In a dramatic finish to this year’s British GT Championship at Brands Hatch, Simon Orange and Marcus Clutton took their first win of the season to achieve an unprecedented 21.5-point overturn and claim their maiden GT3 title.
The seismic shift in the championship battle came after pre-race leader Rob Collard slid into the gravel trap on lap 27, handing Orange the lead and effectively ending his and team-mate Hugo Cook’s title hopes.
The result, which was Orange’s maiden trip to the top step of the podium in GT3, delivered the first senior British GT3 title for a McLaren machine since Steve O’Rourke and Tim Sugden won with the F1 GTR LT in 1998.
Speaking on the livestream at the end of an emotional event, Orange said: “It couldn’t have been much better. We knew we had to win and we had to have other things happen, but as soon as Collard went off, I knew we were on for it.
“It’s brilliant. It’s our second season in it and we’ve been getting better and better. I thought it was a long shot. We had to come first or second to win the Pro-Am, which I’d have been happy with, but to snatch the overall it’s fantastic!”
GT4 Drama
It was even more dramatic in the GT4 title battle, where Daniel Lavery and Darren Turner took the title after the latter soaked some intense late-race pressure from Will Orton to overhaul three driver pairings and take the crown on countback.
Turner survived a late scare when he and third-placed Jack Mitchell made contact with just minutes remaining, but that put title contender Orton into play and Turner had to use all his experience to hold off his rival in the final run to the line.
Turner and Lavery finished level with Orton and his team-mate Jess Hawkins – both pairs driving Aston Martin Vantage AMRs – but the Grange Racing with FSR pair took the title based on previous results.
It was a challenge for Turner to hold on in that final stint of the year and, speaking to in a post-race livestream interview, he explained: “I really didn’t think that was going to happen – that’s probably the worst 40 odd minutes I’ve had in the car.”