Mixed conditions faced the TORA British GT Championship drivers on their return to UK soil at Oulton Park last weekend where the threat of rain posed an extra challenge.
Not that they bothered Callum Dunn in the Brit Racing McLaren which took up its now customary place on pole for the first race of the day. Mitch Oakley in the MMOW-Samsung BRPS Cadillac surprisingly lined up alongside with championship challenger and real-world racer Alex Reed, in the HCR McLaren, starting a little further back in fifth.
But with the race having started dry the drivers were soon battling the expected rain as much as each other. Dunn remained untouchable, though, en route to his fifth victory in as many starts ahead of Oakley and Reed.
A number of drivers were caught out by the greasy conditions, including Adam Watson whose Ax4x BMW Z4 GT3, which had started third, sustained heavy damage early on. He’d eventually come home 15th.
“My poor BMW!” he said. “It seems as if every time I start near the front I’ve had it on the opening lap! Maybe I can start on lap two instead?”
The conditions posed few problems for Mike Eyles whose LNT Ginetta G55 GT3 came agonisingly close to a first podium for the team this season. But fourth, after starting 12th, was still a great performance.
In GT4 the Ginettas of South East Coast Racing featured prominently after their show of force at Imola. The team scored a podium brace in race one, although they were beaten to the class win by the BMMC Racing G55 of Daniel Kelly.
For race two the weather eased to the relief of many of those who had struggled in the downpour towards the end of the opening encounter.
Nevertheless, the results would remain the same as race one’s with Dunn’s Brit Racing McLaren extending its 100% record this season. The Samsung team were overjoyed with another second place for Oakley in the all new Cadillac, a car that many had questioned on the UK’s tighter circuits, while Reed once again completed the overall podium.
And it was a similar story in GT4 where Kelly again led home both South Coast Racing Ginettas.
The TORA British GT Championship now heads to the Home of British Motorsport, Silverstone, for its next double points round of the series. A bumper grid is expected for the blue riband event as many use it as preparation for the GT class at Le Mans just one week later.
Report courtesy of TORA.