+ 0.2s separates Collard/Cook from pole-winners Howard/Gunn
+ Century’s ‘Chomp’ BMW beats MK’s Aston Martin to GT4 honours
+ Result: Oulton Park Race 1
Barwell did what Barwell always does at Oulton by claiming victory in the first of Bank Holiday Monday’s two British GT races with Rob Collard and Hugo Cook, while Century’s Branden Templeton and Jack Collins clinched their maiden GT4 wins.
Just 0.2s separated the #63 Lamborghini from Beechdean’s Aston Martin, which started from pole in Andrew Howard’s hands before Ross Gunn almost found a way past Cook on the final lap. It was Barwell’s 10th victory from 21 races with the Huracan at Oulton, while Collard extended his streak to three wins in as many years.
Optimum’s Marc Warren and Jack Brown completed GT3’s overall podium and claimed their maiden Silver-Am victory in the process.
Hefty compensation time for three of GT4’s top five qualifiers gave the second-place starting BMW a fair chance of winning. And so it proved for Templeton and Collins whose fan favourite dragon-liveried M4, nicknamed Chomp, roared to victory by 0.9s over Jessica Hawkins and Will Orton.
Pole winners Hadley Simpson and Thomas Holland (Innovation Racing) completed the overall podium despite serving 25 seconds of extra pitstop time for winning at Silverstone, while Luke Shaw and Jack Mitchell (Toro Verde) claimed Pro-Am top spot in fifth overall.
GT3: GUNN’S VICTORY SHOT FALLS JUST SHORT
Howard had rolled back the years on Saturday to top a British GT qualifying session for the first time since 2015, but his advantage only lasted until Old Hall where Collard swept around the Aston Martin before establishing a nine-second advantage during the opening stint.
Behind, Warren maintained third from Alex Martin and Simon Orange who avoided the skirmish between Paddock and Optimum’s McLarens that sent Tillbrook spinning and Ian Loggie across the grass in avoidance.
Little changed up front before the pitstops. Instead, the action centred on Tillbrook’s recovery drive that included a particularly sweet move on Loggie and clash with Cameron Campbell’s Rodin Ferrari at Lodge.
With no Compensation Time to serve, Cook rejoined after the stops with his lead over Gunn intact, while Paddock’s McLaren – driven in the first stint by Mark Smith and subsequently Martin Plowman – rejoined in fourth after gaining three places at the expense of Orange/JMH, Century and Barwell’s #78 Lamborghini which all served varying degrees of additional time.
Gunn began chipping away at Cook’s lead but would have struggled to catch the Huracan without the accident initially triggered by Optimum’s McLaren GT4 and latterly Marcus Clutton at Druids that necessitated a Safety Car period. 14 minutes remained when racing resumed, and it wasn’t long before Gunn – who’d closed up under the neutralisation – began hassling Cook.
GT4 traffic on the final lap gave Beechdean its best shot of GT3 victory since Snetterton 2015, but Cook held firm to extend Barwell’s incredible Oulton Park record with Lamborghini.
Jack Brown finished eight seconds behind the top two at a track where he and Warren claimed two GT4 wins last year, while Paddock’s Plowman and Smith collected a career-best British GT finish in fourth.
Martin and Jarrod Waberski minimised the impact of their five-seconds of Compensation Time by completing the top five ahead of Kevin Tse and Ben Green (2 Seas), the recovering Tillbrook and Barnicoat – who moved from 10th to seventh in the second stint – and Jonathon Beeson/Charles Clark (Century).
GT4: CHOMP ROMPS TO FIRST VICTORY
Collins and Templeton recovered from a shaky start to secure a breakthrough victory in the opener as a mid-race caution period helped Chomp the dragon fly back up the order.
Collins started the distinctive Century BMW from the outside of the front row but that almost immediately proved to be more of a curse than a blessing as he was forced to take to the grass to avoid Optimum’s spinning McLaren GT3 through turn one. While Collins avoided damage, the delay dumped him down to fifth early on.
Hadley Simpson started the Innovation Racing Ginetta from pole and was more fortunate to sneak through the early chaos to lead from Hawkins’ MK Racing Aston Martin and Josh Stanton in the #59 Optimum McLaren.
Within a few laps, Collins had recovered to chase Stanton, working his way past the Artura and back into the top three before piling the pressure on Hawkins as the pit window approached.
This was also when the race swung, as Stanton was spun into the barriers after contact with Jack Mitchell’s Ginetta. The resulting stranded McLaren and its spilled fluid led to a long Full Course Yellow. Simpson had pitted the Innovation G56 from the lead just before it was called, with the caution period helping lighten the load of his and Holland’s substantial pit stop compensation time following their win at Silverstone.
However, the biggest beneficiaries were Collins and Templeton, who completed their entire stop with the race at reduced speed a lap later and emerged in the lead, with Templeton just ahead of Orton, who had relayed Hawkins in the MK Vantage.
Templeton resisted Orton’s best efforts over the final few laps to secure the win by 0.9s, as Holland made a brave dive for third at Shell work against Revie Lake’s Mahiki McLaren. Nevertheless, fourth was a superb result for Lake and Blake Angliss, who started from the pitlane.
Luke Shaw and Jack Mitchell were fifth and claimed the Pro-Am victory for Toro Verde ahead of their class rivals Daniel Lavery and Darren Turner aboard the Grange Racing by FSR Vantage.
Race 2 is live on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel and Sky Sports F1 at 15:45 BST.
