Much of the talk in the British GT paddock ahead of the weekend at Snetterton concerned the history books. Since 2015, no drivers who have won at the Norfolk-based circuit have gone on to win the title. Birch-backed Dailysportscar’s coverage with Mo Rehman continues.
This year, the history books could be proven wrong. 2 Seas Motorsport’s fairytale season continued with a weekend sweep for the team that included a victory apiece for its two crews, who find themselves sitting first and second in the standings with two races remaining.
In Race 1, it was a 1-2 for 2 Seas, with Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss converting pole position into a second British GT victory of the campaign, extending their points lead.
Their teammates Kevin Tse and Maximilian Götz in the sister Mercedes ended up second after a battle with Barwell Motorsport’s Alex Martin and Sandy Mitchell, who completed the podium.
Dailysportscars Snetterton Gallery
That form continued into the second race for the Bahraini-flagged outfit, though this time it was Tse and Götz who took the chequered flag first, overcoming a seven-second compensation time penalty for their fine form.
This time, the challenge came from Optimum Motorsport’s McLaren of Marvin Kirchhöfer and Morgan Tillbrook, which looked on course to finish second before Tillbrook fell back into the clutches of Alex Martin in Barwell’s lead Lamborghini.
With the Lambo finding a way through, Tillbrook then hit trouble when Rob Collard in Barwell’s sister Lamborghini snuck through and Blackthorn’s Giacomo Petrobelli turned him around through Oggies corner. That left the McLaren scrambling to finish fifth on the road, which was eventually fourth after the Blackthorn team was handed a time penalty for the contact.
Dailsportscars Snetterton Paddock Notes
The points awarded from the two sprint races have spiced up the title race nicely. In the GT3 Drivers’ standings, Dawson and Jewiss are eight points clear at the top with Tse and Götz second. Petrobelli and Adam are just a point further back in third and would have risen to second had they not had their tangle with Optimum’s McLaren.
In GT4, the spoils were split across the standout crews of the season from Optimum and Century Motorsport.
In Race 1, Marc Warren and Jack Brown’s Optimum McLaren Artura came home first. It was Brown’s fourth victory at Snetterton in as many years. He led home the best of Mahiki’s new Ginetta fleet shared by Josh Miller and Jack Mitchell, who beat Luca Hopkinson and Harry George to Silver spoils by just half a second.
Optimum’s Pro-Am duo received a further boost to their overall title ambitions when main rivals Ravi Ramyead and Charlie Robertson (Century) lost second place to a drive-through penalty for track limits infringements.
Century’s contending duo managed to regain some ground in Race 2, though, winning the race with a faultless performance in their BMW M4 GT4. It was their third win of the season and continued the remarkable run that Optimum and Century’s leading crews have been on, winning every race of the season so far between them.
Ian Duggan and Joe Wheeler claimed second for Mahiki ahead of Silver winners Chris Salkeld and Branden Templeton in Century’s other BMW. Luca Hopkinson and Harry George were fourth in their Optimum McLaren, ahead of the recovering Miller/Mitchell Ginetta and Warren/Brown, who now lead the championship by a reduced 23.5-point margin.
Next up for the teams is an August clash at Brands Hatch on August 23/24. Stay tuned to Birch and Dailysportscar’s pages for updates.
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