Lamborghini Squadra Corse picked up its fifth British GT Championship win of the season as Barwell Motorsport’s Rob and Ricky Collard came out on top in the penultimate round of the year at Donington Park. The victory, from pole position, gives the father-and-son duo the upper hand in the Drivers’ title battle and also secured the Teams’ championship for Barwell ahead of the season finale at Brands Hatch next month.
The #63 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 overcame a success penalty at their mandatory pit-stop, having enjoyed an impressive opening stint, as the sister #78 car of Sandy Mitchell and Alex Martin fell back with a puncture. A late full course yellow and safety car period bunched the pack up and nullified what had been a comfortable race lead, but Collard held his nerve to hang on for the win.
The pair of Lamborghinis were on the pace from the start of the weekend; Collard/Collard were fifth quickest in the opening free practice session, before improving to second in pre-qualifying, with Mitchell and Martin third quickest. Historically a strong circuit for Lamborghini, the two Barwell machines then produced solid pace across the pair of qualifying sessions, after which the #63 of Collard and Collard took pole position with the #78 of Mitchell and Martin third on the grid.
Off the rolling start, Rob Collard maintained his advantage as the field headed into Redgate for the first time, as Martin moved up a position to second as the Mercedes of Kevin Tse got tagged into a spin. On the second lap, the nearest challenger in the BMW then retired with mechanical issues, leaving both Collard and Martin a healthy 15-second margin inside the opening 10 minutes. With priority in the pit-lane given to the lead car, Collard held the advantage over Martin and extended his lead over the #78 to more than two seconds through lapped traffic.
That gap grew to over eight seconds as Martin struggled through the backmarkers, but the #78’s fortunes took another blow as a front-left puncture following contact with a tyre stack at the chicane forced Martin into the pits before the mandatory drive time was completed. The #78 was therefore compromised, which left the #63 in prime position to make its stop and maintain the lead as Rob handed over to his son, Ricky.
The margin for the #63 stabilised at just over 10 seconds but the chasing #87 Aston Martin of Jonny Adam and a full course yellow period which subsequently turned into a safety car brought the gap down to a couple of car lengths only. Thankfully, for the #63 car, barrier repairs ensured a lengthy neutralisation and, with dark clouds looming over the circuit, kept the Barwell machine in the lead with just a handful of laps to go once action resumed.
That played into the #63’s hands nicely, and after a superb restart where he was able to build a three-second gap Collard was able to nurse the car home to victory, while Mitchell brought the #78 to the finish in fourth place, profiting from a late puncture for the Mercedes of Neary. Heading into the final round of the year at Brands Hatch, the Collards hold a 24.5-point advantage over Mitchell and Collard, needing just eight points in the two-hour race in Kent to wrap up the title. Meanwhile, Barwell Motorsport secured the Teams’ title in fine style with a round to spare.
Rob Collard (Barwell Motorsport) said: “I must admit that I was really nervous, because you always think something bad is going to happen, but [Ricky] did a great job and the safety car really did us a favour because it didn’t leave anyone time to do anything.”
Ricky Collard (Barwell Motorsport) added: “That’s first blood to us heading into Brands Hatch; it’s unfortunate what happened to Alex and Sandy, I really feel sorry for them. We’ve been on the receiving end of some bad luck this year and to finally be on the right side of the luck, with a really solid run was really nice. We went completely different in terms of setup and it really worked.”
