Written by William Stephens, and edited by Vyas Ponnuri
Qualifying
The dry-wet qualifying saw all the title contenders outside the top five, and in the bottom half of GT3, whereas Orange Motorsport took the front row position alongside ABBA. They were looking for a good weekend after the disappointment of a DNF from the lead, at Brands Hatch.
GT4 took place in similar conditions too, with the Toyota Supra taking pole. Once again, a title contender dropped towards the back of the pack. Newbridge Motorsport were the defending overall GT4 champions. The other contenders, Stellar and R Racing would start the race second and fourth respectively, putting even more pressure on Newbridge.
The Race
Unlike qualifying, the race took place under a clear sky, and on a dry track. However, yet more drama ensued. On the opening lap, the Enduro Motorsport car, which had an excellent start, tapped the back of the BMW M4 GT3 in front and spun. This forced title contenders RAM and Barwell off the road, both dropping both down the grid. Ram, however, fell behind the GT4 grid, which left Ian Loggie with a lot of work to do. The pain was worsened when Loggie spun a couple of laps later, as he came round the pit straight, putting him further back.
Just under half an hour into the race, the first safety car was called upon, following an incident between the Paddock motorsport and the graystone GT McLaren GT3s at the chicane, littering the track with carbon fibre, and ruining both car's races. This brought the field together, allowing the title contenders to regroup, and figure out what they had to do on the restart to bring themselves back into the fight. Crucially, Ram Racing were able to close the lengthy gap to the cars in front.
The restart was just as chaotic as expected, with the 2 SEAS Mercedes’ running off the road through an advertising board, forcing them to make an unscheduled pit stop, which took them out of the fight for the lead and the title. A few laps later, a four- car fight in GT4 ended with the rocket RJN McLaren taking both itself, and the Porsche out of the race at the final corner, with a misplaced attempt to lap the slower GT4.
Just 50 minutes into the race, disaster struck team ABBA again. This time, it was a gearbox issue that forced them into retirement from the lead, becoming the second DNF in the last two races of the season.
The pit stops began at around the one-hour mark. Despite incidents taking place at the same time, the race stayed under green throughout the stops. Alexander Sims emerged into the lead in just his second outing in the championship for the year, with Jules Gounon in second,despite attempts from Enduro Motorsport to claim the position.
After two hours of racing, Alexander Sims and Darren Leung avoided incidents and bad luck to take the win. Overshadowing Century Motorsports’ win was the car in second that started the second lap last in GT3, and amongst the GT4 cars. Car #6 of Ram Racing, driven superbly by Ian Loggie all year, claimed the title. In GT4 however, despite a strong recovery drive from Newbridge, it was Stellar who won the title. The 2022 season of British GT has been completed, but it won't be long before British GT returns in 2023, for more exciting races, and a new location too.
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