> Macleod helps Loggie extend GT3 championship lead
> R Racing youngsters take advantage of Team Parker’s post-race penalty
> Result: Snetterton Race 1
Ian Loggie extended his Intelligent Money British GT Championship lead by clinching victory in the first of Snetterton’s two hour-long races this morning. RAM Racing co-driver Callum Macleod took the chequered flag just ahead of WPI Motorsport’s Michael Igoe and Phil Keen who also benefitted when 2 Seas Motorsport retired from the lead with a late puncture.
There was also late drama in GT4 where Team Parker Racing’s post-race penalty for avoidable contact with Academy’s long-time leading Mustang helped R Racing’s Jamie Day and Josh Miller become British GT’s youngest-ever winners in terms of combined age. Their 33 years and 152 days eclipsed the previous record by more than a year.
The Aston Martin came home ahead of championship leaders Sennan Fielding and Richard Williams (Steller Motorsport) who started from the pitlane, and Pro-Am class winners Matt Topham and Darren Turner (Newbridge Motorsport).
Meanwhile, Team Abba Racing’s Richard and Sam Neary completed GT3’s overall podium and also clinched Silver-Am spoils.
GT3: PUNCTURE SINKS 2 SEAS
2 Seas’ race-by-race entry appeared on course for victory in the day’s opening race until a left-rear puncture put paid to Flick Haigh and Jonny Adam’s chances with six minutes remaining and handed RAM Racing’s #6 Mercedes-AMG a second win of the season.
Ian Loggie led away from pole but couldn’t pull far enough clear of Haigh to negate his five-second Success Penalty, which allowed Adam to jump Callum Macleod during the pitstops. The Scot initially built a gap but was then reeled in again through the ebb and flow of traffic.
Macleod had reduced his arrears to 2.5s when Adam’s tyre went down and forced a slow crawl back to the pits where the Mercedes-AMG retired.
The #6 entry negotiated the final laps without incident, although Phil Keen did close down a gap that had stood at more than five seconds after the stops. WPI’s Lamborghini, which lost ground in the opening stint after starting fourth, picked up several places as a result of Assetto’s Mark Sansom spinning out of third place, the Success Penalties applied to 2 Seas’ other entry and Enduro Motorsport’s McLaren, and Haigh/Adam’s late retirement.
It was a similar story for Team Abba Racing whose pace over the first half of the campaign was finally rewarded with an overall podium and Silver-Am class win. Richard Neary picked up two places before handing over to his son Sam who then resisted 2 Seas’ Lewis Williamson throughout the second stint.
The Mercedes-AMG he shares with James Cottingham was also chased home by Enduro’s Donington winners Morgan Tillbrook and Marcus Clutton whose McLaren served the maximum 10-second Success Penalty. Sandy Mitchell (Barwell Motorsport) withstood late pressure to complete the top-six ahead of Ulysse de Pauw (RAM Racing) who set a new GT3 lap record.
Redline Racing were eighth, Fox Motorsport maintained their 100% points scoring record in ninth, and 7TSIX completed the top-10.
GT4: 16-YEAR-OLDS DAY AND MILLER MAKE HISTORY
Josh Miller and Jamie Day wrote their names into British GT history by becoming the championship’s youngest-ever race winners after their R Racing Aston Martin Vantage emerged on top of a topsy turvy first race at Snetterton.
The teenagers successfully lowered the previous record held by Will Tregurtha and Stuart Middleton – which had stood since 2017 – when Day assumed theoretical top spot in the closing minutes after trouble befell the long-time race leaders.
Victory looked to be heading the way of Matt Cowley and Marco Signoretti’s Academy Motorsport Ford, but a late collision with Team Parker Racing’s Porsche put the Mustang out and earned the Cayman a post-race 10-second stop-go penalty in lieu of a drive-through.
There was drama even before the start when an electrical issue prevented Steller Motorsport from getting its championship-leading Audi shared by Richard Williams and Sennan Fielding to the starting grid. However, the team did manage to get the car running in time for Williams to start from the pitlane, remain on the lead lap and benefit from several issues ahead.
Cowley made a great start from pole and produced a textbook opening stint as he pulled well clear of the chasing pack – essential if Academy were to overcome their maximum 10-second Success Penalty for winning at Donington.
Cowley’s charge was aided by a tight battle for second, which featured the Toyota Gazoo Racing UK GR Supra of Tom Edgar, Miller’s Aston Martin and the charging Jamie Orton in Team Parker’s Porsche. Orton eventually scraped his way into third before diving to the pits to hand across to Seb Hopkins, while both Academy and R Racing opted to run their starting drivers deeper into the window.
Cowley’s pace was sufficient for Signoretti to re-join a car’s length ahead of Hopkins who jumped the Toyota in the stops when Edgar and Jordan Collard served their own Success Penalty.
Hopkins pushed hard but it looked like Signoretti had things under control until contact with just nine minutes remaining at Brundle spun the Mustang across the Porsche’s bow, which put it out of the race with left-rear suspension damage. The stewards responded by issuing Hopkins with a 10-second stop-go penalty that would be applied post-race and elevate Day/Miller’s Aston Martin – which had been closing down the leaders – to a historic victory.
Several more cars also hit trouble in the second stint. The Valluga Porsche of Ross Wylie/Matthew Graham lost a potential podium when it picked up a stop-go for a pit infringement, Freddie Tomlinson/Joe Wheeler’s Assetto Ginetta was set back by a penalty and spin after tangling with a GT3 car, and Paddock’s McLaren of Ashley Marshall/Moh Ritson stopped on track.
All that allowed Steller back into play and, when Fielding managed to force his way past Darren Turner’s Newbridge Motorsport Aston Martin into Riches, it turned out to be enough to net second for the charging Audi. Turner and Matt Topham completed the podium and took the Pro-Am win for Newbridge.
Collard/Edgar were fourth in the Toyota, ahead of Chris Salkeld/Tom Rawlings’ Century Motorsport BMW. Team BRIT celebrated its best result of the season with Aaron Morgan and Bobby Trundley completing the overall top-six in their McLaren.
Race 2 gets underway at 16:05 BST. Watch it live on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel.