British GT Oulton Park: Optimum Motorsport win dramatic Race 2 as Grange Racing by FSR take GT4 victory

Ben Barnicoat and Morgan Tillbrook ended the day with a victory in Race 2 at Oulton Park in their #77 Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 Evo.

In GT4, Daniel Lavery inherited the lead after the #42 Toro Verde GT dramatically ended its race in the gravel with a suspected front-left issue after leading from the start.

GT3

After a safety car start, Ross Gunn was able to make a clean getaway and maintain his lead over the #77 Optimum Motorsport McLaren driven by Barnicoat.

Further back, Charles Clark made quick work of the #13 Rodin Motorsport Ferrari for seventh place in his #44 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 Evo.

For much of the first stint, things remained much the same, with Gunn able to bring the #7 Beechdean Motorsport Aston Martin into the pits from the lead.

However, due to finishing second in Race 1, the team were held in their pit box longer due to their success penalty. As a result, Optimum Motorsport took the lead when Barnicoat handed over to Tillbrook, who emerged around four seconds clear.

Prior to the pit stops, Clark had been all over the back of the #78 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini and despite neither car carrying a success penalty, the #44 Century Motorsport team jumped them during the stops.

Following the driver changes, Tillbrook soon encountered GT4 traffic. After struggling to navigate through the slower cars around the tight confines of Oulton Park, the lead shrunk to just eight tenths between himself and Andrew Howard.

The fight for the GT3 lead soon became a four-way battle, with Kevin Tse and Simon Orange close behind. The quartet were separated by just two seconds.

With 17 minutes remaining, Mark Smith aboard the #9 Paddock Motorsport McLaren made contact with the #13 Rodin Motorsport Ferrari of Cameron Campbell at Hislops Chicane. Both cars spun on the exit and dropped to the rear of the GT3 field.

Back at the front, Tillbrook was able to extend his lead slightly as Howard and Tse battled behind. The #18 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes of Tse was visibly quicker at points but he was unable to find a way past the Aston Martin.

In the latter stages, the #44 Century Motorsport team’s advantage over the #78 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini disappeared. They were handed a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane which explained how they jumped them in the pit-stops. After serving the penalty, they dropped from fifth to eighth.

In the end, Tillbrook held on to the chequered flag and Howard also secured another runners-up finish for Beechdean Motorsport. 2 Seas Motorsport rounded out the top three with Tse at the wheel of the #18 Mercedes.

Full GT3 Race 2 Classification:

#77 Optimum Motorsport
#7 Beechdean Motorsport
#18 2 Seas Motorsport
#67 Orange Racing by JMH
#63 Barwell Motorsport
#78 Barwell Motorsport
#90 Optimum Motorsport
#44 Century Motorsport
#15 2 Seas Motorsport
#55 Barwell Motorsport
#13 Rodin Motorsport
#71 Mahiki Racing
#9 Paddock Motorsport

GT4

Much like GT3, GT4 delivered plenty of entertainment in Race 2.

After starting on pole, Jack Mitchell held the lead in his #42 Ginetta G56 GT4 Evo. The top four remained unchanged in the opening stages, although the battle behind was quickly heating up.

The #8 Toro Verde GT Porsche driven by Tom Bradshaw had four-time BTCC champion Colin Turkington right behind him from the start. Turkington searched for a way through and after attempting a move, made contact with the rear quarter of the Porsche.

As a result of the contact, the Porsche’s door catch came loose and the team were forced to pit with the door at risk of opening.

Just over halfway through the race, Mitchell pitted to hand the leading Ginetta over to Luke Shaw. Crucially, the pair had not finished inside the top three in Race 1 and therefore avoided a longer success penalty.

However, moments after two GT3 cars collided further around the circuit, Shaw suddenly exited the race from the lead after suffering what appeared to be a front-left suspension issue.

Daniel Lavery in the #27 Grange Racing by FSR Aston Martin was another driver to benefit from rivals serving success penalties and inherited the GT4 lead from the stricken Ginetta.

In the closing stages, there was a thrilling battle for victory as Jessica Hawkins showed strong pace behind for MK Racing.

Hawkins closed right onto the back of Lavery and despite both cars having moments on the grass during the final lap, Lavery held on to secure the Race 2 GT4 win. Innovation Racing also managed to hold off pressure from the Race 1 winning #24 Century Motorsport BMW to complete the podium.