British GT - Silverstone - 2024
It had been a couple of years since we had last been to Silverstone, we only usually go once a year for the British GT but last year it clashed with IMSA at Laguna Seca. California and Northamptionshire….. Tough choice was that one.
What was forecast to be a very miserable weekend actually turned out mostly ok, a little rain on Saturday and the worst of the rain had gone by race start on Sunday.
It was great to have so many entries, with some teams bringing in an extra car for this round, with the Silverstone facility having the space for them.
While the rain wasn't that terrible during the race (compared to Spa last week…) the track was wet which caused some interesting strategy calls. A few cars choosing to pit on the first lap, Full Course Yellows and Safety Cars also put to rest those early plans from the strategists. Some teams went long on the first stint and only came in for their first stops when some were coming in for their second. This is one reason why I personally prefer this format over the more regimented one and two hour formats, with strict pit-stop windows.
Century were looking strong with with Leung in the car but turned out they didn’t put in enough fuel on what should have been their final stop, so had to stop again, Vanthoor had already maxed his driving time so Leung stayed in. With 50 minutes to go, Alex Martin in his Barwell Lambo and Mark Raddcliffe in his Optimum McLaren collided, bringing out another FCY and Safety Car. This allowed some teams to make tactical pit-stops with a slow running field, putting the two Garage 59 McLarens in contention. Not long after though, Clutton and Mardenborough had a coming together, which spun the RJN McLaren round, Clutton went on to pass his team-mate Smalley but then got a penatly for tagging the the RJN car. Smalley took the lead again and kept it until the finished. The first three across the line were Smalley, Neary and Orange but a later penalty promoted RJN to third.
Results -
GT3 -
1 - Garage 59 - Balfe/Smalley - McLaren 720s GT3 Evo
2 - Team ABBA - Neary/Neary - Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo
3 - RJN - Buncombe/Mardenborough - McLaren 720s GT3 Evo
GT4 -
1 - Optimum Motorsport - Meakin/Brown - McLaren Artura GT4
2 - Forsetti Motorsport - Day/Porter - Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo
3 - Makiki Racing - Duggan/Mutch - Lotus Amira GT4
The next stop for the 2024 British GT Championship is the first of two visits to Donington. Next up for us though, the following round of the 24H Series and one many are looking forward to, the 24 Hours of Portimao.
