British GT - Snetterton - 2024
Snetterton, not a circuit we know very well, having only been once a year for British GT, the last few years. After a drive of over five hours to get there, we were glad of the football on the Sunday evening, making the roads very quiet and the trip a good bit quicker, for once, I almost liked football….. but not quite.
Nestled in the heart of Norfolk, the Snetterton Circuit is a venue steeped in motorsport history and renowned for its challenging layout. The circuit, originally converted from a World War II airfield, boasts a unique combination of long straights and technical corners that test both driver skill and car performance to their limits. This was only my third or fourth visit to Snetterton, only going once a year for the British GT rounds. As it’s a long drive down from North Yorkshire, I made the journey down on Friday to save a crazy early start on Saturday morning, this also meant I managed to catch the last session of testing on Friday afternoon as well.
The weather forecast for the weekend wasn’t looking too promising but luckily, as the week went on, it gradually improved and while it might not have been as warm as Misano last week, at least it didn’t rain.
Practice went without any major issues and it was soon time for qualifying. The Barwell Lamborghini’s showed great pace in practice, they kept this pace in qualifying and they shared pole positions for Sunday’s two races, Rob Collard in the No63 getting pole for race one and Sandy Mitchell getting pole for race two in the No78 (also starting second in race one). Behind the Lamborghinis, the 2 Seas AMGs were showing good pace and were starting both races near the front. In GT4, the DTO Ginetta would be starting race one on pole and Zac Meakin took the Optimum McLaren to pole for race two.
Race One -
“Alex Martin and Sandy Mitchell led a Barwell one-two, and extended their British GT Championship lead, by claiming a third victory of the season in the first of Snetterton’s two one-hour races. Further back, Ravi Ramyead and Charlie Robertson’s Century BMW – rebuilt following its hefty shunt at Spa – made a fairytale return by claiming victory on the final lap. DTO Motorsport’s Freddie Tomlinson and Aston Millar looked set to celebrate until Robertson – who’d only relieved Seb Morris of third two laps earlier drew alongside the Ginetta down the start/finish straight and completed the move into Riches. Team Parker’s Mercedes-AMG also featuring Charles Dawson completed the GT4 podium. Ahead, the Collards’ Compensation Time handed victory to the sister Lamborghini after Rob led the opening stint from pole. But he and Ricky still collected solid championship points in second, while another father/son pairing – Nearys Richard and Sam – completed the overall top three and celebrated Silver-Am victory” - www.britishgt.com
Results -
GT3 -
1 - Barwell Motorsport - Mitchell/Martin - Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2
2 - Barwell Motorsport - Collard/Collard - Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2
3 - Team ABBA Racing - Neary/Neary - AMG Gt3 Evo
GT4 -
1 - Century Motorsport - Ramyead/Robertson - BMW M4 GT4
2 - DTO Motorsport - Millar/Tomlinson - Ginetta G56 GT4 Evo
3 - Team Parker Racing - Dawson/Morris - AMG GT4
Race Two -
“Barwell’s post-race penalty handed victory to 2 Seas’ Kevin Tse and Maximilian Götz in the second of today’s British GT Championship races at Snetterton, while Optimum’s Jack Brown and Zac Meakin scored a timely GT4 victory to move back into the overall class lead. Alex Martin and Sandy Mitchell looked set to take control of this year’s GT3 title battle by claiming their second victory in the day. But a subsequent drive-through converted to 30 seconds post-race for Martin overtaking under yellow flags dropped their Lamborghini to 10th in the final classification. RAM Racing’s John Ferguson passed Mark Radcliffe at the restart to claim what looked set to be the final podium position alongside stand-in co-driver Max Hesse. That would have become second with #78’s penalty, but a post-race incident involving team representatives and Race Control officials resulted in both its GT3 and GT4 cars being excluded from the meeting. Race 1’s result and points have also been amended accordingly. That meant Barwell’s other title-chasing Lamborghini driven by Rob and Ricky Collard finished second overall, and Optimum’s McLaren of Mark Radcliffe and Tom Gamble third. Meanwhile, Meakin and Brown benefitted from the late Safety Car period to beat title rivals Jamie Day and Mikey Porter to GT4 victory. Their Forsetti team-mates Marc Warren and Will Orton also remain firm championship contenders after completing the podium and taking Pro-Am victory. The first of 2024’s drivers’ crowns were also awarded to Shaun Balfe and Adam Smalley (Garage 59) who wrapped up GT3 Silver-Am with two races to spare. They took the chequered flag in sixth but ultimately finished fourth.” www.britishgt.com
Results -
GT3 -
1 - 2 Seas Motorsport - Tse/Goetz - AMG GT3 Evo
2 - Barwell Motorsport - Collard/Collard - Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2
3 - Optimum Motorsport - Radcliffe/Gamble - McLaren 720s GT3 Evo
GT4 -
1 - Optimum Motorsport - Meakin/Brown - McLaren Artura GT4
2 - Forsetti Motorsport - Porter/Day - Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo
3 - Forsetti Motorsport - Warren/Orton - Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo
For further news and the full results, please see - www.britishgt.com
We’re reaching a bit of a quiet spell with our photography work We have BTCC at Croft (our local circuit at only 45 minutes away) in a couple of weeks but then its a month wait until the next round of the British GT at Donington Park.
