Greystone GT scored a first pole position and a best-ever finish in the International GT Open last weekend while ultra-strong race pace in the British GT Championship should have netted the Silverstone-based team a top-five finish.
The speed shown by both Stewart and Lewis Proctor at the Red Bull Ring and by Mike Price and Callum Macleod at Brands Hatch was a clear indication of the increasing competitiveness of both the McLaren and Mercedes-AMG packages in the two series.
International GT Open
Lewis Proctor was the sensation of Sunday qualifying as he took the #66 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo to Greystone GT’s first Pro-Am pole position of the season in Austria in third place overall – the best result to date for both the Aberdeen driver and the team.
The Pro racer, who was just over a tenth of a second away from overall pole, then ran competitively in the race, holding a top-three spot in the class until well beyond the half-distance marker.
Unfortunately, however, his hopes of a category win were dashed when two safety-car periods shortly before the mandatory pit window opened eliminated a huge time gap he had built up over many of the rival teams who had started their Am driver.
A trip through the gravel once the tightly-bunched field had resumed racing cost further time, but father Stewart drove superbly once aboard to claim a sixth-place finish in Pro-Am.
The previous day it was Stewart’s turn to shine in qualifying as he put the McLaren sixth on the grid in class and kept pace with the drivers around him during his stint.
A superb charge by Lewis once aboard – which featured the race’s second-fastest lap of all – brought him to the flag in a best-ever fifth spot in class and a highest weekend points haul of the season.
British GT Championship
The speed shown by Mike Price and Callum Macleod was equally impressive as the series’ penultimate event of 2023 got underway at Brands Hatch as the latter set the fastest lap of all in Saturday’s second free-practice session.
The duo lined up ninth on the grid in Pro-Am and 11th overall after Mike had been blocked on his best lap in qualifying, costing the #3 Mercedes-AMG a top-six starting spot.
Mike drove brilliantly during his stint, benefiting from overnight set-up changes that aided his confidence to climb to fifth place outright through a combination of strong overtaking moves and attrition.
Multiple British GT race winner Callum, once aboard, maintained the position with a strong stint of his own, only to be denied the team’s best result of the season when he slowed on the final lap, out of fuel. The Mercedes-AMG was classified eighth in Pro-Am as a result.
Mark McLoughlin, Team Principal, said: “Overall I’m pleased with the weekend in both series from a performance point of view, but it is disappointing that Mike and Callum didn’t get the result they deserved.. In the GT Open Lewis and Stewart were both superb all weekend and really benefitted from a productive test last week at the Red Bull Ring. Both looked confident and fast on their own or in traffic, scored their best qualifying and race results and go to the final two rounds full of optimism. Naturally we’re investigating the cause of Mike and Callum’s fuel issue, but it doesn’t take away how well both have driven this weekend. It was so hot at Brands Hatch, but Mike’s stint was fabulous and if he can repeat that at Donington, we can be certainly in the top five.”
