British GT Brands Hatch round-up
Text & Images: Ian Cutting
Father - son duo Rob and Ricky Collard claim 2024 GT3 title while Josh Caygill and Al Buncombe win the race. GT4 title went to Jack Brown and Zac Meakin who also claim another race win.
GT3
Pole sitter Caygill lead the field as the last race of got underway at Brands Hatch but a safety was needed for the marshals to recover Kevin Tse's Mercedes from the Paddock Hill gravel trap. Alex Martin had already passed Morgan Tillbrook before the Safety Car was sent out was the leading Barwell Lamborghini to try and challenge for the lead.
Collard was on the tail of the sister Lamborghini after passing Mark Radcliffe and Morgan
Tillbrook before the end of lap 1. Caygill made a great restart when racing resumed but the
Lamborghinis worked together to bring the gap down. All 3 were running close together before a Full Course Yellow for Simon Orange's crashed McLaren at Stirlings.
The pit-stop window opened 10 minutes into the FCY and the caution remained to ensure no-one gained any unfair advantage. This meant that Collard stayed in the top 6 after their stop and success penalty. The Safety car was then sent out and helped Ricky as this closed the gaps to those in front.
Buncombe, Sandy Mitchell, Marcus Clutton, Sam Neary, Collard and Tom Gamble were the top 6 as the racing resumed but another long FCY and Safety Car neutralised everything again. With 12 minutes left on the clock racing resumed and despite Gamble passing Collard the 2024 title was going the way of the Lamborghini duo and crossed the line in P6, which was later upgraded to P5. A post race 37s penalty for Optimum Motorsport as Radcliffe failed to complete his minimum driving time.
Out front, Buncombe held on for the win ahead of Mitchell, a mere 0.5s separated the pair at the flag. Completing the podium was Clutton just 0.7s behind 2024 runner up Mitchell.
Barwell not only had a one-two in the Drivers' Championship but also won the teams' championship.
GT4
Meakin lined his McLaren up ahead of title rival Jamie Day's Aston Martin but Day took the lead as the GT4 pack were scattered to avoid a GT3 spinning across the track at Paddock Hill. Meakin lost another place to Callum Davies too.
It wasn't long before Meakin passed Davies and challenging Day for the lead. An enthralling battle ensued with Meakin making several attempts but the Aston was putting a very strong defence. As both cars went up Hailwoods Hill they touched and then ran alongside each other towards Hawthorns.
More door handle action at Surtess saw Meakin make his move for the lead. The McLaren driver got his head down and by the time the FCY was called for he had a huge lead over his rivals.
The pit-stop window ran through the caution period and Meakin stopped early to allow Brown to take over. They emerged in front of the leading GT3 meaning that Brown would have a lap over the field when the Safety car was needed for the restart. Brown was therefore able to cruise to victory in the race and therefore claim the 2024 title.
Mikey Porter took over from Day and was able to handle the pressure from RACE LAB's McLaren Sai Sanjay to claim the second step of the final podium of the 2024 season and in the process the Silver title.
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