Whilst we still await official verification of the results, it appears as though two Aston Martin Racing powered teams completed upon at least part of their own British GT Championship possibilities at the end of the last race of the season from Brands Hatch earlier today.

Going into the #BattleofBrands two-hour finale, we were in the position of having three of the five AMR Vantage powered crews having similar possibilities within both GT3 and GT4, although some were a little bit of a push away than others.

 

The #007 Beechdean AMR Vantage GT3 of Andrew Howard and Ross Gunn had seen their own workload intensify during qualifying when an off for Gunn limited them to just to just a P8 overall starting position in a race that they needed to win before then relying upon the misfortune for others. Although the damage incurred on Saturday was easily rectified by the team overnight, the writing on the wall for Howards one last dance appeared to have been already written.

It was a near similar case for both the MK Racing and Grange Racing AMR Vantage GT4 crews of Jessica Hawkins/Will Ortin and Dan Lavery/Darren Turner respectively, as the full Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit layout was certainly not to the favour of their cars with their overall championship competitors significantly faster going into the race.

 

The #40 Townsend Racing and #97 GBR Stratton Motorsport AMR Vantage GT4 crews were not in contention for any end of season accolade but were a further opportunity for each team to lay out their wears in their continuing recruitment drive in time for next season. James Townsend would also be running his own marathon within the race as he would firstly overcome those points of doubt having been off in the gravel at Paddock Hill Bend three times the day before plus a spin elsewhere on the circuit to become the first driver to complete a two-hour race within the national series as a solo driver. Kudos to him for doing so.

John Hartshorne and Jordan Collard would see out the first season for the joint venture team within the paddock for the team as they also look to run a two-car package next season with one car in each of the available GT4 Pro-Am and silver classes.

 

Despite the cooler of late temperatures and the potential for rain later into the race, the race itself got underway to a surprisingly smooth start with front runner GT3 runners making early statements of intent during the opening laps with little to no incident of note to report.

That incident did come soon enough as the then race leading Lamborghini spun off into the gravel of its own accord bringing out the Safety Car for the first time as also the GT4 class leading Ginetta GT4 did suffered a pit lane at the far end to the circuit just as others in class were pitting for their one and only stop. That would throw the available GT4 silver and overall championships wide open to those left on track.

 

A solid opening stint from Lavery had seen him lead his already secured GT4 Pro-Am championship lead for much of the race as he and his #27 car circulated fifth overall within GT4 and with the #21 MK Racing Aston also behind him too. As the class approached their pit window, the sequence on track of the #27 ahead of the #42 Ginetta ahead of the #21 Aston would later become more significant towards the end.

Pitting first between classes, the GT4 of Lavery was one of the first-class contenders to pit early as he handed over to AMR factory driver and Le Mans 24hr winner Darren Turner for the final near hour long run into the flag as others around them, including the #21 car had additional pit lane time to serve either through success penalty or class definition.

 

Whilst that was all going on, Howard had run his last British GT race from a best position of seventh overall on track and P4 in class, to hand over to Gunn for one last stint but with others being much faster than them, they would round off their 2026 season P6 overall but with one final visit to the podium for the pairing with their P3 in GT3 Pro-Am finish.

After all the pit stops were over, the GT4 battles certainly heated up considerably as Turner had now come out second overall in class – way behind the then leading McLaren but high enough up the order, with others behind that technically gave them the Overall GT4 Drivers title as long as they stayed where they were and nobody else overtook anyone else to change the running order. They was a threat from the #84 McLaren but that youngster was no match for the factory driver, and the #84 car was soon along pit lane serving a drive through penalty for a pit lane infraction.

 

Next up was the #42 Ginetta to be hot upon the heels of the #27 car again, but with the #21 AMR of Will Orton now catching both hand over fist with still over forty-five minutes to go. A FCY to remove the long stopped #74 Ginetta from the grass infield briefly slowed things again giving Turner the need to produce the race of his recent life to keep both cars behind him.

Unavoidable contact between the #27 and the #42 at Druids only delayed the Ginetta but allowed the #21 car to close up again and with passing GT3 machinery, literally anything could have happened with those three GT4 cars.

In the end and despite a last corner last lap lunge form Orton, Turner was able to hang onto their P2 overall /P1 in class finish to provisionally lift the Overall GT4 Drivers title to go alongside their GT4 Pro-Am Drivers title with the #21 MK Racing AMR of Hawkins/Orton also doing enough to secure their GT4 Silver Drivers title as well.

Now – all just needs to be confirmed before the champagne is allowed to flow too wildly!!

 

 

Hopefully, this will not be the last time we see any Beechdean AMR liveried Aston Martin Racing on a racetrack somewhere in Europe next season.

 

 

 

After all the pre-event hype about who could win what within the outstanding classes of the British GT Championship’s final round this weekend from Brands Hatch, the reality of realising just what you have got underneath sometimes paints a differing picture as the three Aston Martin Racing powered crews with championship winning possibilities all now face an uphill battle in tomorrow’s race.

Racing around the full 2.43-mile Grand Prix circuit, the eleven GT4 powered crews and eleven GT3 powered all had two glorious days of track preparation yesterday and today with private testing, Free Practice and Pre-Qualifying before going into those two ten-minute qualifying runs per class this afternoon.

 

Earlier in the day, the sole AMR Vantage GT3 contender from the Beechdean AMR team with drivers Andrew Howard and Ross Gunn ended this morning’s Free Practice with hope, finishing fourth fastest in class but elected to make changes during the next hour-long Free Practice session. Despite being quicker than their last session, so was everyone else and the ended the morning sessions P10 in class.

The #21 MK Racing Vantage GT4 of Will Orton and Jessica Hawkins are also in the mix for both the Overall GT4 Drivers Championship title as well as their own Silver Class title going into this finale, but they finished Free Practice only sixth quickest overall, P4 in class.

Moving into Pre-Qualifying, that followed a similar vein for the duo as another frustrating session went by where they finished that one P7 overall in GT4, but this time P3 in class. Just maybe, they needed to concentrate a little bit more on the task at hand rather than all the TV cameras following them about the paddock today – just a personal observation! We realise that sponsors need their exposure to back up their investment within the team/drivers but there comes a point…………!

 

Having already scooped the GT4 Pro-Am Drivers title at the last round from Donington Park a couple of weeks ago, the #27 Grange Racing with FSR of Dan Lavery and Darren Turner are also in the hunt for the Overall GT4 Drivers Championship as well.

Operating on a completely different mantra to those at MK Racing, this team have been the silent assassins all season, quietly picking off class wins and podiums along the way (despite a poor start at the season opener from Silverstone) to be in the position now that they are. With rumour circulating around of their progression to a Vantage GT3 next season, the team were keeping their own feet firmly on the ground today to go into Qualifying after being P7 overall/P3 in class and P2 overall/P1 in class respectively over the previous two hours of running.

 

Not this time involved in any championship battles leaves us the #40 Townsend Racing and #97 GBR Stratton Motorsport Vantage GT4 entries where change was afoot within the #40 car as just James Townsend was on parade for driving duties this weekend. Not quite sure what has gone on there but the man behind the name was very much on his own today as he and his #40 struggled to stay on the track. Repeated offs through the gravel at Paddock Hill Bend were later added to with a spin at Stirling’s later in the day to further dent and already dented confidence within his car.

Then there is the #97 car of full season entrant John Hartshorne alongside Jordan Collard for only his second race of the year as he filled the gap left by the previous drivers budget enforced departure from the team. Despite looking racey at Donington Park last time out but the #40 and #97 crews struggled for pace today to end the morning at or about the foot of the table.

 

Then came Qualifying……….

GT3 first with Howard running what should be his last top flight session before taking something of a step back from headline racing series which saw him deliver a best lap time some 1.5 seconds off the pace before handing over to Gunn for the second run. Unfortunately for the AMR factory driver, an off at the Clark Curve saw the #007 car nose into the safer barrier to bring out the red flag with just over four minutes remaining.

Fortunately the damage didn’t appear to be significant so we don’t think there is any danger of the crew missing tomorrows race but they will have to chase just that little bit harder if they are to overcome their points deficit in tomorrow’s two hour race from P8 on the grid (P5 in class).

 

Whilst there was a further spin for Townsend at Paddock Hill Bend (also bringing out the red flag), the #27 crew was again the best of the Vantage GT4 qualifiers in P5 overall with the #21 MK Racing AMR on the next row back in seventh. The #40 did still outdo the #97 car to claim P10 with the Hartshorne/Collard car bringing up the rear.

 

Tomorrow’s race is waved off at 13:30hrs local.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This weekend’s final round to the 2026 British GT Championship from Brands Hatch will literally by this years “race of champions’ as most of the GT3 and GT4 Drivers, Class and Team’s titles remain unresolved.

The only caveat to that statement will be that the #27 Grange Racing with FSR Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 pairing of Dan Lavery and Darren Turner have already secured their GT4 Pro-Am Drivers Championship following their race results last time out at Donington Park just a few weeks ago, but the rest remain fair game.

 

Going into this weekend’s final two-hour race around the full Brands Hatch circuit will feature another equal pairing of eleven GT3 powered crews with another eleven GT4 powered crews with three of the five Aston Martin Racing powered crews still very much in contention for one (or more) of these available championship wins.

Starting in the numerical order of each AMR powered team sees the #007 Beechdean AMR Vantage GT3 powered crew of Andrew Howard and Ross Gunn still in the hunt for both the Overall Championship win as well as their specific GT3 Drivers Championship. Going into this round, the #007 stands 27.5 points behind the present overall class leaders whilst being 20.5 points behind the present GT3 Pro-Am leaders and with 37.5 points still on offer – anything is possible even if they may need a little luck coming their way to do so.

 

This will also be Howards final race at this level after his announcement to step back a bit at the end of the season so he will want to give himself and his team their best chances of grabbing yet another British GT accolade at the end.

Moving into GT4 and it will be the #21 MK Racing AMR Vantage GT4 crew of Will Orton and Jessica Hawkins next as they have a much lower points deficit to overcome as far as both their available GT4 Drivers and GT4 Silver class championships go being just 6 points behind overall and just 1.5 points behind in silver.

 

What will really help these guys this time around will be their lack of pit stop compensation time at the halfway stage this is in addition to that of their silver/silver status whilst those ahead of them within either championship do have something extra to carry over from their Donington Park results.

Next up is the #27 Grange Racing crew who have already secured one significant class prize at their first time of asking but they do also remain in contention for the overall GT4 Drivers Championship as well, being just 10 points behind the leaders with also no pit stop compensation time to factor in thanks to their Pro-Am status.

 

That leaves just the #40 Townsend Racing and #97 GBR Stratton Motorsport AMR Vantage GT4 crews of James Townsend with Joe Wheeler and John Hartshorne alongside Jordan Collard again after his class podium winning debut performance last time out at Donington Park.

Neither crew are sadly at the sharper end of their Pro-Am or Overall leaderboards as both have suffered from more than their fair share of on track misfortune or post-race penalty. So far, Hartshorne has had a habit so far this season of finding himself within a class podium finishing position in many of the seven races so far to presently lie fourth overall within Pro-Am but with the potential of moving up higher should those ahead and actively chasing the ultimate prize mess up along the way.

 

It is similar for the #40 crew who lie sixth overall in class going into this round after they lost out on their podium finish last time out thanks to a post-race technical infringement penalty.

There will be plenty of Pro and Am based drivers fired up for this weekend’s finale and the final round has always had a tenancy in upsetting the apple cart somewhere along the way – we’re sure that the same will happen somewhere between testing this Friday and the end of the season at 15:30hrs on Sunday when everything will be realised.

 

Donington Park in the British GT Championship this weekend was never quite the old #doningtondecider that it has become renowned for in recent rounds as this weekend was just the penultimate round to the season, but class championships were still there to be won.

With Qualifying having been ran yesterday, the #007 Beechdean Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 of Andrew Howard and Ross Gunn had had a challenging time against their peers to secure their P7 overall/ P5 in Pro-Am starting position but all four Vantage GT4 crews had benefitted from the disqualification of the three Ginetta cars for their ride height technical infringement.

 

That elevated the #27 Grange Racing AMR of Dan Lavery and Darren Turner up to the head of the AMR pack in their P2 overall start with the #21 MK Racing AMR of Will Orton and Jessica Hawkins just behind. The #97 GBR Stratton AMR of John Hartsorne and a season debuting appearance of Jordan Collard next P7 in class with the #40 Townsend entry of James Townsend and Joe Wheeler just behind them in eighth out of a combined grid size of just twenty-three cars.

Just before the start of this penultimate two-hour race, Mother Nature threw in her curved ball with a short but torrential downpour, particularly around the second half of the lap that forced many to opt for the full wet tyre over that of the slick as a choice of being between a rock and a hard place considering the track conditions.

 

Miraculously, the opening laps were without major incident or accident beyond that of the expected first few corners panel bashing between cars as Howard retained his starting position but both Lavery and Orton dropped a couple of places upon that opening lap. The first spinner wasn’t too far away as the Ferrari GT3 dropped a wheel off the track but was fortunately able to recover itself to the track without the need of further intervention.

Ten minutes in and the wet shod cars were already looking for the wetter sections of the track as a distinctive dry line was rapidly forming as the rain had now long since passed as the GT3 leaders were soon upon the heels of the GT4 class. The first significant incident on track came at the half hour mark when the delayed Ferrari founds itself in the way of the leading GT3 cars who were also lapping other GT4 cars which saw both the Ferrari and a Lamborghini spinning off into the gravel after the Lambo had hist the Ferrari into a spin. Again – both cars were able to recover themselves onto track without race interrupting intervention.

 

The #27 car of Lavery was an early pit visitor to change from wets and onto slicks, still just half-way through his opening hour-long stint as the transition between wets or slicks being quickest on the rapidly drying track had been reached as the slick runners were now six seconds per lap quicker. The #007 and #40 AMR’s of Howard and Townsend had similar ideas too.

Just ahead of the start to the pit window, the first (and thankfully only significant) incident took place at the hairpin when the GT3 Pro-Am Championship leading McLaren lost the back end of his car going into the braking zone to then turn and knock into the pole setting BMW GT3 to take both cars out of the race. What followed was an equally scary moment for Howard who spun around at the same position to thankfully pass the #77 McLaren by through the gravel. No contact made and Howard was able to rejoin and complete his stint before handing over to Gunn whilst fifth overall – P3 in class.

 

That allowed the four AMR Vantage GT4 crews to complete their compulsory stops where their faster drivers would now be aboard. Lavery had done his stuff as he handed over to AMR factory driver Turner whilst importantly holding onto their Pro-Am class lead thanks to their early change from wets. On the flip side, the #21 MK Racing AMR crew would see their silver class championship aspirations take a knock as Orton was served with a drive through penalty for speeding in pit lane during their stop – who was liable for that was inconsequential.

After the GT4 stops, the race action on track kind of died down a bit as gaps became insurmountable on track but errors on track still came with a consequence as the #42 Pro-Am contending Ginetta was first given a DTP of their own for track limits before having to visit pit lane again with unknown issues – that all fell in favour of the #27 crew and their championship hopes.

 

Going into the final minutes of the race, the #007 Beechdean was still looking good for another podium finish in class at least as they would come home fourth overall – P3 in class whilst the GT4 field would see two of the four cars finish in similar positions.

Whilst the #27 crew would win the Pro-Am class and clinch the class championship win as a result of the issues with the #42 car, the #40 AMR of Townsend/Wheeler would finish P3 within GT4 Pro-Am but a post-race check would see the car disqualified from the results for a technical infringement where the #97 GBR Stratton car of Hartshorne and Collard would benefit.

 

The final race of the season will be from Brands Hatch in two weeks’ time and will be where the final championship titles will be decided.

Photo credits - Jacob Ebrey

 

 

 

Qualifying was completed a couple of hours ago ahead of tomorrow’s penultimate round of the British GT Championship but between then and us getting home, everything has changed as the three (faster) Ginetta’s have all been disqualified from their sessions on a technical infringement.

Having had a few hours of track time on Thursday to get in some early laps during private testing, the lower-than-normal grid of twenty-seven GT3 and GT4 cars were back in business this morning for the first of two one-hour sessions (Free Practice and Pre-Qualifying) before this afternoons all important individual qualifying runs.

 

The Grange Racing by FSR were reporting how their new BoP for the event had been challenging for them as they had to deal with additional ballast amongst others things although the #27 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 of Dan Lavery and Darren Turner were always up at the sharper end of the timing screen despite these apparent hardships.

The #97 GBR Stratton Motorsport were welcoming back their new young gun in Jordan Collard to join their full season entrant John Hartshorne for these remain two rounds of the season. He laps on Thursday were his first competitive laps within any race car for about four years he said over the circuit commentary.

 

The #21 MK Racing AMR Vantage GT4 Silver pairing of Jessica Hawkins and Will Orton gave their team an early headache after an off-track excursion during todays morning session had damaged the front splitter without another seemingly being available at the circuit. Despite this, the necessary repairs were made and that didn’t seem to affect the pairing too much over the remaining sessions.

The #40 Townsend Motorsport AMR of James Townsend and Joe Wheeler appeared to have an uneventful morning – although the pairing were slowest by the end of both sessions. That was a similar tail for the #007 Beechdean AMR Vantage GT3 of Andrew Howard and Ross Gunn who also finished their morning runs at the lower end of the GT3 class.

 

Despite the skies clouding over a bit more over lunch, the sun was back out in force in time for the four qualifying sessions where each driver per car was required to set a time with the aggregate of such setting their position upon the grid for tomorrows two-hour race and with qualifying having been run on track at least, the performances of all five Aston Martins had seen them left within their respective midfield.

Then comes the announcement of problems with all three Ginetta’s. Whilst the #007 Beechdean GT3 is unaffected by this and will start from P7 on the grid, the four Vantage GT4 crews all move up three places with the #27 Grange Racing car now grabbing GT4 Pro-Am pole position again for another front row start in GT4 with the #21 MK Racing crew just behind in third. The #97 GBR Stratton pips their more established rivals within the #40 Townsend car with each starting P7 and P8 overall within GT4 respectively.

 

But of course, two hours around Donington Park usually turns all of the above upon its head at least once or twice during the race so the race result is still a blank canvas.

 

 

 

 

It’s time for the British GT Championship to start ramping up the temperatures within all of its available classes as this weekend sees the penultimate round of the season from Donington Park. Not quite the infamous #doningtondecider this time around but again, results from this two-hour race will prove pivotable for some going into the final round from Brands Hatch later this month.

One thing the teams and crew will not be missing this time around will be the recent repressive heat of summer of late with more seasonable temperatures and track conditions now expected for this weekend.

 

Today’s provisional entry list confirms all of the usual full season Aston Martin Racing powered entries but this time with a caveat over the #97 GBR Stratton Motorsport AMR Vantage GT4 crew as (at the moment) just John Hartshorne is being listed. Last time out at Snetterton, it was Jonny Adam who filled the gap in lieu of Ronan Pearson who we understand to have come across some budgetary issues but this time around – Adam is already committed to his Heart of Racing duties within the FIA World Endurance Championship in America.

Looking back two weeks to those two races in Norfolk, it was a perfect performance from the #27 Grange Racing with FSR Vantage GT4 team of Dan Lavery and Darren Turner as they scooped two class wins for their efforts to lead their Pro-Am class and be in close contention with the GT4 Drivers overall championship as well.

 

For the #21 MK Racing Vantage GT4 duo of Will Orton and Jessica Hawkins, consistency again proved its worth as a class P2 finish in race one and then a P3 class finish in race two sees them retain a now slender lead within the GT4 Overall Drivers standing as well as maintain the same points difference to their closest rivals within both their GT4 Silver class and GT4 Teams championship stakes.

The #40 Townsend Racing by Fox Motorsport AMR crew of James Townsend and Joe Wheeler celebrated something of a better performance in the heat of Norfolk after a P6 Pro-Am finish in race one was backed up with a deserved P3 podium finish in race two to now be just a handful of points behind Hartshorne. A double P5 finish for him in both races sees him lose a bit of ground to his rivals with the top three crews more than thirteen points ahead.

 

Finally in GT3, we have recently seen the confirmation from Beechdean AMR’s boss Andrew Howard of his intention to step back from high level competitive racing at the end of the season as he and co-driver Ross Gunn look to notch up another class championship win for themselves by the end of the Brands Hatch finale.

A P4 finish in race one but dropping valuable points through errors in race two saw the pairing having to make do with a P3 result in that race sees the #007 crew drop twenty-five points to the new GT3 Pro-Am class leaders as well as dropping to fifth within the Overall championship so for this crew – a decent result at Donington Park will be key to their final race campaign but the team will have an additional ten second stop at their designated driver change in lieu of their podium finish last time out. The #27 and #21 Vantage GT4 crews will also have an additional fifteen seconds of stop time added for Donington for the same reason.

 

Track action will begin on Thursday with private testing before Free Practice, Pre-Qualifying and combined Qualifying on Saturday before the start to this penultimate two hour affair starting at 13:30hrs local on Sunday.

After today’s four qualifying sessions, the grids for tomorrows two one-hour sprint races of the British GT Championship’s visit to Snetterton are now all locked in.

After what must have been the hottest conditions that the championship has tested in yesterday, track and trackside conditions were significantly cooler today with that persistent low cloud cover although humidity remained high.

 

As opposed to our earlier preview post, the only change of detail within the five Aston Martin Racing powered entries was within the #97 GBR Stratton Motorsport Vantage GT4 entry. Usually with both John Hartshorne and Ronan Pearson behind the wheel until now, sources within the team did tell us that the reason was otherwise “unavoidable and late in the day”, hence the late call up to racing duty for the teams resident driver coach and AMR factory driver, Jonny Adam.

Otherwise, it was a much-needed return to the racetrack for the twenty-four GT3 and GT4 powered crews after something near an eight week break since their last round of the season from Spa Francorchamps with only a single day test at the Norfolk circuit last week in-between.

 

During earlier Free Practice and Pre-Qualifying, none of the AMR crews were quick to show their hand as the #21 MK Racing GT4 of Will Orton and Jessica Hawkins going P2 in class in the morning but with the #7 Beechdean GT3 of Andrew Howard and Ross Gunn being slapped upon the writs by the stewards by having their lap times deleted under Reg. 26.20 (We don’t know either).

Pre-Qualifying was next up just ahead of lunch were again, all five Astons featured lower down but this time with the #21 and #97 GBR Stratton cars getting lap times deleted for track limits. Then came individual qualifying with each driver per car setting a time for their respective starting position per race tomorrow.

 

Howard got the ball rolling within his GT3 Am group of cars and whilst he would get himself up to P5 in class, he would have to settle for a P9 starting position in race one – P6 in class. Gunn would be next, after an enforced delay for necessary barrier repairs after the #78 Lamborghini went off late in the session before. He definitely pulled out all the stops to claim himself a pole position start in tomorrow’s second race.

GT4 next and that heralded the likes of Hartshorne (#97), Hawkins (#21), Daniel Lavery (#27 Grange Racing) and James Townsend (#40 Townsend Racing) to the track to put in their best efforts within the Pro-Am class for all except the #21 car who run within silver.

Lavery came out best with a class pole position in Pro-Am, fourth in the trail of GT4 cars on the grid with the #21 car next P7 overall (P5 in class) within then the #40 car P8 overall/P3 in class and P11 overall/P6 in class respectively.

Their Pro’s were out next for their race two starting positions and it would be Will Orton who would come home best within the #21 car with his P4 overall/P2 in class result with then a battle between the AMR factory drivers next but with Adam pipping Darren Turner and his #27 car with a P6 overall/P4 in class over that of Turner within is #27 car and his P7 overall /P5 in class. Joe Wheeler concluded the quartet of AMR cars with his P11 overall/P6 in class result.

 

Two one-hour races now to look forward to tomorrow – the first starting at 11:35 and the second at 16:00hrs local.

Photo credits – Jacob Ebrey

 

After what feels like a lifetime since their last round, the British GT Championship is back in town this weekend as their GT3 and Gt4 based grid reconvene at the somewhat parched Snetterton circuit in Norfolk for two more fast and furious sprint races.

In reality, that last round at Spa Francorchamps back in June was still some eight weeks ago in late June where the British GT grid of twenty five cars shared the Belgian circuit with the cars from the French FFSA GT4 Series to create at best, a very interesting racing environment for many or at worst, a platform where the ‘lesser’ driver in the smallest of cars could not stand with the much faster GT3 cars thundering passed them leading to multiple yellow flag incidents on track.

 

That being said, the #27 Grange Racing AMR Vantage GT4 Pro-Am pairing of Dan Lavery and Darren Turner had nothing to fear as that duo continued their rapid rise up the class order to win at Spa.

The sole AMR Vantage GT3 entry from the Beechdean AMR squad for drivers Andrew Howard and Ross Gunn were looking well placed within that race to continue their healthy points haul in the championship so far but for some unforced errors on track that saw post-race time penalties ultimately drop them down the order to eventually finish fifth.

 

It was a similar tale for the #21 MK Racing AMR Vantage GT4 of Jessica Hawkins and Will Orton which saw an off-track experience for Hawkins during qualifying leave Orton unable to run his laps leaving their car at the back of the British GT GT4 class for the start of the race. As expected, being a silver/silver pairing, they did rise up the order to also eventually finish fifth in class at the end.

That left both the Pro-Am GT4 pairing of Joe Wheeler/James Townsend in their #40 Townsend Racing by Fox Motorsport entry plus the #97 GBR Stratton AMR Vantage GT4 Evo entry of John Hartshorne and Ronan Pearson to lament upon what might have been after numerous errors (of their own and others) left them slightly lower down the class order but with both crews still securing valuable class points.

 

Going into this weekend’s two, one-hour sprint races on Sunday, the #007 Beechdean GT3 crew still lie third within the GT3 Pro-Am Drivers Championship but have now slipped to sixth within the Overall GT3 Drivers order whilst both the #21 MK Racing and #27 Grange Racing pairings remain strong contenders within the top four of the Overall GT4 Drivers Championship whilst also being 1st or 2nd within their respective classes.

Proving that consistency is the key within any championship, the #97 GBR Stratton crew presently sit fourth within their GT4 Pro-Am class, just ten and a half points behind the more race headline winning #27 crew with the #40 Townsend crew just a further eight points back behind them. The points availability this weekend will undoubtedly change all of the above at some point.

 

With an Amber weather alert for heat already in situ for this Thursday, events at Snetterton this weekend will be very hot for one reason or another with just how drivers and teams manage themselves in what will be some very uncomfortable conditions on both pit lane and the track. The same will go for their tyre allocation.

Private testing will again be available to the teams on Friday before the more formal track sessions beginning on Saturday.

Photo credits – Teams / Jacob Ebrey / social media