(Photo: Paren Raval)
Rob and Ricky Collard, sharing the driving duties in the #63 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, took the win in Round 8 of the 2024 British GT Championship, the father-and-son duo bringing the #63 car home just over three seconds ahead of the #87 Blackthorn Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo piloted by Giacomo Petrobelli and Jonny Adam.
Completing the GT3 podium finishers was the #59 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo with Shaun Balfe and Adam Smalley sharing the driving duties.
In the GT4 category the class win went to the #29 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 driven by Ravi Ramyead and Charlie Robertson with the #31 Team Parker Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 finishing second one lap back, the car piloted by Charles Dawson and Seb Morris. The top three in class was completed by the sister #29 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 crewed by Ian Gough and Tom Wrigley.
Kevin Tse, driving the opening stint in the #18 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes he shared with Maxi Goetz, spun on the opening lap, allowing Alex Martin in the #78 Barwell Lamborghini up into second and both Lamborghinis then started to open a gap to the rest of the GT3 pack. Martin looked as if he could pass the #63 car until a puncture put the #78 back to sixth.
Jonny Adam took the second stint in the #87 Blackthorn Aston Martin and began to narrow the gap to the lead. Traffic stalled the progress of the #87 car, allowing Collard Jr to bring the #63 Lamborghini home for the win and extend the Collard’s points advantage to 24.5.
The GT4 battles were as close ever and the opening stint saw the Forsetti Aston Martin and the DTO Motorsport Ginetta crewed by Aston Millar and Freddie Tomlinson fighting for the class lead. Millar passed for the GT4 lead but his advantage was quickly negated by the pit stops. Charlie Robertson took the class lead after the driver changes which he held to the chequered flag.
Following the penultimate round of the 2024 season, Rob and Ricky Collard lead the GT3 Drivers Standings on 164 points, 24.5 points ahead of their nearest rivals Alex Martin and Sandy Mitchell. Shaun Balfe and Adam Smalley lie third in the standings, 36 points behind the Collards. With 37.5 points on the table for the season finale at Brands Hatch, there is all to play for as the UK’s leading domestic GT championship heads to Kent for last weekend of September.
The GT4 drivers title is even closer with just 13 points separating the top four driver pairings. Forsetti Motorsport’s Jamie Day and Mikey Porter lead the standings on 137.5 points, three points ahead of Optimum’s Jack Brown and Zac Meakin. Team Parker Racing’s Charles Dawson and Seb Morris are third in the table with 130 points with Marc Warren and William Orton six points behind.
The British GT Championship grid next assembles on the 28th of September for a weekend culminating in a two-hour contest around the 3.916 kms of the Brands Hatch GP circuit.
