British GT at Brands Hatch - 09/09/23 and 10/09/2023
Words and Images by Mitcham Media
A scortching September brings the British GT to Brands Hatch in Kent. The 2.4 miles and 9 corners has featured some of the greatest drivers of all time since 1950 including being the British Formula One round 14 times between 1964 and 1986. Now in 2023 the GP circuit is playing host to the penultimate round of the British GT which has the potential to be a Championship decider.
With all the hype and glory around F1 it was a pleasant surprise to see a packed Brands for the frankly far better better racing you get to witness as part of the GT series, all in cars which are (somewhat) more relatable and attainable.
As always with GT racing the car park was full of seldom seen gems, and with DK Engineering sponsoring the James Cottingham and Jonny Adam Mercedes AMG GT3 car, they brought with them an array of their current and phenomenal stock.
The 2015 LaFerrari was certainly over shadowed by the 2004 Carrera GT in a stunning violet with colour matched wheels.
Saturdays carnage featured two, one hour long practice sessions in the morning getting the teams and drivers in the right place for the 15 minute sprint in qualifying to set the fastest lap times possible. Practice 1 was lead by Howard and Gunn in the Beechdean Aston Martin with Practice 2 being dominated by Price and Macloed in the Greystone AMG GT.
As qualifying rolled round in the afternoon not old had the searing sun raised the temperature but the action on track heated up too. It was of course the Cottingham and Adam DK Engineering AMG GT which dominated the first qualifying group inching them closer to the championship. Batch 2 was lead by the Beechdean Aston and set the starting grid for the race.
Sundays main event was the two hour race which started with a debaucherous first corner as Ferguson made contact with Loggie in his Mercedes consequently sending half the grid into the gravel filling the air with plooms of dust and fully shaking up the staring order.
The carnage allowed the point leaders Cottingham and Adam to build up a substantial lead in the DK Engineering Mercedes, but with almost the full two hours of the race left they knew not to get complacent.
Following a collision between Neary and Radcliffe a safety car period was underway, and as the debris was cleared off track Cottinghams lead was also cleared. True to form, Cottingham nailed some smoking laps as the safety car pulled in growing a new lead over the rest of the pack.
Unfortunately it was too good to be true, and with Orange and Price causing another safety car period just before the pit window opened the DK Engineering lead was destroyed. Through the pit stops the order received a full shuffle, with the Beechdean Aston in first followed by Harper in the BMW second and Adam in the DK Mercedes picking up third.
Within the last half an hour of the race Gunn in the Aston had been scuppered by trying weave his way through the traffic of GT4 cars allowing the Century car to close the gap and put the pressure on before eventually passing.
Harper and Leung took the race win with Century, followed by the Beechdean AMR crew taking second, and crucially for the championship the DK crew rounded out the podium in third.
The results from this Brands Hatch round means all is to play for with the Century Motorsport BMW of Leung and Harper racking up enough points to stop Cottingham and Adam from clinching the Championship with a round to spare. With all to play for, the Donnington final is shaping up to be an exceptional event.
Thank you to the British GT Championship and Brands Hatch for organising and hosting a fantastic event, and thank you to all the teams and drivers who put on an impressive show as always with close and exciting racing.
Check out a few more photos from the race weekend below, and keep an eye out on the Tyrotek website for more event coverage soon.
