Rob and Ricky Collard crowned champions after steady run to sixth in #63 Barwell Motorsport Huracán
Sant’Agata Bolognese/Brands Hatch, 29 September 2024 – Lamborghini claimed its third British GT Championship drivers’ title out of the last five seasons as Barwell Motorsport’s Rob Collard and Ricky Collard completed a trouble-free run to sixth in the season finale at Brands Hatch.
The crew of the #63 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 kept their noses clean throughout the final two-hour race of the season to wrap up the title, as the #78 sister Barwell Motorsport Huracán of Alex Martin and Sandy Mitchell took second place and maximum points behind the race-winning guest entrant McLaren.
For Barwell Motorsport, it continues a remarkable run of success in the national GT3 championship, following title triumphs in 2020 (Rob Collard and Sandy Mitchell) and 2021 (Leo Machitski and Dennis Lind). The Leatherhead based squad, which added another Teams’ title at the penultimate round at Donington Park, also secured a one-two in the drivers’ standings with Mitchell and Martin.
Collard and Collard arrived at the Brands Hatch finale with a 24.5-point margin at the top of the standings over the sister Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini of Mitchell and Martin, with the McLaren of Shaun Balfe and Adam Smalley an outside shot at the title, 36 points adrift with 37.5-points on offer from the three-hour endurance race. With a commanding but not insurmountable margin, the Collards needed only to finish higher than sixth if the #78 won and higher than 10th if it finished second.
Despite their healthy lead in the points, Collard/Collard also knew they would have to serve the maximum success handicap at their last pit-stop, 20-seconds, courtesy of their victory last time out at Donington Park, while the #78 of Mitchell and Martin would serve no penalty.
In qualifying, it was the #78 which gained a slight advantage by setting the third-quickest combined time while the #63 – which had missed much of FP1 due to an engine change – was fifth on the grid. Off the start, Martin moved up into second place as the field negotiated Paddock Hill Bend for the first time as Rob Collard also made progress to fifth in the #63. The order remained stable at the front, with Collard gaining another position as the pit window approached, but a lengthy full course yellow period played right into the hands of the #63 machine. Both the #78 and #63 pitted at the same time, meaning the latter was able to minimise the time loss that its success penalty would have had under green flag conditions. It returned to the track in fifth, three places behind the #78.
With the leading McLaren a guest entrant and therefore not eligible to score points, the #63 therefore held the upper-hand throughout and only had to finish sixth on the road to secure the title. A further FCY and safety car intervention in the closing stages made sure of the title, as Mitchell could do no better than second place – taking points for the victory. Tasked with bringing the #63 to the finish, Ricky Collard kept his nose clean to take sixth place – but points for fifth place – to become champions.
