Beechdean AMR’s Andrew Howard and Jonny Adam couldn’t convert their pole position into victory but still came away with a handy points haul after holding off Barwell Motorsport’s Lamborghini shared by Leo Machitski and a charging Dennis Lind.

Team Abba Racing’s Richard and Sam Neary collected Silver-Am honours in fifth overall.

Behind, the GT4 battle was turned on its head with just five minutes to run when Charlie Robertson was forced to pit with a puncture, which opened the door for Burton and Burns to take a well-deserved win. The latter dominated early proceedings but was unable to rebuild a sufficient lead that would have negated the Silver Cup crew’s longer minimum pitstop time after the second Safety Car period.

However, Burton drove superbly to work his way back up to second and then inherit the lead when Assetto’s Ginetta hit trouble. Pro-Am winners Chris Salkeld and Andrew Gordon-Colebrooke joined their team-mates on the overall podium, while James Kell and Jordan Collard completed the top-three aboard Team Rocket RJN’s McLaren.

GT3: IGOE SETS THE TONE FOR DOMINANT WPI

Having just missed out on pole yesterday, Igoe made the most of his front row grid slot by initially tracking and then passing Andrew Howard who had converted Beechdean AMR’s pole position into an early lead.

But any hopes of establishing a significant advantage were dashed by two Safety Car periods that punctuated the opening stint. The first involved contact between Chris Salkeld and John Ferguson, which sent Toyota Gazoo Racing UK’s Supra into the Hawthorns gravel trap, and the other a clash between James Cottingham and Adam Balon that resulted in both cars beached at Paddock Hill.

Igoe managed the first restart perfectly and received a slice of luck with the second when a lapped GT4 car acted as a buffer between himself, Howard, Leo Machitski and Richard Neary. The subsequent scrap that saw Barwell’s Lamborghini relieve Beechdean’s Aston of second at Surtees only further enhanced Igoe’s advantage, which stood at four seconds when the pitstop window opened after 62 minutes.

His co-driver, Phil Keen, emerged with a familiar foe for company after a broken GPS unit delayed Barwell’s pitstop, dropping Dennis Lind two places and handing second to Jonny Adam. The championship’s two most successful drivers traded times for the best part of 40 minutes – the gap fluctuating between 2.5s and 3.5s throughout – before Beechdean’s Aston began to fade.

Instead, Adam’s attention switched to Lind who claimed the Sunoco Fastest Lap before also dispatching Yelmer Buurman with a brilliantly opportunistic three-wide move in traffic while approaching Westfield with 28 minutes remaining. The Dane rapidly closed in but caught the Vantage too late to suss out a potential passing place. Just three tenths separated them at the finish.

Buurman and Ian Loggie came home fourth thanks to a solid performance from RAM’s reigning Pro-Am champions. Their Mercedes-AMG lacked the pace of either the Lamborghini or Aston Martin but executed a fault-free race after starting seventh.

Team Abba Racing’s Mercedes-AMG was in the thick of the action throughout an opening stint in which Richard Neary climbed from sixth to fourth and then slid back down the order before the pit window opened. His son, Sam, was particularly eye-catching in the second hour when he chased down Buurman, while Silver-Am victory and fifth overall was a just reward for an encouraging weekend.

Nick Jones and Scott Malvern (Team Parker Racing) also avoided the pitfalls of others to make up five places from where they qualified en route to sixth, but JRM will be left ruing what might have been after a drive-through penalty dropped Kelvin Fletcher and Martin Plowman out of podium contention. Their Bentley finished seventh, while Proctors Stewart and Lewis completed the top-eight for Balfe.

GT3 debutants Simon Green Motorsport took the chequered flag in ninth but received a post-race 30s penalty in lieu of a drive-through for making avoidable contact with G-Cat Racing’s Porsche. Greg Caton and Shamus Jennings therefore moved up one place at the expense of the Lamborghini, which collected the final point in 10th.

Barwell and RAM’s second entries also appeared on course for decent finishes before Cottingham and Balon’s collision at Paddock Hill ended their fantastic scrap over sixth.

GT4: BURNS AND BURTON CAPITALISE ON LATE DRAMA

Will Burns and Gus Burton enjoyed a stellar Intelligent Money British GT4 Championship season opener by securing a well-deserved victory at Brands Hatch, even if it took a late dose of drama to get the job done.

The pair – 2020 Ginetta GT4 Supercup title rivals – only inherited the lead inside the final minutes after Charlie Robertson was forced to pit to change a puncture on his Assetto Motorsport Ginetta. However, it was perhaps the result Burns and Burton truly deserved after suffering their own dose of misfortune in the early stages.

Starting from pole, Burns shot into a clear lead ahead of the Academy Motorsport Ford Mustang of Will Moore, even managing to pass a GT3 car to add a buffer between the two for good measure. Burns needed to push to try and make up for the additional 26s the car would have to spend in the pits due to it being a Silver Cup entry, but every time he built a comfortable gap one of the two Safety Car periods reset it.

Regardless, Burns led from Moore and Richard Williams’ Steller Motorsport Audi by the time the pit window opened, but the interruptions meant the BMW only held a cushion of a few seconds and faced a fight to get back to the front after its longer stop.

The Safety Car delays brought the Pro-Am cars into the mix, and when the order shook out it was the second Century BMW of Andrew Gordon-Colebrooke that re-joined in the lead after Chris Salkeld had kept the car comfortably in the top-five at half distance. His lead wouldn’t last long though, as Charlie Robertson wasted little time in diving past, having taken the Ginetta over from Mark Sansom.

Robertson then proceeded to charge clear, and things looked done and dusted right until the car was forced to dive back into the pits with just five minutes remaining to change a left-rear puncture. That dropped it out of contention and opened the door for the BMWs.

Burton had re-joined in third and then pulled off a brilliant pass on Gordon-Colebrooke around the outside of Paddock to snare second, which then became the win after the Ginetta’s issues.

Gordon-Colebrooke made it a Century one-two and secured the Pro-Am class laurels for himself and Salkeld, as James Kell and Jordan Collard kept themselves out of trouble to snatch the final podium place in their Team Rocket RJN McLaren.

The recovering Robertson was fourth, ahead of Williams/Sennan Fielding’s Audi, which had been firmly in the mix until it copped a 10s stop-go penalty for an unsafe release from its pitstop.

Nick Halstead/Jamie Stanley were sixth in their Fox Motorsport McLaren, ahead of the similar Balfe car shared by Ashley Marshall/Jack Brown.

The Toyota Gazoo Racing GR Supra was an early casualty following contact with Salkeld at Hawthorns. It was retired with suspension damage.

Likewise, it was a nightmare weekend for the #3 Team Rocket RJN McLaren of Alain Valente/Michael Benyahia. The car lost most of Saturday after an engine issue that required an all-nighter from the team to change the unit, only to then suffer an electrical fault on the green flag lap.

Next up it’s British GT’s big one: the three-hour Silverstone 500, which takes place on June 26/27.

The post Igoe and Keen shine at Brands; Burns and Burton lead Century 1-2 in GT4 first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

Adam set the fastest time of all – 1m23.763s – to vault his Aston Martin from third to first after Howard initially qualified 0.176s behind Q1 pace-setter Michael Igoe. The WPI Lamborghini he shares with Phil Keen still starts on the front row after rebuffing Barwell’s Huracan shared by Leo Machitski and Dennis Lind.

Further back, Century claimed GT4 top spot by a combined 0.897s from Pro-Am pace-setters Mark Sansom and Charlie Robertson (Assetto Motorsport, Ginetta) whose aggregate time was just 0.013s faster than Academy’s Mustang shared by Matt Cowley and Will Moore.

GT3: THE (ICE) CREAM RISES TO THE TOP

Beechdean served notice of their intentions by topping FP2 and carried that form into qualifying where Andrew Howard and Jonny Adam’s combined efforts scooped pole by 0.189s.

Michael Igoe’s early flyer remained unbeaten throughout the first 10-minute session despite the rest of the field slowly whittling away his early advantage.

Leo Machitski was perhaps the most relentless in his pursuit – Barwell’s Lamborghini ultimately fell just 0.053s shy of the similar Huracan ahead – while late efforts from Howard and JRM’s Kelvin Fletcher ensured just 0.2s covered Q1’s top-four.

That effectively resulted in a pole shootout between Phil Keen, Dennis Lind, Adam and Martin Plowman after Adam Balon and Richard Neary ended Q1 0.4s and 0.5s adrift in fifth and sixth, respectively.

Adam had left it late to snatch FP2’s spoils from WPI earlier in the day but found his feet immediately when it mattered most by setting GT3’s benchmark on his first representative lap. Keen, by contrast, slipped to third behind Lind initially before restoring WPI’s place on the front row next time around. Less than a tenth separated the two Lamborghinis in the overall times.

A track limits infringement spoiled Plowman’s first run but he also regrouped to maintain the Bentley’s existing fourth place ahead of Barwell’s second Lamborghini driven by reigning champion Sandy Mitchell who all but matched Keen and Lind’s individual times.

Team Abba Racing also finished where they qualified in both sessions – sixth – courtesy of Richard and Sam Neary who also sealed Silver-Am’s first-ever class pole. They were just over a tenth quicker than reigning Pro-Am champions Ian Loggie and Yelmer Buurman in the first of RAM’s Mercedes-AMGs and newcomers Enduro Motorsport who ended Q2 second fastest overall thanks to Marcus Clutton.

Balfe’s McLaren driven by father/son duo Stewart and Lewis Proctor, and RAM’s other Mercedes-AMG completed the top-10.

GT4: BURNS AND BURTON A CLASS APART

Will Burns and Gus Burton scored an emphatic pole position for the opening race of 2021 after each guided the BMW to top spot in their respective qualifying sessions.

The Silver Cup crew backed up their strong pace from the morning’s free practice sessions to convincingly score Century’s first pole position since Spa-Francorchamps in 2019, as well as the first for an Evo-spec M4.

Burns took the wheel for the first session and pumped in an early time to set the pace, but was only marginally ahead of the Academy Motorsport Ford Mustang in the hands of Matt Cowley.

Burns made the most of his fresh Pirelli tyres to retain a 0.150s advantage at the session’s conclusion as the top two forged a comfortable gap over the chasing pack.

As such the second half should have been a straight fight between the BMW and Mustang. Will Moore took over the Ford and pushed hard to close the gap but could do nothing about a terrific lap from Burton, who pulled the best part of a second clear after the first timed runs.

With Burns and Burton safe and dry, the real interest came from the fight for second. While Academy held on initially, Assetto Motorsport’s Charlie Robertson was a real threat. Building on the excellent early effort of his Am co-driver Mark Sansom, who set third fastest time in Q1, Robertson twice set lap times good enough to elevate the new Ginetta G56 within touching distance of Academy, only to have both efforts scrubbed for straying beyond track limits.

Undeterred, his final attempt was an absolute belter, going second fastest of all to steal a front row grid slot from Academy and securing Pro-Am pole in the process.

John Ferguson and Scott McKenna will start tomorrow’s race from fourth aboard the Toyota Gazoo Racing GR Supra, with Chris Salkeld and Andrew Gordon-Colebrooke lining up Century’s other BMW in fifth.

After a tricky start to the day, James Kell and Jordan Collard netted sixth on the grid in their Team Rocket RJN McLaren 570S, just ahead of Steller Motorsport’s Audi R8 driven by Richard Williams and Sennan Fielding.

Katie Milner and Harry Hayek start eighth in their RJN-run McLaren, the similar Balfe-run car of Ashley Marshall and Jack Brown lines up ninth, and Fox Motorsport’s 570S shared by Nick Halstead and Jamie Stanley rounds out the top-10.

An engine issue prevented Team Rocket RJN’s third McLaren from qualifying, but the car – complete with new engine – is expected to race tomorrow.

Watch British GT’s two-hour season opener live on SRO’s YouTube channel and Motorsport TV from 13:00 BST on Sunday.

The post Poles for Beechdean AMR and Century at Brands Hatch first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

While the 5.8km Circuit Paul Ricard might be familiar for most teams, the difference from the final race of the 2020 GT4 European Series six months ago could not be bigger. The championship has seen an incredible increase in entries, with 44 cars set to contest the two races on Sunday compared with 18 last November.

United Autosports McLaren team to beat in Silver Cup 

The season got underway at Monza with a double win for the #23 United Autosports entry of Charlie Fagg and Bailey Voisin and the pair will now try to take McLaren’s first outright win at Circuit Paul Ricard to increase their championship lead. United Autosports will also enter the sister #32 machine for Dean Macdonald and Gus Bowers, currently third in the Silver Cup standings.

CMR drivers Antoine Potty and Stephane Lemeret left Monza in second place in the Silver Cup standings and the #8 Toyota crew is among the leading contenders for victory at Le Castellet. Two other favourites are Lluc Ibanez and Xavier Lloveras in the #15 NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG.

The pair won both races at Circuit Paul Ricard last year and will look for a repeat performance, particularly after a DNF in the first race at Monza. Trivellato Racing by Villorba Corse will enter two Mercedes-AMG cars again at Circuit Paul Ricard, while all-French duos Enzo Joulie and Sébastien Baud (#74 CD Sport Mercedes-AMG) and Paul Evrard and Timothé Buret in (88 AKKA ASP) will also chase victory .

A trio of Aston Martin crews will battle for Silver Cup honours in France. AGS Events aims to return to top form after a tough Monza weekend. Last year the team clinched the GT4 European Series titles at Paul Ricard and this time it will field two cars. Konstantin Lachenauer and César Gazeau share the #27 machine, while Hugo Condé and Akhil Rabindra will race the #45. Mirage Racing will also be looking for a strong result with the #55 for Ruben del Sarte and Tom Canning.

The #17 V8 Racing Camaro was a strong contender at Circuit Paul Ricard in 2020, but bad luck struck Jop Rappange and Thijmen Nabuurs at Monza. The young Dutch drivers will be fully motivated to collect some valuable points in France.

Audi and Porsche will both be represented by two crews. Robert Consani and Benjamin Lariche will share the #4 Team Speedcar Audi, with Clement Seyler and Roee Meyuhas in the #14 Saintéloc Racing entry.

Nicolaj Møller-Madsen and Joel Sturm will target a strong result in the #20 Allied-Racing Porsche, with Amedeo Pampanini and Nicolas Sturzinger representing the Stuttgart marque in the #992 Centri Porsche Ticino entry. Completing the 17-strong Silver Cup grid is the #30 CMR Alpine of Loris Cabirou and Vincent Beltoise.

Strong starting grids for Pro-Am and Am Cup

Saintéloc Racing will be the team to beat in Pro-Am at Circuit Paul Ricard. The #42 Audi of Gregory Guilvert and Fabien Michal took a win and a third-place in class at Monza and will be chasing more silverware at its home track.

Fellow Audi squad Team Fullmotorsport is another contender as Romain Iannetta and Eric Clement took a second and a third-place in Italy with the #77 Audi and are currently second in the points. Team Speedcar and Hella Pagid – racing one will field the other Audi entries in Pro-Am.

After scoring a class pole and a win in Italy, the #718 Porsche of Max Busnelli and Ivan Jacoma currently occupies third in the Pro-Am standings. The Centri Porsche Ticino crew leads the Porsche contingent, which consists of another Centri Porsche Ticino car and the two Allied-Racing entries.

Mercedes-AMG has four entries in Pro-Am and should be a contender for victory again at Le Castellet. AKKA ASP’s Jim Pla and Jean-Luc Beaubelique won twice at the circuit six months ago, but the entries from CD Sport, Selleslagh Racing Team and NM Racing Team should not be ruled out either.

Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport started the season well with a class podium at Monza and Berkay Besler and Cem Bolukbasi will chase more strong results at Circuit Paul Ricard, as will their teammates in the second Borusan entry. Arkadia Racing will target a strong result on home soil with its #36 Alpine.

German squad Team GT will add two more McLaren 570S GT4s to the grid at Circuit Paul Ricard, with Alain Valente joining Bernhard Laber in the #66 machine and Richard Distl and Alexander Woller in the #60. The addition of the two Team GT entries and the second appearance of the #33 SVC Sport Management Toyota brings the number of cars contesting the Pro-Am Cup to 18.

Nine cars from nine different teams will battle for victory in the Am Cup. Aston Martin is the best-represented brand in the class, with Street Art Racing, Hella Pagid – racing one and AGS Events all entering the popular Vantage.

Selleslagh Racing Team and AKKA ASP are the two teams fielding Mercedes-AMGs, with Saintéloc Racing and Team Fullmotorsport competing with Audi equipment. W&D Racing Team’s BMW and CMR’s Toyota complete the Circuit Paul Ricard starting grid.

Packed Circuit Paul Ricard weekend schedule features two races on Sunday

Track action in the south of France starts on Friday at 10:50 with a one-hour free practice and the 44 cars will be back on-track again at 18:20 for the second 60-minute session. Qualifying takes place on Saturday and is scheduled to begin at 11:55.

Both one-hour races are set to run on Sunday, with the first scheduled to start at 9:50 and the second following at 15:35.

The event also sees action from the Lamborghini Super Trofeo, the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine and TCR Europe. All Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS action takes place on Saturday, with the traditional six-hour race scheduled to begin at 18:00.

The second round of the Fanatec Esports GT Pro Series also takes place on Saturday.

The post Strong 44-car grid prepares for GT4 European Series round at Circuit Paul Ricard first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

In the new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, the Dutchman dominated the qualifying on the street circuit through the Principality. Several times over the 30-minute session, the GP Elite team driver managed to improve on his personal record.

During his decisive lap, he clocked a time that was almost two seconds faster than the pole-setting time of 2019, when the international one-make cup last visited Monaco. “I drove a perfect lap and in some places even scrapped the guardrail slightly. But I was so gentle that the barrier didn’t punish me,” joked Ten Voorde.

Sharing the first grid row in second place is Jaxon Evans (Martinet by Alméras) from New Zealand. The third grid spot went to the best rookie and Evans’s teammate Dorian Boccolacci from France. Misfortune, on the other hand, plagued Dylan Pereira (BWT Lechner Racing).

Last year’s vice-champion turned the fastest lap in free practice, however, in qualifying, the Luxembourger returned to the pits with a damaged radiator after hitting a barrier and had to abandon his qualifying attempt. As a consequence, Pereira has to take up the race from the last grid row.

The tradition-steeped street circuit of Monte Carlo is regarded as one of the most demanding racetracks in the world. The opening round of the 2021 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup throws additional challenges at team and drivers: For the first time in 29 years of Supercup history, the Principality at the Mediterranean serves as a backdrop for the season opener of the international one-make cup. Moreover, the racing vehicle – the ca. 375 kW (510 hp) Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (Generation 992) – is new.

“We usually test on a new track prior to a race. This wasn’t possible in Monaco, so heading into the race we don’t have any data, for example, on the suspension setup,” explains Porsche Junior Ayhancan Güven (Turkey), who set the fifth quickest qualifying time. In this regard, teamwork is the answer. “I tried out different settings than Ayhancan in free practice,” declares Dylan Pereira, Güven’s teammate at BWT Lechner Racing. “We then compared the data from our two cars to find the ideal setup.”

In one aspect, all drivers agree: The new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, which, compared to its predecessor, features a wider track on the front axle and has a rear wing that generates even more downforce, provides significantly more mechanical and aerodynamic grip. “Through the tunnel, for example, I go full throttle. That wasn’t possible with the previous 911 GT3 Cup,” explains polesetter Larry ten Voorde.

A decisive secret of a fast lap is to include the curbs in the ideal racing line. While Formula 1 drivers mostly have to avoid these artificial kerbs, the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup is more forgiving of a considerably more aggressive driving style. “You have to drive over the curbs, otherwise you’ll be too slow,” says Porsche Junior Güven.

“The trick is to hit them at the right angle so that the car doesn’t get too unstable when landing.” The fact that all four wheels of the vehicles occasionally lift off is part of pushing the limit. “The new 911 GT3 Cup flies better than its predecessor,” Güven quickly discovered.

The race starts on Sunday (23 May 2021) at 10:20 am CEST. The TV channels Eurosport and Sky Sport and the streaming service f1tv.formula1.com provide a live broadcast. Fans can also follow the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup action on Twitter (@PorscheSupercup / @PorscheRaces), Instagram (@PorscheSupercup) and Facebook (@PorscheSupercup).

Qualifying Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup round 1, Monte Carlo

1. Larry ten Voorde (NL/Team GP Elite), 1:33.099 min.
2. Jaxon Evans (NZ/ Martinet by Alméras), +0.175 sec.
3. Dorian Boccolacci (F/Martinet by Alméras), +0.236 sec.
4. Christopher Zöchling (A/FACH AUTO TECH), +0.376 sec.
5. Ayhancan Güven (TR/BWT Lechner Racing), +0.487 sec.
6. Florian Latorre (F/CLRT), +0.611 sec.

The post Defending champion Larry ten Voorde posts pole position in Monte Carlo first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

The 2009 FIA Formula 1 World Champion joins Jenson Team Rocket RJN co-owner Chris Buncombe behind the wheel of a McLaren 720S GT3 for the three-hour season finale.

The race – which will decide this year’s British GT Drivers’ and Teams’ titles – represents several firsts for the Sky Sports F1 pundit who also claimed Japan’s prestigious Super GT crown in 2018.

Button has never raced for his own GT team, which he co-founded with life-long friend and business partner Buncombe in 2019, nor driven a GT3 car competitively. It will also be his first competitive appearance at the British Grand Prix venue since his final Formula 1 outing there in 2016.

Covid-19 restrictions will prevent spectators from attending the event. However, British GT and SRO Motorsports Group’s free and unrestricted livestreaming options ensure fans needn’t miss a moment of Button’s debut or the championship showdown, which falls outside of a Formula 1 weekend.

“This will be my first taste of a GT3 car but I’m really looking forward it,” said Button, whose entry is supported by Sky and Intelligent Money Private Clients. “It will be lovely to join our team and lining-up in the McLaren 720S with my best buddy Chris Buncombe. It’s great to come back and race on UK soil again – a big thank you to our partners that have made this possible.

“It’s a shame that this final round of the Intelligent Money British GT Championship will be without the fans but I hope they will tune in to follow our progress!”

Buncombe, meanwhile, makes his first British GT start since the final round at Donington Park in 2018. He’s also a former Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup class champion but, like Button, has never raced the McLaren competitively. Both will sample the car for the first time during a private test session at Silverstone later this month.

“Jenson and I have spoken for a while about sharing a car together on track – we have done a number of off-road races together driving a spec Trophy Truck in the US but never driven together in a GT race,” he said. “It will be great to return to Silverstone and I’m hugely looking forward to trying the McLaren 720S GT3. Thank you to everyone who has helped make this possible, it’s a fantastic way to end the 2020 season.”

Jenson Team Rocket RJN’s new Pro/Am pairing joins the squad’s existing Silver Cup duo of Michael O’Brien and World’s Fastest Gamer James Baldwin who head to Silverstone as one of four GT3 title contenders.

Team principal Bob Neville added: “We are very pleased to be able to run a second car at this final race of the year and it’s brilliant to have a former world champion in Jenson with an endurance champion in Chris behind the wheel, both of whom are my partners in the team.”

“We are also heading into this race with an outside chance of [winning] the British GT Championship with our Silver Cup pairing of Michael O’Brien and the World’s Fastest Gamer, James Baldwin, who will hopefully benefit from having such experienced team-mates.”

Further race-by-race entries for British GT’s three-hour #SilverstoneShowdown, which is expected to attract the largest grid of the season, will be announced in the coming weeks.

Watch the season finale live on the championship’s Facebook page and website, as well as SRO’s GT World Youtube channel, from 12:45 GMT on Sunday 8 November.

Did you know?

Button scored his last victory at Silverstone while racing on British GT’s support bill in October 1999, one year before his Formula 1 graduation with Williams. The then-19-year-old also set fastest lap en route to a third British F3 win of the season.

The post F1 world champion Button set for British GT debut at Silverstone 500 first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

A race that began behind the Safety Car also witnessed a remarkable stint from Sandy Mitchell who took second from Optimum’s McLaren – shared by Ollie Wilkinson and Lewis Proctor – on the line. Barwell’s #78 Lamborghini, which Mitchell shares with Rob Collard, is now just one point behind RAM Racing’s championship leaders Sam De Haan and Patrick Kujala who finished fifth.

The GT4 title also remains wide open with two races remaining in 2020 after contenders Jordan Collard and Patrik Matthiesen (HHC Motorsport McLaren) converted their maximum Success Penalty into second place, and TF Sport’s other Aston Martin shared by Connor O’Brien and Patrick Kibble completed the podium.

GT3: 2 SEAS STEAM TO VICTORY AT WET SNETT

Jordan Witt’s rapid start helped 2 Seas Motorsport claim a long-overdue first British GT victory at Snetterton this morning.

Soaking conditions proved no obstacle for the McLaren driver who dispatched front row starter Rob Collard and pole-man Sam De Haan on consecutive laps soon after the Safety Car was withdrawn. He then established a solid three-second lead over Optimum’s Lewis Proctor who took second when RAM’s Mercedes-AMG lost momentum while attempting to fight back against Witt.

The cars emerged from their pitstops a similar distance apart, but Jack Mitchell was able to steadily pull clear of Ollie Wilkinson en route to a 7.8s victory.

Optimum’s McLaren looked set for its best result since Oulton Park until an inspired Sandy Mitchell began tearing into Wilkinson’s advantage, which stood at 20s immediately after the pitstops. Barwell’s Lamborghini, spurred on by the chance to make up more ground in the championship, was right behind at the start of the final lap and out-sprinted the McLaren to take the chequered flag just 0.081s ahead.

Behind, De Haan handed his Mercedes-AMG over to Patrick Kujala in third place but immediately lost out to their primary championship rivals as a result of a 10s Success Penalty for winning at Donington. Instead, Kujala emerged just ahead of Yelmer Buurman who quickly found a way past his Silver-ballasted team-mate despite a lairy moment that almost cost both drivers dear.

While Buurman romped clear to claim the Pro/Am spoils with co-driver Ian Loggie, Kujala was left to defend from the rapidly advancing Andrea Caldarelli, who’d taken over from Michael Igoe. RAM’s Mercedes-AMG and WPI’s Lamborghini remained nose-to-tail – and frequently closer – thereafter as the Italian repeatedly looked for a way past. But Kujala resisted to maintain his and De Haan’s place at the top of the championship, albeit by just one point.

Barwell’s second Huracan faced an uphill battle after Adam Balon’s spin left Phil Keen at the tail of GT3. But last year’s double Snetterton winners fought back to finish seventh and limit the damage done to their title hopes. 

James Baldwin and Michael O’Brien completed the top-eight to also remain in mathematical title contention.

GT4: MAIDEN WIN HELPS CAROLINE AND VAUGHAN TOP THE CHAMPIONSHIP

TF Sport pairing Dan Vaughan and Jamie Caroline became the sixth different GT4 winners of the season after emerging on top during a tricky first outing at Snetterton, and in doing so earned themselves a slender championship lead.

With the GT4 title fight finely poised heading to Norfolk, any big score or slip-up could have dramatically changed the picture ahead of the season finale at Silverstone next month. But Vaughan and Caroline picked their way through treacherous conditions in Race 1 to move 9.5 points clear despite the best efforts of HHC Motorsport’s McLaren crew of Jordan Collard and Patrik Matthiesen.

After their Donington win, Collard/Matthiesen knew they had to serve an additional 10s during their pitstop. Collard duly secured pole for the car, in the hope of being able to pull away and overturn much of the deficit. However, the great British weather didn’t aid his cause, with the race having to start behind the Safety Car on a drenched circuit.

Unable to make progress for the opening 10 minutes, Collard pushed as hard as the conditions would allow when racing-proper finally got underway. But while he did manage to forge a near four-second gap over the sister HHC McLaren in the hands of Gus Bowers by the time the pit window opened, it wouldn’t be enough to keep the #58 570S out front.

Vaughan had started the TF Aston third and kept a watching brief on the twin HHC McLarens ahead during what was a relatively static opening half. TF then called both its cars in for their stops at the first opportunity in the hope of undercutting the McLarens.

Collard and Bowers were the final two cars to pit and, when the order worked out after the stops and Success Penalties, Caroline emerged at the head of the pack after taking over from Vaughan, with Matthiesen re-joining in second, just ahead of Chris Wesemael – in for Bowers – and Patrick Kibble, who had taken the second Aston over from Connor O’Brien.

Once ahead, Caroline surged clear to cement the #97’s first win of the season.

Behind, a superb three-car battle for second erupted. As the track began to dry, the Astons came alive, with Kibble piling pressure on Wesemael for third place and eventually passing after the McLaren ran too deep into Agostini.

From there, Kibble hunted down Matthiesen and, with just a minute left, the pair were glued nose-to-tail. But, try as he might, Kibble couldn’t quite make a move.

Wesemael took fourth, despite a few off-track excursions during the latter stages, while Balfe’s Euan Hankey and Mia Flewitt claimed the Pro/Am spoils in fifth overall.

Sam Smelt and James Kell brought the Speedworks Toyota Supra home in sixth, passing the Academy Motorsport Ford Mustang late on after Matt Cowley had an off at Wilson hairpin.

Ben Tuck and Andrew Gordon-Colebrooke took seventh in the lead Century Motorsport BMW M4, beating the sister car of Ben Hurst and Adam Hatfield.

The post Mitchell/Witt make it seven winners in as many GT3 races while Caroline/Vaughan take first GT4 victory at Snetterton first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

Meanwhile, Jordan Collard and Patrik Matthiesen head to the #SilverstoneShowdown just 2.5 points behind GT4 leaders Jamie Caroline and Dan Vaughan after HHC’s McLaren beat TF Sport’s Aston Martin to class victory.

Lamborghinis finished one-two overall thanks to WPI Motorsport, Michael Igoe and Andrea Caldarelli who were joined on the podium by championship leaders Patrick Kujala and Sam De Haan.

The RAM Racing duo lead closest rivals Rob Collard and Sandy Mitchell by six points after a seatbelt issue during the pitstops cost Barwell’s Black Bull-backed Huracan 20 seconds and a probable podium.

Further back, Connor O’Brien and Patrick Kibble also remain in GT4 contention after claiming their second third place finish of the day.

GT3: FIRST REPEAT WINNERS REMAIN IN TITLE CONTENTION

Barwell and Lamborghini’s knack of winning at Snetterton continued in today’s second race where Adam Balon and Phil Keen claimed their third win in four attempts.

Sandy Mitchell’s exceptional qualifying lap denied Keen pole. However, the latter was immediately on the front foot at the start and swept around the outside of his team-mate as the pack filed through Riches for the first time.

The Huracan has always performed well in cold, damp conditions and soon both of Barwell’s were away and gone from a pack headed by RAM Racing’s Yelmer Buurman. Andrea Caldarelli (WPI Motorsport) and Patrick Kujala (RAM) continued from where they’d started while Race 1 winner Jack Mitchell (2 Seas Motorsport) moved into sixth ahead of Joe Osborne (Balfe Motorsport). The top-seven would remain unchanged throughout the opening stint.

Behind, Ollie Wilkinson was engaged in a thrilling battle for eighth with Angus Fender and, latterly, Michael O’Brien. 2 Seas’ McLaren was repeatedly rebuffed by Optimum’s example before finding a way past, only to lose the place again just before pitting.

By that point Keen had moved eight seconds clear of Mitchell who’d negated his seven-second Success Penalty to Buurman behind. Barwell’s Lamborghinis should, therefore, have resumed one-two after the stops only for a seatbelt issue to cost the #78 Huracan approximately 20 seconds.

The upshot was a 30-second lead for Balon who stroked it home while others battled behind.

RAM’s Ian Loggie – who’d taken over from Buurman – slotted into second but was immediately under pressure from Michael Igoe. The Mercedes-AMG looked to have seen off WPI’s threat before the Lamborghini’s renewed presence and Igoe’s persistence saw Loggie run wide and drop to fourth behind team-mate De Haan.

Loggie’s attention now turned to helping out the sister car’s championship challenge by keeping Rob Collard at bay. The seatbelt issue had cost Barwell’s other Huracan three positions and a potential victory shot, but try as he might there was no way to dislodge the resolute Mercedes-AMG.

Jenson Team Rocket RJN’s O’Brien and James Baldwin retain a mathematical title shot by completing the top-six after the latter passed Jordan Witt in the second stint. And 2 Seas’ #10 McLaren ultimately dropped to eighth when Optimum’s Lewis Proctor also nipped past on the final lap.

The second 2 Seas 720S and Balfe’s McLaren shared by Osborne and Stewart Proctor rounded out the top-10.

All of that leaves De Haan and Kujala six points clear of Mitchell and Collard with 37.5 to play for at Silverstone’s three-hour season finale on November 7/8. Balon and Keen are a further 5.5 points adrift while Baldwin and O’Brien must win and hope other results go their way to have any chance of overturning a 34-point deficit.

Meanwhile, Balon and Keen lead Pro/Am title rivals Loggie and Buurman by just one point. Igoe is also still in contention, albeit 25.5 points off the lead. 

GT4: MATTHIESEN AND COLLARD TRIUMPH TO SET UP TIGHT TITLE DECIDER

Patrik Matthiesen and Jordan Collard claimed their second victory of the season in Race 2 at Snetterton to set up what promises to be a nail-biting championship decider at Silverstone next month.

While the pace of the #58 HHC McLaren was already evident from Race 1, the full Success Penalty proved the difference between victory and second in the earlier outing.

This time the tables were reversed, with Collard putting on a stunning charge during the second half of the race to catch and pass the championship-leading TF Sport Aston Martin of Jamie Caroline and Dan Vaughan and secure the victory.

Initially, things didn’t look good for the McLaren, with Matthiesen getting squeezed back from second on the grid to run fifth at the end of the first lap. In contrast, Race 1 victor Caroline had no issues, using a brilliant launch to bring the #97 Aston up from fifth on the grid to dive inside pole-sitter Matt Cowley’s Mustang at Palmer and lead in the difficult, greasy conditions.

With grip at a premium, the front-engined Astons came into their own, as Patrick Kibble followed the sister car through to second, drafting past Cowley after getting a better exit out of Murrays corner.

Cowley was visibly struggling for grip in the conditions, and gradually dropped places to Euan Hankey’s Pro/Am McLaren and the recovering Matthiesen, who finally got the move done with a brave around-the-outside dive at Coram.

With 10 seconds extra to serve at his pitstop, leader Caroline wasted little time in pressing on, and soon stretched a comfortable advantage over Kibble by the time the pit window opened.

Once again, both TF cars pitted together, as did Hankey from third to hand over to Mia Flewitt. With no Success Penalty or additional Silver Cup handicap, Balfe’s McLaren initially emerged ahead while Caroline’s fine early work enabled team-mate Vaughan to get back out in front of the sister car, now driven by Connor O’Brien.

Vaughan latched straight onto the back of Flewitt and regained the lead, but the man on a charge was Collard. Matthiesen had brought the HHC car in from fourth place at the first opportunity, and once installed Collard lit up the timing screens.

Thanks to a rapid out-lap, he was into fourth when the order worked out and then proceeded to drag past O’Brien for third down the pit straight. He then zipped past Flewitt and set his sights on Vaughan. After thinking better of a risky move around the outside at Coram, Collard eventually got a run alongside the Aston out of Murrays and the race was done.

Vaughan took second to hold the championship lead, albeit now by a reduced margin of just 2.5 points heading to the final round. O’Brien made it two TF Astons on the podium after working his way past Flewitt, who still took the Pro/Am victory in a fine fourth.

Andrew Gordon-Colebrooke was fifth after taking over from Ben Tuck in the lead Century Motorsport BMW M4, as Will Moore capped a tough weekend for Academy Motorsport with sixth.

James Kell and Sam Smelt were seventh in the Speedworks Toyota, ahead of Ben Hurst and Adam Hatfield’s BMW.

The second HHC McLaren of Gus Bowers and Chris Wesemael endured a tough race after the latter tangled with Team Parker Racing’s Bentley at Brundle on the first lap. The resulting repairs left it eighth at the flag.

The updated championship situation sees Caroline/Vaughan 2.5 points clear of Collard/Matthiesen while Kibble/O’Brien will start the final weekend 13 points behind their team-mates. Cowley and Bowers/Wesemael also retain slim chances of being crowned 2020 GT4 champions.

The post Balon/Keen and Collard/Matthiesen share Race 2 wins at Snetterton first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

The Californian lapped the iconic Brickyard in 1m23.318s to beat Jules Gounon (#7 K-PAX Bentley) in a battle of GT3’s big beasts. The French driver was first to hit the top of the timing screens with four of the 15 minutes elapsed and looked set to clinch a maiden pole for the Bentley brand.

But there was a clear threat in the shape of De Phillippi, whose #34 BMW led the way in this afternoon’s three-driver qualifying session. With five minutes of the Pole Shootout remaining he went second-fastest, then found even more time to snatch top spot from Gounon.

The American remained 0.242s clear at the front to earn BMW its second #IntGTC pole after team-mate Augusto Farfus topped qualifying for Team Schnitzer at last year’s Suzuka 10 Hours.

The championship-leading #7 Bentley crew of Gounon, Maxime Soulet and Jordan Pepper looked to have secured an ideal position from which to extend their points advantage, only to be hit with a 10-place penalty when it was found that the car’s GPS was improperly installed. The grid drop will be applied to the Pole Shootout result, leaving the Bentley squad to start from 10th tomorrow afternoon.

Mario Farnbacher qualified the #30 Team Honda Racing machine third and will start second, continuing the fine form shown by the Japanese brand throughout today’s running. The German ace left nothing on the table, briefly skating across the infield grass as he chased crucial tenths of a second in his NSX.

Nick Yelloly was next in the #35 Walkenhorst BMW, followed by the #93 Racers Edge Motorsport Honda/Acura driven by Trent Hindman. The American booked his squad’s spot on the second row of the grid with a very late effort that was within 0.15s of the factory entry.

Alessandro Balzan put the #1 Squadra Corse Ferrari fifth overall and at the head of the Pro-Am order. Ryan Dalziel was sixth in the #63 DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG, followed by Max Root (#20 Wright Motorsports Porsche) and Jeff Westphal (#6 Vital Speed Ferrari).

Mirko Bortolotti’s #31 Audi Sport Team Hardpoint WRT entry qualified seventh but will start from ninth, one spot ahead of the #7 Bentley, due to a penalty incurred during an earlier session.

The Pole Shootout saw times fall short of those from this afternoon’s qualifying run. De Phillippi could not match the 1m22.915s set by Jan Heylen in the #20 Porsche, with significant amounts of rubber laid down by other series the likely cause of this drop-off in pace.

Connor De Phillippi, Walkenhorst Motorsport: “Pole position is certainly a great performance from the team, BMW and myself. We couldn’t have a better starting position for tomorrow, which I think will be a tough race. There might be some weather that throws a curveball into the mix.”

“No one’s experienced that here yet, so it could be interesting. Overall this has been a good day. We didn’t look great on Friday but we made some good steps overnight and it demonstrates that the team has done a fantastic job. I have two great team-mates so we’ll go out and put on a show tomorrow.”

Tomorrow’s eight-hour Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli race will be the first staged at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway and second event in 2020’s global GT3 series following February’s Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.

The post De Phillippi fires BMW to inaugural Indianapolis 8 Hour pole first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

RAM Racing’s De Haan starts Race 1 from pole after beating Barwell Motorsport’s Rob Collard and 2 Seas’ Jordan Witt in Q1. Mitchell then hit back in Q2 by out-pacing team-mate Phil Keen and RAM’s other Mercedes-AMG driven by Yelmer Buurman.

HHC Motorsport grabbed GT4 Race 1 pole courtesy of Collard who lapped 1.1s faster than team-mate Gus Bowers and TF Sport’s championship leader, Dan Vaughan. But the second session and fastest time of all belonged to Academy’s Matt Cowley who denied Patrik Matthiesen a second pole for HHC. TF Sport’s Patrick Kibble completed the top-three.

GT3: HONOURS EVEN AFTER CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDERS TRADE POLES

Victory at Donington ensures Patrick Kujala and Sam De Haan must serve the maximum Pitstop Success Penalty tomorrow. But the latter went some way to easing the burden by claiming pole position for the first 60-minute race.

RAM Racing’s championship-leading Mercedes-AMG set a best of 2m06.441s on its final run to ultimately beat Rob Collard by 0.182s. Barwell’s #78 Lamborghini, which lies nine points behind in the title fight, held provisional pole for a time after toppling early pace setter Ian Loggie but couldn’t match either of De Haan’s two session-topping laps.

2 Seas Motorsport’s McLarens share row two thanks to late improvements from Jordan Witt and Dean Macdonald, which relegated RAM’s second Mercedes-AMG to fifth. Nevertheless, Loggie still qualified fastest of the Pro/Am entries and three places clear of his nearest class rival, Michael Igoe.

Lewis Proctor (Optimum) and James Baldwin (Jenson Team Rocket RJN) start sixth and seventh, the latter unable to extend his impressive run of three successive fastest Q1 times, while Barwell’s Adam Balon lines up behind WPI’s Igoe. Duncan Cameron’s AF Corse Ferrari completed Q1’s top-10.

The wet but steadily improving track conditions meant lap times reduced by two seconds in Q2. But on an afternoon tailor made for Snetterton specialist Phil Keen it was team-mate Sandy Mitchell who set a blistering pace to grab pole.

RAM’s Yelmer Buurman initially led from Keen before the Huracan driver hit his stride on the second round of flying laps to turn a 0.090s deficit into a 0.015s advantage.

Meanwhile, a loose driver safety net was threatening to derail Mitchell’s challenge before it began. But there was no stopping the Black Bull-backed Lamborghini after a quick pitstop helped fully restore visibility. Indeed, the Scot immediately took provisional pole on his first flyer before overturning Keen’s subsequent improvement with arguably the lap of the season. Three purple sectors accounted for a 2m04.303s – an incredible 0.543s quicker than his team-mate who completed an all-Barwell front row.

WPI’s Andrea Caldarelli underlined the Lamborghini’s wet weather prowess by joining Buurman on row two, while Kujala starts two places behind his RAM Racing team-mate in fifth.

Balfe’s McLaren lines up sixth courtesy of Joe Osborne who beat Sam Neary by 0.3s. However, ABBA’s Mercedes-AMG will start Race 2 from the tail of the GT3 pack tomorrow after suspension failure prevented the completion of two flying laps, as mandated in the regulations.

Instead, Matt Griffin’s AF Corse Ferrari heads up row four alongside Optimum’s Ollie Wilkinson, while 2 Seas’ McLarens once again start line astern in the hands of Angus Fender and Jack Mitchell.

GT4: HHC AND ACADEMY START UP FRONT

Jordan Collard backed up his first win of the season last time out by securing pole position for tomorrow’s opening race at Snetterton. Co-driver Patrik Matthiesen then looked good to make it double delight for HHC and McLaren, only to be denied by a stunning late lap posted by Academy Motorsport’s Matt Cowley.

Having topped both practice runs earlier in the day, HHC opted to field Collard in the first 10-minute session in the hope that its form driver could then overturn the 10s Success Penalty – incurred for winning at Donington – during Race 1.

And it paid dividends with Collard dominating proceedings after James Kell in the Speedworks Toyota and Connor O’Brien’s TF Sport Aston Martin led the early exchanges.

Collard’s biggest challenger turned out to be his own team-mate in HHC’s sister 570S, but even Gus Bowers couldn’t get within a second of the #58 car’s 2m13.611s.

Dan Vaughan might have disputed pole. However, two deleted laps for straying beyond track limits kept TF Sport’s #97 Vantage at the bottom of the timesheets before vaulting up to third on the final tour.

Joint-championship leader O’Brien was fourth ahead of Will Moore in Academy’s Mustang, Kell’s Toyota, Andrew Gordon-Colebrooke’s Century BMW, Mia Flewitt’s Balfe McLaren and second BMW of Ben Hurst.

Q2 would prove far closer.

Academy’s Mustang has been formidable since Oulton and maintained that hot streak at Snetterton by claiming pole position for Race 2 thanks to Matt Cowley’s late effort.

Chris Wesemael put the McLaren he shares with Bowers fastest early on before Patrick Kibble emerged ahead for TF Sport.

But then came Cowley who, after a relatively steady out-lap to judge the conditions, pumped in an effort half-a-second better than anyone else to snatch provisional pole on his penultimate tour.

Matthiesen attempted to fight back in the hope of securing a double pole for HHC’s #58 crew, but his best effort missed top spot by just 0.065s.

Kibble wound up third and Wesemael fourth after failing to convert a purple first sector on his final lap into a meaningful time.

Jamie Caroline (TF Sport) starts fifth ahead of the retuning Ben Tuck in Century’s #42 BMW. Euan Hankey took Pro/Am pole in seventh, with Adam Hatfield bringing the second BMW to eighth, and Sam Smelt’s Toyota in ninth.

Watch live coverage of both 60-minute races on British GT’s website and social media from 10:15 on Sunday.

The post Championship rivals De Haan and Mitchell, and Collard and Cowley share poles at Snetterton first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

The Dubai-based squad returned the Stuttgart marque to the top step of the podium last year and is now seeking to become the first team since 2006 to successfully defend its victory in the Ardennes.

Mathieu Jaminet set a 2m18.337s lap during Tuesday night’s session, which continued until 22.00 and gave competitors significant running after dark at Spa-Francorchamps in preparation for the October 22-25 event. 

A different car and brand topped each of the five sessions during two days of extensive testing. Second overall was the #10 Boutsen Ginion Racing BMW, which registered a 2m18.929s in the hands of factory driver Jens Klingmann to emerge fastest on Tuesday afternoon.

It was the ideal way for the Belgian squad to cap a day on which it unveiled its stunning ‘art car’ livery designed Peter Halley to the world.

Audi Sport Team Attempto paced Tuesday morning’s rain-affected session with its #66 entry, which has been confirmed as one of four cars that will compete with official support from the Ingolstadt marque at this year’s race.

The #72 SMP Racing Ferrari led the way on Wednesday morning with a 2m19.093s, while the #88 AKKA ASP Mercedes emerged fastest in the final session thanks to a 2m19.318s lap. 

The test was run in the variable weather conditions for which Spa is famous. Tuesday morning began on a wet track, but with the skies clearing and the sun emerging after lunch there was an opportunity for significant dry running.

Damp conditions and cooler temperatures returned early on Wednesday before a dry line emerged as the lunch break approached. Rain started to fall once more in the afternoon, preventing any significant improvements during the final session. 

The test was staged just three weeks before teams arrive back at the 7km circuit for the 72nd running of the Belgian endurance classic and saw a total of 50 cars log vital data ahead of next month’s race.

With a later-than-usual place on the calendar, this was more crucial than ever as competitors prepare to tackle the new challenge of autumn in the Ardennes.

Indeed, the work done this week could be the difference between victory and defeat come the afternoon of October 25.

The post GPX Racing Porsche fastest overall as chequered flag falls on Total 24 Hours of Spa test days first appeared on InsideRacing.com.