British GT: Barwell Storm to Victory in Snetterton Opener

The opening Snetterton race of the second British GT Championship weekend was Phil Keen and Adam Balon’s to celebrate for Barwell Motorsport. Lamborghini took the flag by 13 seconds after a storming second stint by Keen.

In GT4, victory went the way of Stellar Performance Audi R8 LMS. The result came largely thanks to Richard Williams, keeping up with the Silver Cup drivers before handing the car over to Sennan Fielding, breaking away from the opposition to launch the Audi into championship contention after its first round.

GT3

Tom Gamble might have been inexperienced at GT rolling starts, but he recovered in the second phase to hold position ahead of Sam De Haan until Wilson’s hairpin. The Barwell Lamborghini nudged the back of the BMW, allowing Glynn Geddie to take the lead for Team Parker Racing. De Haan fell back to fourth as Gamble now found himself under pressure from the #96 Optimum Motorsport Aston, making it an All-Silver Cup top three.

De Haan’s stint continued to go from bad to worse, being spun by Dominic Paul. The BMW later succumbed to karma, spinning out of fourth. It would get worse as the #3 later recieved a 10 second stop/go penalty for the Lamborghini incident.

He may have been handed the lead, but Geddie couldn’t maintain his 10 second advantage, with car issues dropping them behind the leaders. This left Jack Mitchell in the #9 BMW M6 to inherit the lead. The curse of the leader would strike again though, as an engine failure dropped him out of contention. This promoted the #72 Barwell driven by Phil Keen to the lead ahead of the recovering #7 Bentley.

A strong result for the McLaren had been on the cards in the second half, but contact with the HHC GT4, while lapping them at Riches, ensured a long drive to the pits with 3 wheels.

Keen extended his lead at the front easily winning took his first win of the year, taking the championship lead as a result.

All eyes had been on the fight for second. Ryan Ratcliffe, after his teammates earlier domination, was soon in defensive mode, holding off the advancing Jonny Adam in the #47 TF Sport and #31 JRM Racing Bentley, both of which had quietly been advancing over the opening stint. They were later joined by the #69 Lamborghini attempting to recover their lost ground.

Ratcliffe held on, but a failed overtake from the TF Sport car livened up the fight for third. Adam retook the position on the last lap, followed by #69 Cocker, as Seb Morris’ physical fight lost him his front bonnet, sliding home in fifth before stopping metres after the line. WPI Motorsport took sixth in their new Lamborghini Hurican.

GT4

In GT4, the start was characterised by Scott Maxwell losing the lead to the #29 Stellar Performance Audi R8 of Richard Williams. The Am driver was not expected to stay ahead of the Silver Cup runners, though the Irish driver continued to surprise many with his pace, harried by the Canadian.

As the pitstop window approached, most of the leaders chose to stop on the same lap. The penalty for the Silver Cup competitors ensured that by the time Sennan Fielding in the Stellar Performance Audi emerged onto track, he had a 13 second gap, now ahead of James Dorlin in the #4 Tolman Motorsport McLaren as the Ford fell to the back.

Fielding easily took the victory. Though Dorlin had closed in considerably over the second half, finishing 8 seconds behind for their second podium in three races. The podium was completed by their Tolman Motorsport teammate Ricky Collard in the #5 McLaren.

Despite not winning the race, it was a day to remember for the McLaren’s. As well as a double podium, the HHC Motorsport crew brought home the #57 and #58 in fourth and sixth respecitvely. Dean MacDonald in the leading HHC had been pressuring Collard in the latter stages, but a fairly static race for the class ensure Tolman close the gap to their rivals. The highest placed Mercedes-AMG was Michael Broadhurst and local driver Mark Mufitt in the #77 Fox Motorsport, finishing fifth.