An Introduction To… British GT Championship

What Is British GT Championship?

The national racing scene in the UK is one of the best, most vibrant, and varied in the world, which peaks at two main championships – British Touring Cars (as written about last week) and British GT Championship. While it doesn’t hold as long a history as its touring car counterpart, the Intelligent Money British GT Championship has quickly become very prestigious, holding a number of headline events with large attendances at circuits in the UK, whilst also holding an event overseas at the infamous Spa Francorchamps circuit.

GT racing is traditionally an area of racing where you will see amateur drivers racing amongst the professionals, but more and more over the last 10 or 15 years it has become a place that young drivers aspire to be racing too. Cars from a wide range of sports car manufacturers can be seen on the grid, with two main classes – GT3 and GT4 – racing on the circuit at the same time. This means there are 2 race lead battles going on at the same time, whilst the faster GT3 cars have to manage lapping the slower GT4 cars during their battles for position. Like the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup I wrote about a few weeks ago, each car has 2 drivers and there is a pit window in the middle of the race to change drivers. This driver change can dramatically change the order of the cars out on track, especially if a professional driver is now in the car.

Photo: A GT3 Aston Martin leads the field. ©Ian Gilby 2018

While Le Mans 24 Hours is my favourite event in the motorsport world, British GT may well be my favourite championship thanks to the competitive racing, overtaking, and number of different race winners seen over a season. The 2 classes of cars racing on the circuit together mean that even the narrowest circuits feature overtaking and you can usually see who the best amateur drivers are by seeing how they deal with lapping cars from the other class.

Knowing there are 2 different races going on at the same time can take a little while to get your head around but this is the perfect championship to watch to get used to it. The live YouTube coverage is extensive, entertaining, and helpful for new viewers, as well as more expert fans of the championship.

A more detailed look at the circuit, categories of cars, and drivers is below.

Weekend Timetable

Saturday 3rd October

Practice 1 & 2, followed by Qualifying from 16:00 BST (Live on GT World YouTube channel)

Sunday 4th October

British GT Race 1 – 10:15 BST (Live on GT World YouTube Channel)

British GT Race 2 – 15:10 BST (Live on GT World YouTube Channel)

How to watch - https://www.youtube.com/user/gt1world

As with many races for similar GT3 cars across the world, all the races from the British GT Championship are live and free to watch on the GT World YouTube channel. The races also remain available to watch later, including races from earlier this season and further into the past.

Where Do They Race?

Much like the BTCC, British GT races at the top level circuits in the UK, including Silverstone, Donington Park, Oulton Park, and Brands Hatch. One highlight of a normal season is the series’ overseas visit to Spa Francorchamps in Belgium, although that has had to be cancelled for 2020. It is likely to return in the future though, when circumstances will allow it. There are two rounds remaining for the 2020 season, as follows:

October 3rd-4th – Snetterton 300 Circuit

The championship’s visit to Norfolk features one of the narrower circuits of the season with a mixture of fast corners and more technical sections through the lap. The first corner, Riches, is a very fast right-hander and you will see the cars turn in as fast as they dare and hope they don’t run wide onto the grass at the exit. This is one of the fastest corners of the lap, followed by a short run down to the Montreal hairpin, which is one of the slowest and a great chance to slip past the car in front.

Getting good runs on to the two main straights is hugely important at Snetterton, as this will help the speed of the car the whole way down to the next heavy braking zone. Whether this is the Brundle/Nelson esses or the final corner, Murrays, you are likely to see cars getting alongside each other and hoping to force their rival into a mistake.

The Snetterton event features two 1 hour races, with the pitstop window in the middle for a driver change. As in GT World Challenge, Driver 1 starts the first race and Driver 2 finishes, with the roles reversed for the second encounter of the day.

November 7th-8th – Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit

For the 2020 season, the annual visit to Silverstone has shifted from its usual mid-season slot to become the season finale. This creates an extra bit of tension as it is also a 3 hour race, giving more strategy options to the teams. Unlike the shorter British GT races, there is no pitstop window here, but each car must complete 3 mandatory pitstops with a driver change. Each driver must drive for at least 1 hour and 20 minutes during the three hour race.

This race also uses the old pitlane and start/finish straight used in Formula 1 until 2010, as there are more garages to spread the teams between. Much like the F1 races, it is the slow corners at Club and Village that will see the main overtaking opportunities but as this is a wide circuit there are many chances for the cars to run side-by-side.

What are the cars like and who are the drivers?

As with many endurance championships, the British GT Championship features a number of GT – or Grand Touring – cars from a wealth of different sports car manufacturers. These are all privately run machines, often using support engineers from the manufacturer, as well as the potential to use one of their factory-contracted drivers. You will see many different shapes of car and different engine sounds to go with them. Whether you prefer the low growl of a Mercedes-AMG GT3 or a high-pitched howl of a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo, there is plenty to see in this type of racing.

Photo: A GT3 Aston Martin (left) overtakes a GT4 Porsche. ©Ian Gilby 2016

This is another place where you will see the FIA Driver Ratings system being used, where each driver is given a rating based on their previous experience and achievements. Professionals are rated Platinum or Gold, with amateurs and younger drivers Silver or Bronze. For British GT, the 2 drivers in each car can fall into one of 2 categories – Pro/Am or Silver Cup. For Pro/Am you must have an amateur Bronze rated driver as one of the two, with the other driver free to be a professional Gold or Platinum. In Silver Cup on the other hand, you must simply have two Silver rated drivers.

GT3 Class

• GT3 is the top class in British GT, featuring the same models you will see racing in the GT World Challenge Europe

• GT3 cars feature larger aerodynamic aids, such as a diffuser and a colossal rear wing to increase the downforce to help the cars through the corners. Cars also feature ABS and traction control to aid the amateur drivers, but they are still by no means easy to control at the limits

• The GT3 category is shown with a White strip at the top of the windscreen, and the rear wing is usually the full width of the car

• Models from Bentley and Ferrari race against McLaren, Lamborghini and Mercedes. Four different manufacturers have won races in the six contests held so far, with only Ferrari left looking for a first win of the season

• For Snetterton, there is a good split in GT3 of 7 Pro/Am entries and 6 Silver Cup crews.

• Top Silver Cup teams include the #78 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini of former BTCC race winner Rob Collard, paired with quick junior driver Sandy Mitchell, and current championship leaders #69 Ram Racing Mercedes of Sam De Haan and Patrick Kujala.

• A team to look out for is the #2 Jenson Team Rocket RJN McLaren 720S GT3 of Michael O’Brien racing with esports graduate James Baldwin. James won the title of ‘World’s Fastest Gamer’ in 2019 in a competition organised by McLaren, and he has proved that the skills can transfer into the real world with three pole positions and a race win even though this is his first full season in car racing. The team is also part-owned by former F1 World Champion Jenson Button and features a white and lime green livery similar to his Brawn GP championship-winning car, although sadly Jenson has yet to race for the team himself.

• Quick Pro/Am line-ups in the GT3 class include championship nearly-man and rumoured ‘The Stig’, Phil Keen, who has finished 2nd in the Championship 3 times but is still yet to lift the title. Keen shares the #72 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini with Innocent Smoothies co-founder Adam Balon, who is a consistent Bronze driver continuing to increase his speed in the car. The #6 Ram Racing Mercedes of Buurman/Loggie and the #18 WPI Motorsport Lamborghini of Igoe/Caldarelli have also been at the sharp end at most races this season.

• For GT3, the Silver Cup crews receive a weight penalty to balance their speed over the race distance with the Pro/Am crews. This has been effective too as the overall race wins in the GT3 category have been shared out equally with 3 for Pro/Am crews and 3 for Silver Cup so far this season.

GT4 Class

• GT4 cars are more basic than their GT3 counterparts, with more modest additions to their road-going versions. You will still see reasonable rear wings and the cars also have traction control and ABS but the reduction in downforce means the GT4 cars can be a little more difficult to handle than their GT3s. The reduced grip and engine power means the GT4 cars are around 6 to 10 seconds a lap slower than the GT3 cars, depending on the circuit layout

• The GT4 cars feature a Black strip at the top of their windscreens and the rear wings are usually much narrower than the width of the car.

• Brands seen on the GT4 grid include McLaren, BMW and Aston Martin, whilst there is also single car entries from Ford and, new-for-2020, Toyota

• For the Snetterton round, 8 of the 9 GT4 entries are in the Silver Cup class, with many of these entries featuring up and coming drivers looking to work their way up to becoming a manufacturer-contracted driver in the future.

• There is a single Pro/Am entry for the #21 Balfe Motorsport McLaren 570S GT4 of quick professional Euan Hankey paired with Bronze rated Mia Flewitt. Mia is a reigning double champion of the amateur-only Pure McLaren GT Series, showing her strong pace as a Bronze but is unlikely to trouble the quick juniors in the Silver Cup category. For GT4, the Silver Cup cars have to remain stationary for an additional 14 seconds during their pitstop, so it will be interesting to see if Flewitt and Hankey can take advantage of this to secure a good overall result in the races.

• The GT4 Silver Cup has seen no fewer than 5 different crews winning races this season, making this one of the most hotly contested classes in the field. Just 2.5 points separate the top 4 in the championship with the fifth place team also only 8.5 points off the championship lead. With 25 points for a race win (as in F1), all of the top 7 crews are only a win away from the top of the championship.

• The GT4 championship lead is shared by the two brightly liveried TF Sport Aston Martins, with the #95 car featuring Connor O’Brien and Patrick Kibble ahead of the #97 machine (Jamie Caroline/Daniel Vaughan) on countback of race results. The #97 team will be hoping for their first overall GT4 race victory this season to grasp the championship lead

• Recent form has seen the #61 Academy Motorsport Ford Mustang GT4 of Albert/Cowley close up on the championship lead with a win at Brands Hatch, while both of the HHC McLarens have also had wins this season. The #58 HHC car features Jordan Collard, who is the son of Rob Collard (seen in the GT3 class), and Danish driver Patrik Matthiesen.

Things to look out for

The two 1 hour races at Snetterton give a good chance to get used to the speeds of the different drivers, while the race strategy is simpler than the 3 hour race for the Silverstone finale in November. The first 8 or 10 laps sees the two classes racing amongst themselves but it is around the 10 or 15 minute mark that this gets more difficult as the quicker GT3 cars begin to catch and lap the GT4 machines. This is where the race often becomes even more alive as you begin to see how well the drivers can battle for position, whilst managing the lapping, or being lapped, by the other class. Knowing when to be patient and when to be more aggressive and decisive in the positioning of your car is a huge part of being successful in multi-class racing. Most importantly though it is about avoiding having contact and damaging your car in traffic, especially for the amateur drivers.

After the driver changes have all been completed, it is likely that the order on track will have changed around a little while new drivers settle into the cars. This can change the momentum in battles between the cars on circuit, especially if one of the professionals, such as Keen or Buurman, has just got into the car. For race 1, the professionals are in the car for the second half of the race and you will see if they can catch and overtake the Silver Cup runners. In race 2 this works the opposite way and you will see if the amateur drivers can race well and hang on to their potential lead against the quick juniors in the Silver Cup class.

It has been incredible to see how well gamer-turned-racer James Baldwin has done in the #2 Jenson Team Rocket RJN McLaren GT3 this season. His relative lack of experience in real world racing has not held him back with very impressive performances, especially in qualifying. On the Pro/Am side it would be great to finally see Phil Keen (#72 Lamborghini along with Adam Balon) win the championship after coming so close so many times in the past. Good performances from both of these crews will be crucial at Snetterton ahead of the Silverstone finale.

Photo: A GT4 Class McLaren 570S. ©Ian Gilby 2016

On the GT4 side, the team with the most to prove is the #23 Speedworks Motorsport Toyota GR Supra GT4, who are still looking for their first win of the season in the tightly contested class. Sam Smelt and championship newcomer James Kell have both shown promise in the Supra in races but so far only a single podium to show for it. They are likely to be pushing the pair of Aston Martins and McLarens close at Snetterton.

Have a go yourself!

Much like the BTCC, the British GT Championship is an event I would definitely recommend for a visit in the future. In person you get a greater appreciation of the relative speeds of the GT3 and GT4 cars, although the TV coverage does also do a good job to show this to the viewer. A big strength of GT racing compared with other kinds of racing is the different shapes, sizes and sounds of the cars on the grid and this is certainly worth experiencing in person.

With that said, having the races shown for free and in full on YouTube has done wonders for the exposure of the teams and drivers in this championship. You may need to take extra care to notice who is driving each car around the time of the pit stops but if you pick on a couple of battling cars to focus on then this can be easier. I usually sit and watch the races at home with the entry list open on my laptop to help with this but it is by no means necessary to enjoy the races as the onscreen graphics show who is in the cars. The entry list is available at the championship’s website:

https://www.britishgt.com/

If you are looking for a world championship with an incredibly open race for the title between around 11 RIDERS (not drivers), then look no further than the two-wheeled action of next week’s An Introduction To… MotoGP.