+ Orange/JMH and Optimum’s recovering McLaren complete GT3 podium
+ Aston Martin beats McLaren and Ginetta to GT4 honours
+ Result: Spa-Francorchamps
Alex Martin and Jarrod Waberski scored Barwell’s 30th British GT victory with Lamborghini at Spa-Francorchamps where Grange/FSR’s Daniel Lavery and Darren Turner made it two GT4 wins from as many outings.
The #78 Huracan was never headed after grabbing the lead on the run through Eau Rouge for the first time. Ultimately, just 2.1s separated it from Orange/JMH’s pole-winning McLaren shared by Simon Orange and Marcus Clutton, while Morgan Tillbrook and Optimum completed the podium thanks to a barnstorming stint in which Ben Barnicoat charged from 11th to third.
Waberski capped his maiden British GT3 victory with fastest lap, which will further contribute towards his significant SRO GT Academy points haul. The Anglo-South African remains locked in a close battle with Charles Clark for the 24 Hours of Spa prize drive next year.
GT4’s top three finished nose-to-tail after a mid-race Full Course Yellow and Safety Car period coincided with the pit window, effectively diminishing the various Compensation Times applied to Oulton’s overall and Silver class top three. The case was perfectly illustrated by Grange/FSR’s Aston Martin, which served 20 seconds for winning the previous race and another 10 for a Safety Car restart infringement.
Turner took the chequered flag just ahead of Optimum’s Silver class-winning McLaren shared by Josh Stanton and Mikey Porter, and Luke Shaw and Jack Mitchell’s Toro Verde Ginetta that also jostled for victory throughout the final 40 minutes.
GT3: WABERSKI CELEBRATES BREAKTHROUGH WIN
54 starters from across British GT and Championnat de France FFSA GT made for an incredibly busy afternoon for most. But in Barwell’s case, and especially that of Martin and Waberski, the two-hour race was relatively straightforward.
The #78 Lamborghini lined up third, inherited second before the start when Tillbrook unexpectedly pitted, and took the lead from Orange on the inside of Eau Rouge before edging clear. Two FCY/Safety Car periods before the driver changes prevented him from establishing a sizeable gap, but track position was at least retained when Waberski jumped in just after the hour mark.
He re-joined ahead of Clutton and Barwell team-mate Hugo Cook whose co-driver Rob Collard made amends for his qualifying disappointment by surging from 10th to fourth during the opening stint. His fraught battle with Marc Warren and Orange was one of the early highlights.
The action initially resumed with just under one-third of the race remaining but was curtailed again by a third interruption that lasted until the final 25 minutes. Waberski’s expert management of the second restart gave Clutton no chance to attack, and the Lamborghini remained out of reach thereafter despite the ebb and flow of GT4 traffic.
Behind, Barnicoat was busy making amends for the early issue that prompted Tillbrook to pit on the second formation lap. Crucially, Optimum’s McLaren remained on the lead lap after resuming and caught the rear of the GT3 train during the first neutralisation before Barnicoat began his swashbuckling stint from 11th. Drivers were routinely dispatched thereafter before passing Ross Gunn and then Hugo Cook on the final tour capped an incredible comeback.
Cook had spent much of his stint fending off championship leader Gunn who’d earlier attempted to hand back a position to Jack Brown after passing him under FCY conditions. The sight of several GT3 cars crawling towards La Source as Brown refused to re-overtake was somewhat comical, while the earlier overtake cost Gunn 20 seconds post-race.
2 Seas’ Kevin Tse and Ben Green were the chief beneficiaries. Their Mercedes-AMG moved up to fifth, while Jonathon Beeson and Charles Clark (Century) also inherited a place from Beechdean’s Aston Martin.
Steven Lake and Tom Wood (Orange/JMH) and Mark Smith and Martin Plowman (Paddock) completed the revised top eight following the #3 Optimum McLaren’s post-race disqualification for over-boosting.
GT4: GRANGE GOES FULL SEND TO DEFY PITSTOP TIME
Grange/FSR drivers Lavery and Turner lived up to the team’s ‘Full Send’ monicker to somehow secure overall GT4 victory, with Turner using every bit of his extensive experience during a frantic stint.
As well as carrying the maximum 20 seconds of Compensation Time following their breakthrough outright win last time out at Oulton Park, the Pro-Am duo had to contend with an additional 10-second penalty that Lavery collected for a Safety Car restart infringement. Regardless, the stop-start nature of this race helped them overcome both, with the multiple caution periods keeping the #27 Aston Martin on the heels of its rivals throughout before Turner finally snuck into the lead in the closing minutes.
The Optimum McLaren shared by Stanton and Porter dominated qualifying but almost immediately dropped behind the flying Paddock Motorsport Artura of Revie Lake who blasted past on the opening lap to lead Stanton, Tom Holland’s Innovation Ginetta, Shaw’s Toro Verde G56 and Lavery.
Drama initially struck around the first FCY/Safety Car when Lake’s McLaren stopped on track with an electrical glitch that affected the gearbox. A system power cycle allowed the car to continue but refused to fully cure the issue, dropping the McLaren well out of contention.
That left Stanton and Holland to contest the lead, and the Ginetta made the bold choice of running around the outside of the chicane in traffic to move ahead just before the pit window opened, which coincided with another caution period. Holland passed pit entry at reduced speed just before it opened, but the timing was ideal for Stanton who dived in, completed his switch with Porter and rejoined back in the lead.
There was another upshot, however. The reduced speed almost entirely annulled Grange/FSR’s penalties, allowing Turner to take over from Lavery and rejoin third, with Porter leading Hadley Simpson, Turner and Mitchell who’d replaced Shaw in Toro Verde’s Ginetta.
One final Safety Car left a 25-minute sprint to the flag, and Turner took his chance. First, he passed Simpson before then diving for a gap for the lead when Porter was delayed in traffic. Porter fought back and piled the pressure on Turner, but the veteran held firm, picked his moments and was rewarded with a breathless victory.
Porter and Stanton held on to second overall and the Silver class win, with Mitchell and Shaw close behind in third.
Branden Templeton and Jack Collins fought their way through to fourth after Century’s BMW started from the back following a qualifying technical infringement, while Jessica Hawkins and Will Orton recovered from both their qualifying mishap and having to serve Compensation Time totalling 40 seconds to complete the top five in MK’s Aston Martin.
Innovation’s Ginetta rounded out the first six.
This year’s British GT Championship continues with Snetterton’s two 60-minute sprint races on August 15/16.
