Jonny Adam made history at Spa-Francorchamps by taking his 20th British GT win, guiding the #7 Blackthorn Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 to a commanding lights-to-flag victory alongside co-driver Giacomo Petrobelli. The duo’s performance was faultless, converting pole position into a 25-second winning margin after three hours of racing in the Ardennes. The result brings the Blackthorn team within just two points of the GT3 championship-leading #42 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes of Kiern Jewiss and Charles Dawson.

Petrobelli set the tone early, pulling clear of the pack and building a cushion before a brief safety car interrupted his momentum. Once the race resumed, the Italian resumed his charge, handing over to Adam in the final hour to complete the job. The #77 Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 of Morgan Tillbrook and Marvin Kirchhöfer climbed to second, with Barwell Motorsport’s Rob Collard and Hugo Cook bringing the #1 Lamborghini Huracán home in third.

In GT4 Charlie Robertson and Ravi Ramyead recovered from track limit penalties to take victory in their Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 Evo. In a race defined by track limit infringments across all classes, the BMW pairing came out on top ahead of the #12 Team Parker Racing Mercedes AMG GT4 of Seb Morris and Ed McDermott with the sister Team Parker Motorsport #30 Mercedes AMG GT4 Jonathan Currie and Phil Keen taking third place.

GT3: Calm at the front, chaos in the pack

The opening laps were drama-free at the sharp end, though Spa’s notoriously tight first sector claimed early scraps of bodywork. Alex Martin’s ambitious lunge in the #78 Barwell Lamborghini at La Source earned him third briefly, but the gain was short-lived. Mark Smith swept past at Pif Paf and Martin slowly drifted backward through the order.

At the front, Petrobelli hit the ground running and had already opened up a 2.5-second gap by the end of the first lap. Behind, Tillbrook held second with Simon Orange in the #67 McLaren in pursuit. Smith’s race unravelled soon after a huge moment at Blanchimont, spearing off through the gravel and rejoining in a cloud of dust that ultimately caught out Richard Neary’s #8 Team Abba Mercedes. Neary, blinded by the haze, backed off, unsettled the car, and ended up retiring with splitter damage.

Orange showed pace in the early stages, passing Tillbrook around the outside at Pif Paf for second, just before Tillbrook’s momentum was undone while trying to lap the GT4-leading Ginetta of Josh Millar. Caught on the exit of Stavelot, he was mugged by Collard, Dawson and Kevin Tse in quick succession, slipping from P3 to P6 in one lap.

The battle for third intensified. Dawson and Tse applied pressure to Collard, with Tse losing out after a wide moment at Blanchimont let Tillbrook back through. Collard was soon hit with a track limits penalty, allowing Dawson to break free from the scrap. Tse’s afternoon got worse with a spin at the Bus Stop, though he was lucky that the cars that passed him were themselves nursing penalties.

Disaster struck just before the hour mark for Orange, whose strong run ended in the barriers at Blanchimont. With the race neutralised by a full course yellow and then a safety car for a stranded BMW, strategies began to unfold. Max Götz, who had taken over from Tse, suffered brake issues and had to pit again after a single green-flag lap and losing 10 laps before rejoining the race.

Back at the front, Adam briefly took the wheel before handing the car back to Petrobelli during the caution. Now leading the race once again, the Italian controlled the restart but let the hard-charging Matt Griffin in the #55 Spirit of Race Ferrari go by, knowing he had a pit stop advantage.

Further down the order, the #42 of Dawson was on the move until a drive-through for speeding under full course yellow dashed his hopes of a podium. A clash between Matt Topham and Alex Martin at Les Combes saw the former limp to the pits with a damaged track rod while the latter was penalised, handing over to Patrick Kujala who rejoined in fifth.

With 50 minutes to go, Adam retook the lead from Duncan Cameron (who had replaced Griffin) with a move into Les Combes. Behind, a tight battle developed for the final podium spots. Kujala and Kirchhöfer were duelling hard for fifth, with the McLaren eventually prevailing with a robust move around the outside at Pif Paf.

Kirchhöfer then picked off Cook and Smith in quick succession to seal second, while Cook managed to fend off Kujala in the closing laps to complete the podium in third.

GT4: Robertson and Ramyead bounce back in penalty-strewn scrap

In GT4, it was a race of attrition and discipline. Charlie Robertson and Ravi Ramyead emerged on top in the #71 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 Evo, recovering from two separate track limits penalties to snatch the win.

Josh Millar led the early running in the #84 Mahiki Ginetta G56, but behind him a train formed involving Harry George in the #17 McLaren and both Century BMWs. A tactical switch saw Brandon Templeton move ahead of Ramyead to attack George, but mechanical woes ended the #14’s race early after it ground to a halt after Stavelot, triggering the full course yellow that shaped the race.

Back under green, Mitchel in the Mahiki Ginetta led from Ed McDermott’s #12 Mercedes, but McDermott’s challenge unravelled with a spin at the final chicane on the restart lap. Ramyead, back in the #71, was soon fighting to regain third but couldn’t find a way past the defending #90 McLaren of Marc Warren.

Despite that, the combined effort from Robertson and Ramyead was enough to secure victory as others faltered. The #12 Team Parker Mercedes of McDermott and Seb Morris recovered to second, while the sister #30 Team Parker Mercedes of Phil Keen and Jonathan Currie rounded out the podium.

With the #90 Optimum McLaren finishing fifth, Century Motorsport closed the championship gap to just 27.5 points, setting the stage for a tense final stretch of the season.

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