Greystone GT’s first-ever race season continued at a relentless pace as the GT Cup moved on to the legendary Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit in Kent last weekend.
Four finishes from four starts for the pair of McLaren 570S GT4s strengthened the Silverstone-based team’s start to life as a racing operation with more strong race performances in evidence.
After a top-five result at the opening round of the season at Donington Park, rookie racer Iain Campbell and his professional co-driver Oli Webb were the team’s highest-finishing crew at Brands Hatch in sixth spot in the #23 car.
Sandhurst racer Iain had started the second of two 50-minute ‘Endurance’ races from 13th place in the ultra-competitive GTH class, but maintained his recent trend of gaining ground at the start to climb to 10th among a record 45-car field for the series.
He coped superbly with a shattered drivers’-side window - probably caused by an impact with a stone thrown up by another car - that required him to wind the window down just to be able to use his wing mirror and resulted in excessive wind in the car.
A driver change swiftly executed by Greystone GT’s experienced pit crew released Oli - the practice pace-setter - into the thick of the action as the Knutsford ace - racing on the GP loop for the first time in 11 years - continued to climb the order.
A determined charge during the second half of the race brought the former European Le Mans Series champion to sixth - just 0.158 seconds away from a repeat of their Donington result. That added to ninth spot in Race One from 12th on the grid.
The sister #77 McLaren was qualified 12th by Mark who, like Iain, was lacking in any meaningful track experience of the 2.6-mile GP loop at Brands Hatch, and was Greystone GT’s top qualifier for the first time.
The Repton racer and his pro driver Adam combined to finish 11th in Race One and 10th in Race Two.
On both occasions Adam’s progress was hampered by being held up behind cars from ‘faster’ classes; the Northern Irishman quicker over a complete lap, but unable to match the more powerful GTA and GTC-class cars on the straights, where passing is usually easiest.
The results at Brands Hatch leave Iain an Oli eighth in the GTH points while Mark and Adam are 11th with two of seven rounds completed.
The next round, a traditional two-day, four-race event, takes place at Snetterton, Norfolk on June 5-6.
Iain Campbell (#23 McLaren 570S GT4) said: “To have a pair of top-six finishes from our first two race weekends is way beyond what I expected from the start of my rookie season, and certainly from where we started the races. Brands Hatch was tougher than Donington because I’d never driven the McLaren here in the dry before, so that definitely affected my ability to qualify well. By the end of Saturday we’d learnt a lot and I was faster than I’d been in qualifying - even with the issue with the window - so if this had been a normal four-race weekend, I know we’d have been so much better off on Sunday.”
Oli Webb (#23 McLaren 570S GT4) said: “I had an absolute blast in Race Two; another lap and I’d have had fifth place, but to come from 10th to sixth in 20 minutes of racing was really fun. We were also the fastest of the McLarens in that race, which was really pleasing and shows the good work the team’s done, and I think I knew that was possible after we’d gone fastest in practice - my first flying lap at Brands Hatch since 2010! Iain made big gains across the day as he became more familiar with the track and I think that when we go to Snetterton - a track he knows better - that learning curve will be much flatter.”
Mark Hopton (#77 McLaren 570S GT4): “It was a really good day and I learnt a lot. Having practice, qualifying and two enduros in a day is pretty physically demanding, but it was so much fun. If I can say that after an experience that’s probably as tough as it’s going to get all season, then we’re certainly doing something right. I didn’t have much track knowledge of the GP loop, but Adam - who’s the outright lap record holder here - was a great help. I managed to make my first overtake for position and to qualify faster than my team-mate, so they’re really the positives to take away. I’m looking forward to Snetterton already.”
Adam Carroll (#77 McLaren 570S GT4): “Overall it’s been a positive weekend and the improvement Mark’s made, mainly just through having had that race experience at Donington, has been excellent and definitely makes us a stronger pairing. It was interesting that my fastest lap was pretty much identical to Oli’s all day and great that Mark was the team’s quickest qualifier, which again shows his progress from Donington, despite not knowing the track all that well. The races were so action-packed, and I found myself racing cars from loads of different classes - I even passed a GT3 car! I think we have a lot to be confident about for Snetterton."
Mark McLoughlin, Team Principal, said: “We’re really pleased with how things went, and that’s all down to the hard work done by every member of the team. There was a concern going into Saturday that Iain and Mark’s lack of experience at this track might make things a bit tougher than at Donington, but both have grown in confidence since the first event and it really showed. The very positive thing is that we’re working well together as a team, the Sporting and Pro drivers have really gelled and we’re only going to get stronger and stronger as we go on.”
