The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Mitchell sparkles in successes at Spa 24 Hours
Angus endurance racer Sandy Mitchell mastered treacherous track conditions to claim backto-back class wins in the gruelling Spa 24 Hours.
The Forfar 20-year-old was a star of the field as the world’s best GT3 racers battled it out in the blue riband of the GT World Challenge Europe event, adding the Pro-Am category crown to the Silver Cup triumph he secured in 2019.
It continues a remarkable run for the young Lamborghini star at the legendary event after just two seconds separated him from a Silver Cup debut win in 2018.
And the Pro-Am podium included Courier country friend and rival Jonny Adam after Mitchell saw off the challenge of the Aston Martin factory star and his Garage 59 team who finished in third place.
Mitchell spent more than 10 hours behind the wheel of the No77 Vimetco Extrusion/ Aster us Lamborghini Huracan Evo GT3 to spearhead the dazzling victory in the ultra-competitive category, finishing an impressive 15 th overall of the 56 starters.
Partnered by father and son Rob and Ricky Collard, plus Russian ace Leo Mac hit ski, the Lamborghini Squad ra Corse GT3 Junior Program driver and his team-mates completed 521 laps of the daunting SpaFrancorchamps circuit, home of the F1 Belgian Grand Prix.
Starting fourth on the grid in Pro-Am and 41st overall in the Barwell Motorsport-prepared car, team-mate Rob Collard endured early drama with a first lap puncture after being clipped by another car.
Black Bull Whiskybacked driver Mitchell took over after two hours and mastered the treacherous conditions, elevating the car into the class lead.
“Throughout the race our Barwell Motorsport team did a really good job on strategy and got us back into the mix after the first-lap puncture,” he said.
“When we got to the business end of the race, we were in the ideal position to be fighting at the front.”
Through an extended 12 hours of darkness, due to the race being moved from July to late October, the foursome battled to maintain their lead position and with just under two hours remaining, Mitchell took over the car from Machitski with a lead of around 1min 48 secs to the second-placed car in the class.
As conditions deteriorated further, with some of the heaviest rain of the 24 - hours, the young Scot maintained his composure, pace and focus to bring the car home more than a lap ahead of its closest rivals.
“It feels amazing to have been able to get another Spa24H win with these guys and the Barwell crew,” he said.
T he British Racing Drivers’ Club SuperStars scheme racer added: “Whereas last year in the Silver Cup we were always in the lead battle with the top two cars, this year we all had to dig deep to wrestle ourselves back into contention.
“Everyone in the team kept believing, and the guys at Barwell definitely made some phenomenal calls on strateg y. We always knew we could fight back to win, and to finally cross the line and seal victory in another class was brilliant.
Speaking of the performance which saw them finish as the top Lamborghini in the field.
he said: “The result is arguably more impressive than last year,”
Team-mate Machitski, a Spa24H Am Cup winner with Barwell in 2018 and 2019, had special praise for the young star.
He said: “We call him the baby-faced assassin. Every time he was in the car, he drove it like he stole it. He never put a foot wrong.”
Mitchell returns to action on November 7-8 when he tackles the season finale in the British GT Championship, knowing a win in the three- hour Silverstone showdown will see he and team-mate Rob Collard crowned champions.
Four-time British GT Champion Adam saw hopes of victory slip after a false puncture alarm and a flurry of l at e incidents thwar t the challenge of the 35-yearold Fifer and team-mates Maxime Martin, Chris Goodwin and Alexander West.
“We’re happy to finish on the podium. Those were some of the trickiest conditions I’ve ever raced in,” said the double Le Mans 24 Hours class winner.
The event was, however, one to forget for Dundee 20-year-old Finlay Hutchison, whose Audi suffered a puncture and gearbox damage after contact on just the second lap, forcing a long spell in the pits and demolishing the Attempto Racing outfit’s Silver Cup hopes.