Autosport – 25 July 2019

Canning and Hand

surge into GT4 lead

on the way to victory

Winners: Wilkinson

(left) with Ellis

Cocker and De Haan lead

GT3 points standings

25 JULY 2019 AUTOSPORT.COM 59

NATIONAL REPORTS CLUB AUTOSPORT

McLaren of Dean Macdonald and Callum Pointon
to seize second in the points.
Collard had carved through from seventh to
sit right on Dorlin’s rear bumper before the stops,
but a 10-second penalty carried over from
Donington meant victory was always unlikely.
The second TF Aston Martin of Patrick Kibble
and Josh Price completed the podium ahead of
the Pro-Am winning Balfe McLaren of Michael
O’Brien and Graham Johnson, which profited
when early leader Kelvin Fletcher’s Beechdean
Aston Martin failed to select first gear during
the pitstops.
JAMES NEWBOLD

Les Combes by Rick Parfitt Jr’s JRM Bentley
and had to fight back from last.
Balon’s day didn’t get much better after
the penalty when he spun on the exit of
Blanchimont and nosed into the inside wall,
which broke the radiator and forced him
out. But De Haan made excellent progress
through the order – at one stage passing
Richard Neary, Mark Farmer and Michael
Igoe in one lap – to come through to
seventh, without the help of a safety car
and despite the 10-second penalty carried
over from finishing third at Donington.
Crucially, they finished ahead of
Donington winners Jonny Adam and
Graham Davidson. The TF Sport Aston
Martin duo were left to rue an opportunity
missed to gain big points towards their
championship challenge.
Davidson scythed through from 10th
on the grid to fourth on the opening lap
behind Wilkinson, Ian Loggie’s RAM Racing
Mercedes and the Silver Cup Team Parker
Bentley of Ryan Ratcliffe, which became
third when Loggie was turned around by
Shamus Jennings’s lapped G-Cat Racing
Porsche at La Source. Davidson briefly
got past Ratcliffe, but swiftly returned
the position having gone beyond the track
limits at Raidillon, and followed the Bentley
until the stops where Adam rejoined
without losing a place, despite his
20-second success penalty.

The three-time champion might have

gone on to challenge for victory from there

had it not been for Davidson tapping

Jennings into a spin at Les Combes to earn

another visit to the pits. That dropped

Adam back to fifth behind Rob Bell’s Balfe

Motorsport McLaren 570S and Loggie’s

team-mate Callum Macleod. A problem

with the rear brakes then forced him to

back off and drop to eighth by the finish.

“It’s not a three-way battle any more, it’s

a four-way battle in the space of 26 points,

but it’s still all to play for,” said Davidson,

who joins the Barwell cars in having no

success penalties for Brands Hatch.

Ratcliffe stayed out two laps longer

than Wilkinson and relayed Glynn Geddie

into second place, but the 2011 champion’s

advantage over Bell was whittled down

to nothing with 10 minutes to go. The

extra 30kg in the Bentley required Geddie

to almost stop on the apex to prevent Bell

• who had served a 15-second penalty of
  his own – getting through, and allowed
  Macleod to catch them both.
  This resulted in the race’s most
  memorable moment, as Macleod launched
  an audacious three-wide move up the inside
  into Eau Rouge, with Bell on the outside and
  Geddie sandwiched in between. Somehow
  they avoided contact and Macleod came out
  ahead, while Geddie held Bell at bay.
  JAMES NEWBOLD

GT3

(49 laps) 1 Bradley Ellis/Oliver Wilkinson

(Aston Martin Vantage GT3); 2 Callum

Macleod/Ian Loggie (Mercedes-AMG GT3)

+10.520s; 3 Glynn Geddie/Ryan Ratcliffe

(Bentley Continental GT3); 4 Rob Bell/

Shaun Balfe (McLaren 720S); 5 Nicki

Thiim/ Mark Farmer (Aston Martin); 6 Adam

Christodoulou/Richard Neary (Mercedes).

Fastest lap Thiim 2m21.406s (110.79mph).

Pole Ellis/Wilkinson. Starters 15.

Points 1 Jonny Cocker/Sam De Haan

(Lamborghini Huracan EVO) 104.5;

2 Phil Keen/Adam Balon (Lamborghini) 104;

3 Ellis/Wilkinson 88.5; 4 Jonny Adam/Graham

Davidson (Aston Martin) 78.5; 5 Macleod/

Loggie 72; 6 Thiim/Farmer 62.

GT4

(46 laps) 1 Tom Canning/Ash Hand (below)

(Aston Martin Vantage GT4); 2 Lewis Proctor/

Jordan Collard (McLaren 570S) +21.700s;

3 Patrick Kibble/Josh Price (Aston Martin);

4 Michael O’Brien/Graham Johnson (McLaren);

5 Mike Robinson/Patrik Matthiesen (Aston

Martin); 6 Sebastian Priaulx/Scott Maxwell

(Ford Mustang GT4). FL Dean Macdonald

(McLaren) 2m33.302s (102.20mph). P Jacob

Mathiassen/Mark Kimber (BMW M4). S 24.

Points 1 Priaulx/Maxwell 102.5; 2 Proctor/

Collard 97.5; 3 Canning/Hand 95; 4 Dean

Macdonald/Callum Pointon (McLaren) 82;

5 Martin Plowman/Kelvin Fletcher (Aston

Martin) 65.5; 6 Scott Malvern/Nick Jones

(Mercedes-AMG GT4) 52.5.

WEEKEND WINNERS

For full results visit: tsl-timing.com