th career win in the category.
The milestone result moves Adam one clear of Phil Keen in the all-time GT3 winners’ list and capped a dominant performance from the entire Blackthorn crew, which remained a beacon of consistency through an otherwise turbulent three hours to lead home the Optimum McLaren of Morgan Tillbrook and Marvin Kirchhöfer.
The fact Ravi Ramyead and Charlie Robertson beat two early drive-through penalties to win GT4 in their Century Motorsport BMW gives an indication of the level of drama. But after the early delays, a mid-race Safety Car and consistent pace thereafter brought them back up the order to score big after the Mahiki Racing Ginetta that had led almost throughout fell foul of a strategic gamble.
GT3: Blackthorn proves unshakable
The biggest question after Qualifying on Saturday was would Blackthorn’s mighty pace last across a full race stint? Petrobelli gave a definitive answer with a monster performance that really set the tone for the #7 Aston Martin.
His and Adam’s win was one built on pure speed, rather than any inventive strategy calls or flukes, and nobody could match Petrobelli from the moment the lights went out. After getting a clear run into La Source, Petrobelli was almost three seconds clear of anybody by the end of lap one and was relentless thereafter until making his first pit visit to hand to Adam at the hour mark.
Petrobelli’s lead was aided by a series of chaotic events behind, most notably when Simon Orange suffered a huge spin through Blanchimont when running second, with the #67 McLaren losing a heap of time after smacking the barrier, eventually crawling back to the pits for lengthy repairs.
That left the pack of Tillbrook, Rob Collard’s Barwell Lamborghini, the twin 2 Seas Mercedes-AMGs of Kevin Tse and Charles Dawson, plus Alex Martin in the second Barwell Lamborghini to dispute second. This pack was jumbled when both Barwell cars received drive-throughs for track limits, as did Tillbrook, then Tse began to struggle with brake issues and spun before having to pit for repairs, leaving Dawson to lead the chase.
However, that wouldn’t last. The race’s sole Full Course Yellow period was called when the #14 Century BMW GT4 ground to a halt with a suspected fuel pump problem. This was where Dawson and Kiern Jewiss’ race took a twist as the car was pinged for a Full Course Yellow speed infringement and handed a drive-through of its own.
The caution also gave Blackthorn the perfect opportunity to burn one of its mandatory stops with the race at reduced speed, with Adam handing back to Petrobelli after a short stint. Despite Matt Griffin blasting past to put the long-running Spirit of Race Ferrari into the lead after the resulting Safety Car, when that car eventually peeled in to make its second stop, Blackthorn and Petrobelli were released once more.
Petrobelli ticked off the remainder of his drive time with impressive pace before handing to Adam for the final hour. When Adam rejoined with a near half-a-minute advantage, it was game over for his pursuers, the Scottish star taking the win, and the win record, in fine fashion.
The battle for second proved a nail-biter. The Safety Car essentially undid the damage of the early drive-through penalties, putting both Barwell Lamborghinis and the Optimum McLaren back in the frame. Hugo Cook found himself second at the start of the final hour, but with Patrick Kujala and the impressive Marvin Kirchhöfer homing in fast.
Kirchhöfer found a way past when Kujala got oversteer into Double Gauche. He then dived past Cook as he fought with the Paddock Motorsport McLaren driven by Mark Smith, Kirchhöfer passing both in one superb sequence up Eau Rouge and out of Raidillon to secure the runner-up spot.
Cook narrowly held off Kujala to grab a podium for himself and Rob Collard, while Andrew Howard and Tom Wood claimed Silver-Am honours with fifth overall in their Beechdean AMR Aston Martin. Dawson and Jewiss rounded out the top six.
GT4: Five for the win for Ramyead and Robertson
If Blackthorn’s run to outright victory was untroubled, Ramyead and Robertson’s battle to GT4 honours was the complete opposite.
The car looked down and out at the end of the first hour after picking up two drive-throughs for straying beyond track limits, but its fortunes were transformed after the mid-race caution period. Spa’s length meant the car remained on the lead lap despite the two unscheduled pit tours, and found itself back in with a shout when the Safety Car bunched the pack. A combination of chaos elsewhere and Pit Compensation Times did the rest.
Mahiki Racing’s rapid Ginetta shared by Josh Miller and Jack Mitchell was the standout for the vast majority of the race, Miller leading comfortably from pole throughout the first stint before handing to Mitchell. However, the team’s decision to run long and not take advantage of stopping under the Full Course Yellow cost them, with others reaping the benefit.
After the #14 BMW had ground to a halt from second place and Ed McDermott later spun runner-up spot away exiting the Chicane, Miller found himself leading a resurgent Robertson heading into the final 45 minutes, but with an additional stop still to serve. Century’s remaining BMW carried no Compensation Time for this race, timed its stops well across the caution period, and vaulted to an unexpected lead once the Ginetta finally did make its final pit visit and fell back.
Seb Morris and McDermott recovered to second and Endurance Cup victory, ahead of Phil Keen and Jon Currie in the sister Team Parker Racing Mercedes-AMG. Both cars benefitted from Compensation Time for the twin Optimum Motorsport McLarens to make it a Pro-Am podium sweep.
Harry George and Luca Hopkinson took Silver honours in fourth, with championship leaders Marc Warren and Jack Brown fifth after serving maximum Compensation Time on their final stop following their Oulton Park success. Steven Lake/Blake Angliss were fifth for Mahiki, ahead of Miller/Mitchell, who did at least secure the fastest lap.
The British GT Championship next moves on to Snetterton over the weekend of July 11-13.
