Marc Warren and Jack Brown claimed a composed victory for Optimum Motorsport during the first British GT Championship race of the day at Snetterton this afternoon.
A chaotic start to the race saw Warren retain the lead into Richies, with Rob Collard trailing behind, having the Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720s GT3 Evo of Morgan Tillbrook. Soon after, the first incident within the span of a few corners would see contact between Simon Orange of Orange Racing by JMH and Jonathon Beeson of Century Motorsport, with the latter forced onto the grass as a result.
The first retirement of the race would fall the way of Paddock Motorsport’s Revie Lake in the GT4 category, after taking to the grass at the end of the first circulation of the 300 circuit. More collisions would follow, with contact between Mark Smith and Alex Martin leaving the Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 facing the wrong way and down in 19th position.
Fierce competition continued throughout the field during the second lap, with Collard making contact with Warren in the battle for top spot. Steven Lake also had an off at Murrays, hitting the barrier and forcing him into an early withdrawal.
Mike Price was the next to take a trip across the grass, conceding ninth position to Ian Loggie. A traffic jam then began to form behind Tillbrook in the battle for third, with five cars separated by two seconds. Kevin Tse and Cameron Campbell had a minor coming together after a lunge from the 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo in the battle for seventh, with both cars escaping unscathed.
A quieter period would follow, with positions stabilised at the front of the pack ahead of the mandatory pit stops. All on his own, Beechdean Motorsport Ltd’s Andrew Howard flew off the circuit after dipping a wheel on the grass, before contact between Smith and Tillbrook sent the former into the barrier.
After rejoining the circuit, the Paddock Motorsport McLaren 720s GT3 Evo realised he had suspension damage and limped back to the pit lane, where his car remained for the rest of the race.
2 Seas Motorsport’s Kevin Tse then suffered an off of his own, spreading dust across the circuit. Once the pit window opened, leaders Warren and Collard peeled into the pits, with Jack Brown hanging onto the lead for Optimum Motorsport by a small margin over Barwell Motorsport’s Hugo Cook as they rejoined the circuit.
After taking over from Tse, 2 Seas Motorsport’s Ben Green then spun their entry for the second time in short succession at the 30-minute mark. At the front, Brown utilised some clean air to pull a gap on Cook at the front, while third place candidate Ben Barnicoat began to set a searing pace for Optimum Motorsport, eventually taking home the fastest lap with a 1m46.833s.
In the GT4 class, Hadley Simpson led for Innovation Racing before the driver changes. When their car rejoined in the hands of Thomas Holland, they held a 14-second lead over Toro Verde GT’s Jack Mitchell.
Despite a 15-second success penalty, Jarrod Waberski’s 78 Lamborghini remained in fifth after the GT3 class had completed their pit stops, albeit 46 seconds shy of the lead. Multiple off-track excursions left 2 Seas Motorsport’s Green down in eighth, and struggling to make a move past Rodin Motorsport’s Joshua Buchan with just under 20 minutes to go.
With 10 minutes remaining, Brown appeared comfortable at the head of the GT3 pack and continued to hold a two-second lead over Barwell Motorsport’s Cook. Although most of the GT4 runners were spaced out, just one second separated Grange Racing with FSR’s Darren Turner from Century Motorsport’s Branden Templeton with a handful of minutes to go in the battle for third in class.
Eventually, Brown would cross the line to secure an impressive lights-to-flag victory for Optimum Motorsport, with Cook trailing behind by just two seconds. A second Optimum Motorsport entry with Ben Barnicoat rounded out the podium and a terrific start to the day for the Wakefield-based outfit.
Marcus Clutton completed a quiet race for Orange Racing by JMH in fourth, with Waberski in fifth for the second Barwell Motorsport machine.
Despite an earlier spin, Beechdean Motorsport Ltd’s car managed sixth with Gunn at the flag, followed home by Buchan in seventh for Rodin Motorsport, Green in eighth for 2 Seas Motorsport, Callum Macleod in ninth for Optimum Motorsport and Aaron Walker in tenth for 2 Seas Motorsport.
Holland claimed top honours in the GT4 category, with Will Orton in his Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo second for MK Racing, and Templeton in third for Century Motorsport.
British GT Championship, Race 1, Snetterton
1. Warren/Brown, Optimum Motorsport, McLaren 720s GT3 Evo
2. Collard/Cook, Barwell Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, +1.389s
3. Tillbrook/Barnicoat, Optimum Motorsport, McLaren 720s GT3 Evo, +17.448s
4. Orange/Clutton, Orange Racing by JMH, McLaren 720s GT3 Evo, +28.835s
5. Martin/Waberski, Barwell Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, +48.448s
6. Howard/Gunn, Beechdean Motorsport Ltd, Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, +52.534s
7. Campbell/Buchan, Rodin Motorsport, Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo, +58.038s
8. Tse/Green, 2 Seas Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, +58.800s
9. Price/Macleod, Optimum Motorsport, McLaren 720s GT3 Evo, +1m14.816s
10. Loggie/Walker, 2 Seas Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, +1m47.451s
Click here for full times and results from this event.