National reports: Silverstone; Brands Hatch; Kirkistown; Donington Park
Hunter Abbott and Martin Kodric were the dominant force in British GT’S blue riband event, as they convincingly won the Silverstone 500 for the returning
2 Seas Motorsport squad.
The part-time entry had already set down a marker in qualifying, placing the team’s new Mercedes-amg GT3 clear by 1.7 seconds, although its advantage proved to be not as large in race trim.
Surprisingly, the three-hour contest ran without any caution periods – which allowed for a new distance record to be set – with a range of different strategies being implemented as all crews were required to make three driver changes at some stage.
Abbott led from the outset, pulling out almost a second a lap initially to build up a sizeable lead, while Ian Loggie (RAM Racing Mercedes), Brendan Iribe (Inception Racing Mclaren 720S) and Adam Balon (Barwell
Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan Evo) circulated in close proximity behind.
Iribe made a decisive move up the inside of Loggie at Brooklands after 15 minutes and immediately pulled away, but just two laps later his and team-mate Ollie Millroy’s race was over after a coming together with the GT4 Mercedes of Dave Whitmore through Becketts, which damaged the
GT3 car’s right-rear suspension.
Taking avoiding action, Loggie dropped behind Balon, Giacomo Petrobelli (TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage) and the fast-rising Richard Neary, whose Abba Racing-run Mercedes had started 10th. Neary made further progress, disposing of Petrobelli around the outside of the left at Club at the 30-minute mark and moving onto the back of Balon, who was 12s behind Abbott.
Unable to find a way past the Huracan, Neary was the first of the leaders to pit after 42 minutes, handing over to son Sam. Any hopes of challenging for victory were dashed moments later, though, when
Neary Jr brought the car back in after it had suffered terminal gearbox issues.
Abbott stopped for the first time just after the hour mark, handing over to Kodric, but any advantage had all but evaporated as Dennis Lind had closed to within a second and a half in his Barwell-run Lamborghini.
The Dane took over from Leo Machitski, who had spun in spectacular fashion through Farm Curve on the opening lap and dropped to the rear of the GT3 field before making an impressive recovery and being one of the first to stop. Some blistering laps while other cars circulated with Am drivers had brought Lind into contention and he soon took the lead from Kodric on the inside of Woodcote, edging out more than seven seconds before diving into the pits for stop two just before the halfway point.
He was followed in four laps later by the Paddock Motorsport entry of Martin Plowman, who after taking over from Kelvin
Fletcher, had steadily risen up the order in his Bentley Continental and had closed to within touching distance of Kodric. But when the Croatian made 2 Seas’ second stop a lap later, the car rejoined in a net-lead, with a two-second advantage over Machitski, and Fletcher a further six behind.
By this point, several crews took the decision to extend their second stints in the hope of a caution, with Loggie/yelmer Buurman, Andrew Howard/jonny Adam
(TF Sport Aston), James Cottingham/sam De Haan (RAM Mercedes) and Bonamy Grimes/marco Sorensen (TF Sport Aston) occupying the top spots into the final hour.
Abbott was the first of the net-leaders to make their final visits to the pits and, once all stops had been made, Kodric found himself with a lead of nearly nine seconds, having benefited when the Machitski/lind machine was forced to serve a 10s success penalty for its thirdplace finish at the opening round.
As Kodric guided his Mercedes to victory, Balon’s co-driver Sandy Mitchell closed up behind Barwell stablemate
Lind over the final minutes. When the former was baulked on the last lap by a GT4 machine entering Hangar Straight, Mitchell made an audacious move around the outside of Stowe, with the pair touching, before completing the pass into Club.
“The team were saying don’t try anything risky but you’re free to race, especially at this point in the season,” said reigning GT3 champion Mitchell. “I went around the outside and it was down to Dennis if he was going to leave the room. I just had enough room.”
With the 2 Seas entry not eligible for points, Balon/mitchell took the maximum 37.5 points on offer but Machitski/lind now lead the standings. Petrobelli and Charlie Eastwood finished fourth, 20s off the podium battle, with Loggie/buurman, Howard/adam, Grimes/sorensen and Cottingham/de Haan – Silver/am winners – completing the top eight.
Brands Hatch race victors Michael Igoe and Phil Keen finished 11th, having lacked pace all weekend in their WPI Motorsportrun Lamborghini, while Fletcher/plowman retired with a suspected broken rear-left driveshaft in the final 30 minutes when on course for a top-five finish.