British GT Championship - Round 3 - Strategy swings and shocking surprises in a rain-soaked dance at Oulton Park

Oulton Park delivered drama across qualifying and both British GT races as slick tyre gambles, safety car chaos, and wet-weather mastery reshaped the championship landscape. Barwell and 2 Seas shared GT3 wins, while Optimum's #90 McLaren dominated GT4 amidst crashes, penalties, and changeable conditions.

QUALIFYING

Qualifying began with GT3 Q1, where the top spot traded hands between the #7 Blackthorn Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Giacomo Petrobelli and the #1 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 of Rob Collard, in a tense back-and-forth. Petrobelli initially set the pace with a 1:33.797, only to be bettered by Collard with a 1:33.717. Petrobelli responded and went quicker again, before Collard edged ahead once more with a 1:33.673. As the chequered flag fell, Charles Dawson in the #42 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo briefly claimed third while setting the fastest first sector, but was immediately demoted by Kevin Tse in the sister #18 Mercedes, who secured third position. The #86 Bridger Motorsport Honda NSX GT3 Evo of Chun Cheong Ip was ahead of the #97 Beechdean Motorsport Aston Martin of Andrew Howard in eleventh and twelfth respectively, but first and second in the Silver-Am class.

GT3 Q2 featured quicker times as the professional drivers got to the wheel of the cars. Sven Müller in the #66 Team Parker Racing Porsche 992 GT3 R initially led with a 1:32.117, but he was soon beaten by Maximilian Götz in the #18 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, who laid down a 1:31.936. Sandy Mitchell managed to slot into second place with a 1:31.943 in his #78 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, but Götz improved once again. In the final seconds, Müller regained third position by setting the fastest sector three, while Götz retained pole position ahead of Mitchell and Müller, while the #97 Beechdean Motorsport Aston Martin of Tom Wood placed tenth, and first in Silver-Am class, while the #86 Bridger Motorsport Honda sat fifteenth and second in class.

The largely reduced GT4 grid opened with quick changes at the top, as Luca Hopkinson in the #17 Optimum Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4 set the early benchmark, but was rapidly bettered by Chris Salkeld in the #14 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 Evo and then Marc Warren in the #90 Optimum Motorsport Artura. Moments later, Josh Miller delivered a standout 1:41.297 to claim provisional pole in the #84 Mahiki Racing Lotus Emira GT4. Rain then began to fall near the end, preventing further improvements, when the session ended with Miller’s #84 Lotus fastest overall, while the Pro-Am field saw Ravi Ramyead lead in the #71 Century Motorsport M4, ahead of Warren and Steven Lake in the #69 Lotus.

In GT4 Q2, Jack Brown set the pace early on in the #90 Optimum Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4 with a 1:41.457, just before Charlie Robertson in the #71 Century Motorsport BMW snatched first position by a mere thousandth with a 1:41.456. Robertson later ran off the circuit at Island Bend, but avoided contact with the barriers, as the rain intensified with two minutes remaining, sending all cars back to the pits and freezing the order. Robertson was able to hold onto pole position ahead of Brown and Jack Mitchell in the #90 and #69 McLaren and Lotus respectively.

RACE 1

Race one began with a clean start, though Giacomo Petrobelli in the #7 Blackthorn Aston Martin ran slightly wide, with several cars behind also drifting off-line. Just moments later, Andrew Howard in the #97 Beechdean Motorsport Aston Martin suffered a rear-right puncture, while GT4 pole-sitter Josh Miller in the #84 Mahiki Racing Lotus Emira encountered a problem exiting Island Bend, and dropped out of contention. At the first chicane, Morgan Tillbrook in the #77 Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720s GT3 Evo went off, but rejoined the race, and not long after, Simon Orange in the #67 Orange Racing powered by JMH McLaren was taken out in a collision caused by Charles Dawson in the #42 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes at Old Hall Corner.

In GT4, Marc Warren in the #90 Optimum Motorsport McLaren Artura, overtook Luca Hopkinson in the sister #17 car for second position in GT4, before a major incident saw the class leading Ravi Ramyead in the #71 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 Evo crash heavily after Island Bend. Running wide onto the grass, Ramyead hit the barriers hard, resulting in a Full Course Yellow, which triggered most of the GT3 runners to pit, except Richard Neary and Alex Martin in the #8 Team Abba Racing Mercedes and #78 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini respectively. 

A Safety Car was then deployed following the FCY, during which the #42 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo was handed a ten-second time penalty for causing the earlier collision with Orange in the #67 McLaren. Racing resumed with Hugo Cook in the #1 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini leading the GT3 field from #18 Götz and #7 Jonathan Adam. Penalties continued to come through with Luke Garlick in the #86 Bridger Motorsport Honda NSX received a one-second stop-and-go penalty for a short pitstop, and the Harry George driven #17 Optimum Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4, which was still in contention for a podium, was given a drive-through penalty for repeated track limit infringements. He served it shortly after, but held up the #69 Mahiki Racing Lotus of Jack Mitchell, and cleared the way for his teammate Jack Brown in the #90 car, to solidify the class lead.

At the flag, Hugo Cook crossed the line and took the GT3 win in the #1 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini alongside Rob Collard, while the Götz/Tse #18 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes finished second, and the final podium spot went the way of the #7 Blackthorn Aston Martin of Adam/Petrobelli. Kiern Jewiss, who took over from Dawson in the #42 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes crossed the line in fourth position, but his ten-second time penalty demoted the car to ninth position. Garlick and Ip claimed the Silver-Am victory in thirteenth position overall, with the Howard/Wood #97 Beechdean Motorsport Aston Martin second in class.

In GT4, Jack Brown and Marc Warren took a commanding win in the #90 McLaren Artura in fourteenth overall, ahead of Lake/Mitchell in the #69 Lotus and Salkeld/Templeton in the #14 Century Motorsport BMW. Chris Salkeld and Branden Templeton also claimed top honours in the Silver category, finishing in sixteenth position ahead of George/Hopkinson in the #17 McLaren and Duggan/Wheeler in the #88 Lotus.

RACE 2

Race two began under wet conditions, prompting an additional formation lap, and sparked widespread tyre strategy debate from multiple teams. The #71 Ramyead/Robertson car was withdrawn due to the damage sustained from the previous race, and several teams considered switching to slicks before the green flag. The #69 Lotus was the first car to switch to the dry tyre, and as the race started, Hugo Cook in the #1 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 immediately pitted for slicks, soon followed by others like Sam Neary in the #8 Team Abba Racing Mercedes, Sandy Mitchell in the #78 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini and Marvin Kirchhöfer in the #77 Optimum Motorsport McLaren. Cook initially set purple sectors on the drying track, but his pace dropped as light rain returned.

Chaos followed as Kiern Jewiss in the #42 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes collided with the #3 Greystone GT McLaren 720s GT3 Evo of Callum MacLeod at the Hislop’s chicane, causing a puncture for the #3 McLaren. Despite the worsening conditions, Jewiss still switched to slicks, but went off on his out-lap, and later struggled to stay on the track, even being overtaken by GT4 cars. Mitchell reversed his earlier call by re-pitting for wets, while Branden Templeton in the #14 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 ran off at Old Hall Corner, but rejoined safely. Smoke then emerged from the #84 Mahiki Racing Lotus of Aiden Neate, which later retired from the race, joining the #8 Team Abba Racing Mercedes on the sidelines.

The pit window for driver changes saw most of the field come in around the halfway point, with Simon Orange in the #67 Orange Racing McLaren emerging ahead of Giacomo Petrobelli in the #7 Blackthorn Aston Martin in the shuffle. Most stayed on wets as the damp conditions persisted, while Götz and Müller, who had been running first and second, made their stops soon after. The #84 Lotus rejoined with heavy smoke from the pits, continuing despite some concerns.

In the final stages, Simon Orange passed Nick Jones in the #66 Team Parker Racing Porsche 992 GT3 R for second position overall, while Chun Cheong Ip in the #86 Bridger Motorsport Honda NSX GT3 Evo surged through the field, overtaking both Petrobelli and Jones to move into a podium position. Jones later went off at Island Bend, kicking gravel onto the racing line, meanwhile Morgan Tillbrook in the #77 Optimum Motorsport McLaren made a late charge to take sixth position after passing both the #55 Spirit of Race Ferrari 296 GT3 of Duncan Cameron and #9 Paddock Motorsport McLaren of Mark Smith. As the clock ticked down, Ip began to close in on Orange in the #67 McLaren, though lapped traffic and the Honda’s straight-line speed proved a barrier to progress further.

Kevin Tse took race two victory in the #18 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, ahead of Clutton/Orange #67 McLaren and Garlick/Ip #86 Honda, who also claimed the Silver-Am win, with Howard/Wood finishing in eighth position overall. In GT4, Warren secured the class win in the #90 Optimum Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4, with the sister car of George/Hopkinson finishing second, and leading the Silver class. Third position in GT4 went to the #69 Lake/Mitchell Lotus Emira, while the rest of the Silver podium went the way of Salkeld/Templeton in the #14 BMW, and Miller/Neate in the #84 Lotus.

CHAMPIONSHIP IMPLICATIONS

Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss continue to lead the Pro-Am championship in GT3 with 79 points, but their sister car of Maximilian Götz and Kevin Tse closes the gap in second with 68.5 points after a first and second position finish at Oulton Park, compared to the disappointing ninth position finishes for the #42 crew. Marvin Kirchhöfer and Morgan Tillbrook in the #77 Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720s GT3 Evo sit third in the standings with 61 points.

Andrew Howard and Tom Wood lead the GT3 Silver-Am Cup in the #97 Beechdean Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo with 111 points, while the overall podium finishing #86 Bridger Motorsport Honda NSX GT3 Evo of Luke Garlick and Chun Cheong Ip sit just seven points behind in second place.

The Pro-Am GT4 championship is currently headed by Jack Brown and Marc Warren in the #90 Optimum Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4 with 114.5 points, while the closest competitors of Ravi Ramyead and Charlie Robertson in the #71 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 Evo sit second with 64.5 points, a major deficit to overcome after their shocking incident in race one, and subsequent withdrawal from the second race at Oulton Park. Jon Currie and Phil Keen, who missed the rounds at Oulton Park, sit third with 40.5 points.

Chris Salkeld and Branden Templeton lead the GT4 Silver Cup championship in their #14 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 Evo with 107.5 points, while the #17 Optimum Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4 of Harry George and Luca Hopkinson are second with 70 points, and Josh Miller and Aiden Neate sit third with 52.5 points in the #84 Mahiki Racing Lotus Emira GT4.

BRITS ABROAD

The next round of the British GT Championship heads to Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium as part of the SRO Speedweek, where the GT3 and GT4 championship will share the track with Porsche Carrera Cup France, French GT4, French F4, French TC and MitJet for a single three-hour race on the 21st - 22nd June.

Images © SRO/JEP