British GT at Oulton Park: Victories for Bentley and Lamborghini

The 2019 British GT Championship kicked-off on Easter Monday at Oulton Park with two one-hour races. Thirty-four crews, divided into three classes (GT3, GTC, GT4), participated in the season-opening event.

The overall victories went to JRM Racing’s #11 Bentley Continental GT3 and Barwell Motorsport’s #69 Lamborghini Huracan GT3. Seb Morris and Rick Parfitt Jr. triumphed in the first race while Sam de Haan and Jonny Cocker celebrated the victory in the second race.

In the GT4 class, HHC Motorsport took the victory in Race 1 with Callum Pointon and Dean MacDonald driving the #57 McLaren 570S GT4. The winners of the second race were Seb Priaulx and Scott Maxwell in the #15 Ford Mustang GT4 of Multimatic Motorsports.

JRM Racing’s #31 Bentley Continental GT3

The 2017 champions Seb Morris and Rick Parfitt Jr made the perfect start to their new partnership with JRM Racing by claiming victory in the first race of the day. Barwell Motorsport’s Phil Keen and Adam Balon finished second, while Bradley Ellis and Ollie Willkinson brought Optimum Motorsport’s #96 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT3 to the third place.

RAM Racing’s Ian Loggie started the Race 1 from pole position in the #6 Mercedes-AMG GT3. He was in the lead for just a lap-and-half before Team Parker’s Ryan Ratcliffe hit the Mercedes and ruined the race for the pole-sitter. Rick Parfitt, who passed Sam de Haan’s Barwell Lamborghini at the start, inherited the lead and stayed in front until the end of his sting, handing the car to Seb Morris.

McLaren crews locked out the GT4 podium in the first race. Tolman Motorsport’s James Dorlin and Josh Smith finished second, while HHC’s Tom Jackson and Luke Williams completed the podium.

McLarens occupied the first three places in GT4 class in the first race

In the second race, Sam de Haan scored his maiden British GT victory, sharing the #69 Barwell Lamborghini with Jonny Cocker. Team Abba Racing’s Alan Christodoulou and Richard Neary finished in the second place in the #8 Mercedes-AMG GT3, in front of Beechedan AMR’s Andrew Howard and Marco Sorensen in the #99 Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

In the GT4 class, Team Parker Racing was close to the victory but Nick Jones spun out in the closing minutes and lost a lead, dropping to P4. Scott Maxwell inherited the lead in the #15 Ford Mustang which he was sharing with Seb Priaulx. Balfe Motorsport’s Graham Johnson and Michael O’Brien finished second in the #20 McLaren 570S GT4. Matt George and Steve McCulley completed the GT4 podium in the #44 Jaguar F-Type SVR GT4 of Invictus Games Racing.