+ McLarens sweep GT3 and GT4 wins
+ Orange/JMH and Beechdean complete GT3 podium
+ Grange/FSR and Toro Verde follow Optimum home in GT4
+ Snetterton Race 2 Result
Morgan Tillbrook and Ben Barnicoat are the new British GT Championship leaders with two races remaining after becoming GT3’s first two-time winners of the season at Snetterton where Optimum also claimed its first GT4 victory in 2026 courtesy of Josh Stanton and George Gamble.
But Beechdean’s Andrew Howard and Ross Gunn will surely reflect on what might have been after leading the opening stint from pole. Their Aston Martin ultimately came home third overall, behind the Orange/JMH McLaren shared by Simon Orange and Marcus Clutton who once more overcame Compensation Time to collect a third consecutive podium finish.
Optimum’s 30-second GT4 victory owed something to the extra pitstop time served by others. But it was also a reflection of Stanton and Gamble’s excellent initial weekend together after the latter made his first British GT appearance since Rockingham 2017.
Daniel Lavery and Darren Turner claimed their second GT4 Pro-Am victory of the day and first overall runners up spot to maintain the pressure on new championship leaders Jessica Hawkins and Will Orton, while Tom Bradshaw and Ian Duggan rounded out the overall podium in Toro Verde’s Porsche.
Optimum’s three outright victories from four races plus GT3 and GT4 poles earned it British GT’s Team of the Weekend Award, while Jack Mitchell collected his fourth Sunoco Fastest Lap in as many weekends despite failing to start Race 2. Barnicoat won GT3’s equivalent.
GT3
Barnicoat’s fast start, which helped him relieve Clutton of second place before Riches, laid the foundations for a result that could prove very significant come season’s end. Likewise, the McLaren’s Race 1 penalty that cost its crew a place on the podium and three points, but also – crucially – removed the five Compensation Time seconds that would have come with it this afternoon.
Barnicoat completed the opening stint glued to Gunn’s tail after the top two pulled clear of Clutton, Ben Green (2 Seas), leading Silver-Am contender Josh Buchan (Rodin) and Dean Macdonald (Orange/JMH). But when the Aston Martin emerged from the pits with its slim advantage still intact, it appeared as though Beechdean’s 11-year wait for a GT3 win might finally be over.
Its lead lasted just two more corners before Howard, on cold tyres and with Tillbrook looming behind, spun at Wilson. The delay was minor but sufficient for his pursuer to nip through.
Howard put his head down to reduce the four-second gap but couldn’t find a way back past Optimum’s 720S as the race ticked towards its conclusion. What’s more, his own mirrors were beginning to fill with the rapidly advancing Orange who was also soon in contention.
The Aston’s off-track excursion through the fast Coram right hander then gifted Orange second place at the end of the penultimate lap. He closed to within eight tenths of Tillbrook on the final tour but didn’t have a chance to make it six winners in as many races.
Instead, Optimum added a second GT3 victory to its weekend’s work after Marc Warren and Jack Brown won the morning’s hour-long opener. Tillbrook and Barnicoat also moved 13.5 points clear of erstwhile championship leaders Alex Martin and Jarrod Waberski whose 30-second post-race penalty for contact on the final lap dropped Barwell’s Lamborghini from sixth to ninth in the final result.
2 Seas’ Green and Kevin Tse might also have featured in the top three scrap had the latter not spun at Wilson whilst defending from Orange. Instead, the Mercedes-AMG was classified seventh.
Fourth place therefore went to Barwell’s #63 Lamborghini despite Hugo Cook starting from GT3’s back row and the car serving seven seconds of Compensation Time. Damage limitation was largely achieved thanks to Rob Collard’s typically combative stint in which the former champion overtook four cars.
They included Rodin’s Ferrari shared by Cameron Campbell and Buchan who nevertheless collected Silver-Am victory in fifth overall. In terms of pace, the Ferrari enjoyed its best British GT weekend of the season so far.
Sixth should have gone to Orange/JMH duo Macdonald and Steven Lake who was spun around by Martin on the final lap. The resulting penalty elevated Century’s BMW shared by Jonathon Beeson and Charles Clark to sixth.
GT4
Additional pitstop time restricted their changes in Race 1, but Optimum’s Josh Stanton and George Gamble bounced back in the finest of fashions by claiming a statement victory in Sunday’s second contest.
The McLaren Artura proved the class of the field, with Gamble grabbing the lead early on and cruising clear before Stanton backed up his team-mate’s fine work to win by half-a-minute.
Their task was made easier when the car that was perhaps the pre-race favourite failed to take the start. Jack Mitchell had secured pole in the Toro Verde Ginetta and was due to race without the threat of any Compensation Time, but a fuel pump issue ended his and Luke Shaw’s hopes before the grid had even formed up.
That left Gamble alone on the front row, but Tom Bradshaw did provide some strong early opposition, nipping ahead in Toro Verde’s Porsche to lead the opening laps before Gamble found a way past and began forging a gap.
He held a six-second lead when the pit window opened and, with no additional stop time, handed over to Stanton in clean air.
Ian Duggan took the Porsche over from Bradshaw and rejoined second but had the Grange/FSR Aston Martin of Daniel Lavery chasing him down after co-driver Darren Turner had kept the Vantage firmly in the fight over the opening half. Lavery took his chance when it arose by slipping past Duggan for second, but by that point the McLaren ahead was long gone.
The move did at least secure a clean sweep of Pro-Am wins for Lavery and Turner from Duggan and Bradshaw. What’s more, the same crew are now one of four covered by just 7.5 points at the top of the overall standings.
Jack Collins and Branden Templeton were fourth for Century ahead of Jessica Hawkins and Will Orton in the MK Aston Martin that completed the Silver class podium. The result elevated the pair into the championship lead after Race 1 winners Thomas Holland and Hadley Simpson had to retire their Innovation Racing Ginetta with an apparent engine problem.
Next up it’s Donington where British GT returns to its two-hour ‘endurance’ format on September 5/6.
