Josh Caygill and Alex Buncombe claimed victory in the final race of the British GT Championship season at Brands Hatch at the wheel of Team RJN’s McLaren 720S GT3 Evo. Their win came during a race in which the father and son pairing of Rob and Ricky Collard were confirmed as GT3 champions.
Caygill took the lead from pole position during the opening stint, whilst Alex Martin slotted into second in the first of Barwell Motorsport’s title contending Lamborghinis. Rob Collard emerged from the opening stint fifth in the second Barwell car after avoiding the Mercedes-AMG of Kevin Tse as it slid into the gravel trap at Paddock Hill Bend.
The race was briefly paused for a safety car as Tse’s stricken vehicle was recovered, ultimately resuming on lap five. The elder of the Collard co-drivers was on the charge during the laps that followed, passing the McLaren of Mark Radcliffe for fourth on lap 15 before rising onto the podium with a move on Morgan Tillbrook just a few laps later.
As the race steamed towards its midway point, Collard Sr was the quickest driver on the circuit, hunting down Martin’s identical Lamborghini ahead whilst the leading trio began to bunch up. And with the leading McLaren ineligible for scoring following a change of driver line-up, that put the Barwell machines in an effective points one-two.
Competitive action was interrupted again following an off-track moment for Simon Orange’s McLaren, with the GT3 machine coming to a stop out on the Grand Prix section of the circuit. This meant the race entered a Full Course Yellow phase just as the pit stop period approached.
Buncombe took over from Caygill in the lead as the cars pitted under yellow flag conditions, with Mitchell inheriting second after slotting into the seat vacated by Martin. The Collard car dropped to fifth after serving its outstanding pit stop penalty following victory in the previous race, but this was still a good enough position for the title to go to them.
The race resumed with 42 minutes still on the clock, but neutralised conditions returned after just a handful of racing laps following a three-car GT4 incident at Stirlings. Matt Nicoll-Jones, Gordie Mutch and Matt Cowley were all involved and the Full Course Yellow and later Safety Car were once again called upon as the vehicles were recovered.
Full speed action got underway once more with 11 minutes to run for a last gasp dash to the flag. Buncombe duly drove home to victory after that, with Mitchell securing second, and the maximum number of points available for himself and Martin. Marcus Clutton in the machine he shares with Tillbrook, with Sam Neary ending the final race of the season fourth in the Mercedes-AMG he shares with father Richard.
Ricky Collard was fifth with just a handful of laps remaining but offered little resistance to the McLaren of Tom Gamble, co-driving with Radcliffe, safe in the knowledge that sixth on the road would be enough to take the title. In winning the championship, the Collards become just the second father-son champions in British GT, following in the footsteps of Glynn and Jim Geddie in 2011.
In the GT4 class, Zac Meakin and Jack Brown claimed the crown following an impressive victory at the wheel of their Optimum Motorsport McLaren. It was the Aston Martin of GT4 rivals Jamie Day and Mikey Porter which ran at the front early on, but the McLaren was hot in pursuit with Meakin at the wheel during the opening stint of the race.
The pair were frequently wheel-to-wheel through the exit oof Surtees as the cars accelerated out of Surtees and even made contact as both drivers refused to give in. Ultimately, Meakin made a successful move on Day at Surtees with around 90 minutes to go and the McLaren was able to remain ahead to win the title, with Brown charging home to the chequered flag.
British GT Championship, Brands Hatch
- Caygill/Buncombe, Team RJN, McLaren 720S GT3 Evo
- Martin/Mitchell, Barwell Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, +0.524s
- Tillbrook/Clutton, Garage 59, McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, +0.732s
- Neary/Neary, Team Abba Racing, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, +2.960s
- Radcliffe/Gamble, Optimum Motorsport, McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, +3.341s
- Collard/Collard, Barwell Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, +5.296s
- Howard/Wood, Beechdean Motorsport, Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, +6.435s
- Cavers/Plato, Century Motorsport, BMW M4 GT3, +8.489s
- Balfe/Smalley, Garage 59, McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, +8.632s
- Kakad/Cook, J&S Racing, Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo, +9.184s
Click here for full timings and results from this event.