+ Simpson/Holland and Templeton/Collins tied at the top
+ Orton/Hawkins and Lavery/Turner also remain serious contenders
+ Outsider Stanton retains mathematical chance
+ #BattleOfBrands entry list
A stellar British GT4 campaign boils down to results at Brands Hatch on Sunday when Hadley Simpson and Thomas Holland begin the season finale level on points with joint championship leaders Branden Templeton and Jack Collins.
But this is by no means a two-horse 120-minute race. Innovation’s Ginetta and Century’s BMW are piloted by two of the five combinations that remain in title contention after seven races staged across five events. And just like GT3, it’s the crews currently a little further down the contenders list who might even hold a slight advantage thanks to the Compensation and Silver Time served by both joint leaders.
MK Racing’s Will Orton and Jessica Hawkins remain winless so far this year but will never have a better opportunity to change that stat and, in doing so, clinch the title thanks to a handicap-free outing. The same applies to Daniel Lavery and Darren Turner (Grange/FSR) who could add GT4’s overall crown to the Pro-Am silverware won with a race to spare at Donington.
The Aston Martins respectively start six and 10.5 points behind the leaders. As such, and with countback results applied, victory on Sunday would be enough for either to be crowned champions regardless of whatever Simpson/Holland and Templeton/Collins achieve.
GT4’s fifth and final contender is more of an outsider given his 30.5-point deficit. Optimum’s Josh Stanton must win and hope for the other four crews to implode if he’s to follow in the footsteps of Marc Warren and Jack Brown who won the title aboard the same team’s McLaren Artura 12 months ago.
As single car entrants, the same permutations apply to Innovation, Century, MK, Grange/FSR and Optimum in the teams’ standings where Toro Verde’s two-car effort could yet overhaul all five of them. The Silver class is also incredibly tight with nine points separating a top three headed by Collins and Templeton.
Elsewhere, Donington Park’s result currently remains provisional pending the outcome of a National Court appeal lodged by Townsend Racing powered by Fox Motorsport. However, the points allocation stemming from that event and verdict will not impact this year’s overall and Silver drivers’ championships, while additional pitstop time will be applied as normal.
SRO’s GT World YouTube channel and Sky Sports F1 both have live, uninterrupted #BattleOfBrands coverage this Sunday. The two-hour championship decider begins at 13:30 BST.
POINTS VS PITSTOPS
Brands Hatch looks set to be a classic GT4 title decider thanks to British GT’s age-old points-already-scored versus extra-time-in-the-pits conundrum.
Tied at the top they might be, but Holland and Simpson hold a slight advantage over Collins and Templeton by dint of their superior wins record – two to one – that would favour them in a tie break scenario as well as less additional Compensation and Silver Time to be served during the driver change.
Innovation’s crew has also arguably been the strongest of this year’s GT4 crop. While Collins/Templeton and Hawkins/Orton have scored points in all seven races, Holland/Simpson head to Brands atop the standings despite suffering a mechanical-related non-score at Snetterton. Without it, the Ginetta would likely hold a small advantage over the chasing BMW.
MK’s duo might start six points behind but have a huge on-track advantage in terms of time served during the pitstop compared to their main rivals who will be stationary for an additional 25 (Innovation) and 35 seconds (Century). As such, Hawkins and Orton can afford to play the waiting game provided they finish enough positions and points ahead.
Winning for the first time this year would guarantee them the title but also see Hawkins join a select list of female overall British GT champions. What’s more, and somewhat remarkably, both Jamie Chadwick and Flick Haigh similarly achieved the feat whilst racing Aston Martins.
AMR has a second bullet in the shape of newly crowned Pro-Am champions Turner and Lavery. The latter’s performance before the pitstops begin, and specifically in relation to MK’s entry, will likely determine whether Turner has a chance to fully overturn the 10.5-point starting deficit. Victory, regardless of the other title contenders’ results, would be enough to clinch the championship on countback thanks to the crew’s superior wins ratio.
Stanton, meanwhile, is banking on a miracle – and victory – if he’s to bridge the joint leaders’ 30.5-point advantage. Optimum’s McLaren has been far more of a factor over the second half of the year since non scoring in both of Oulton’s races but likely has too much of a mountain to climb at the finale. Still, the lack of Compensation and Silver time makes this entry, which again features George Gamble, one of the favourites for victory. What’s more, Optimum’s Arturas have won the last two GT4 races at Brands.
Another McLaren less likely to revisit victory lane belongs to Revie Lake and Blake Angliss who scored theirs and Paddock Motorsport’s maiden victories at Donington. They are ‘rewarded’ with 45 additional pitstop seconds, the maximum combination of Compensation and Silver time that can be applied.
GT4’s Pro-Am title might have been wrapped up but the class’ other leading contenders still have plenty to play for. Chief among them are Toro Verde’s Porsche and Ginetta crews who are scrapping over second in the class standings, while Jack Mitchell will be aiming to set fastest lap for the fifth time in six weekends.
BRANDS HATCH TIMETABLE
Saturday 26 September
09:25 – 10:25: Free Practice
11:45 – 12:45: Pre-Qualifying
16:15 – 16:25: Qualifying 1 (GT3)
16:29 – 16:39: Qualifying 2 (GT3)
16:43 – 16:53: Qualifying 3 (GT4)
16:58 – 17:08: Qualifying 4 (GT4)
Sunday 27 September
09:05 – 09:45: Pitwalk + autograph session
10:00 – 10:15: Warm-up
13:30 – 15:30: Race
LAP RECORDS
GT3 – 1m23.651s – Marvin Kirchhöfer – Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 Evo – 2025
GT4 – 1m31.219s – Luca Hopkinson – Optimum Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4 – 2025
PITSTOP SPECIFICS – TWO-HOUR RACES
One driver change is mandatory. The number of driver changes is free but there are minimum and maximum total drive times for the starting driver. In GT4 starting drivers must complete a minimum of 58 minutes, while in GT3 this rises to 62 minutes. All classes share the same maximum starting drive time of 70 minutes.
Mandatory Pitstop Times (pit-in to pit-out)
GT3: 115s | GT4: 145s
Pitstop Compensation Time
GT3 and GT4’s top three finishers from the previous round must be stationary for additional time during their mandatory pitstop.
20s – #63 Barwell Lamborghini – Collard/Cook
15s – #18 2 Seas Mercedes-AMG – Tse/Lulham
10s – #15 2 Seas Mercedes-AMG – Kingsford/Walker
20s – #84 Paddock McLaren – Lake/Angliss
15s – #24 Century BMW – Templeton/Collins
10s – #74 Innovation Ginetta – Holland/Simpson
Additional pitstop compensation time applies to the top three GT4 Silver class finishers from the previous race.
25s – #84 Paddock McLaren – Lake/Angliss
20s – #24 Century BMW – Templeton/Collins
15s – #74 Innovation Ginetta – Holland/Simpson
