British GT Championship Oulton Park

The 2017 British GT Championship season kicked off at Oulton Park on Easter Monday. Typically grim bank holiday weather did nothing to stop a huge crowd descending on the Cheshire circuit for the opening two races of the season. A huge grid of 28 GT3 and GT4 cars made for a great day’s racing despite the challenging conditions.

Race 1

John Minshaw and Phil Keen took the first win of the new season in the #33 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini, crossing the line over 37 seconds in front of the sister Barwell run car, driven by Sam Tordoff and Liam Griffin. Johnny Adam and Derek Johnston completed the podium in the #1 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage.

There was drama before the start of the race, as the third place #24 Aston Martin lost its coolant on the grid, with a cloud of smoke pouring from the stricken car.

Minshaw took the lead at the start of the race from second on the grid, and once free of the chasing pack he set about building a lead before the mandatory pitstops. Behind the Demon Tweeks sponsored Lamborghini, Rick Parfitt was comfortable in second in the Team Parker Bentley, with a train building behind Liam Griffin in third place. Further back, Lee Mowle popped up into fourth place in the AMD Mercedes-Benz, but then ended his race with a shunt at Island Bend in the slippery conditions.

Meanwhile, Derek Johnston was charging through the field from the back of the grid in the #1 Aston, making it up to fifth place before the pit window opened. After the stops, Johnny Adam continued to make progress in the car, passing Jon Barnes in the other TF Sport Aston and Seb Morris in the #31 Bentley to finish the race in third place.

Sam Tordoff was also charging on his British GT debut, getting the #6 Barwell Lamborghini past Seb Morris to finish in second place, albeit far behind the winners.

In GT4, honours went to the #72 Track-Club McLaren 570S, ahead of the #55 HHC Motorsport Ginetta and the #62 Academy Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage.

Race 2

Phil Keen and John Minshaw too the double at Oulton Park after winning the day’s second GT encounter, which was cut short after a huge crash at Hilltop for Richard Neary and Ian Loggie.

The #33 Barwell Lamborghini once again lead into Old Hall at the start of the race, overtaking Seb Morris in the #33 Team Parker Bentley and then controlling the race. Morris dropped to third at the start behind the sister #7 Bentley, being driven by Callum MacLeod. Things went from bad to worse for Morris on lap one, as he nudged his team mate off the track at Knickerbrook, earning himself a drive through penalty.

Sam Tordoff was an early retirement in the #6 Barwell Lamborghini with a sudden loss of power, promoting Johnny Adam up to third place before the pitstop window.

Following the driver changes, the #33 Demon Tweeks Lamborghini emerged in the lead, now with John Minshaw at the helm. Behind, Mark Farmer in the #11 Aston Martin spun but managed to avoid hitting anything solid, promoting Derek Johnston to second place and dropping himself to third.

This was the order when the safety car was deployed for a huge shunt between Richard Neary in the Abba Rollcentre Mercedes, and Ian Loggie in the Team Parker Bentley at Hilltop. The incident left debris strewn across the track and caused significant damage to the tyre barrier, causing the race to be cut short as the repairs could not be completed in time.

Loggie maintained that Neary was at fault for the incident, however spectator footage on social media seems to suggest that the Bentley driver clipped the grass and turned into the side of the Mercedes AMG.

GT4 victory went to Alex Reed and David Pittard in the Lanan Racing Ginetta, followed by the In2Racing McLaren of Marcus Hoggarth and Matthew Graham. The PMW Expo Racing / Optimum Motorsport duo of Graham Johnson and Mike Robinson completed the podium.