Barwell Motorsport and Optimum Motorsport shared the spoils at a scorching hot Oulton Park Circuit over the late May Bank Holiday weekend, breaking the 2026 British GT Championship title fight wide open. Under 30°C ambient heat and track temperatures exceeding 40°C, the iconic Cheshire venue hosted Rounds 2 and 3 of the season. The event delivered relentless action, unpredictable pit stop strategies, and maiden victories across both the senior GT3 and secondary GT4 categories.
GT3 Class: Barwell and Optimum Trade Blows
The sprint race format delivered two distinct storylines in the top tier:
Race 1 Dominance: Rob Collard and Hugo Cook secured a narrow victory in their #63 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2. Collard took the lead from the outside of row one at the start, resisting fierce, late-race pressure from Ross Gunn in the Beechdean Aston Martin to cross the line just 0.2 seconds ahead. The win marked Barwell’s 10th victory in 21 races with the Huracán package at Oulton Park.
Race 2 Redemption: Following a frustrating spin in the opening race, Morgan Tillbrook and Ben Barnicoat bounced back in style to claim Race 2 honors in their #77 Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 Evo. Benefiting from Beechdean's success-penalty pit stop time, Tillbrook took the lead in the second stint and successfully weathered a four-car train to win by 3.7 seconds.
RaceWinners (GT3)Team / CarMarginRace 1R. Collard / H. CookBarwell Motorsport / Lamborghini Huracán+0.235sRace 2M. Tillbrook / B. BarnicoatOptimum Motorsport / McLaren 720S+3.750s
GT4 Class: Maiden Wins and Grass-Cutting Duels
The GT4 class saw spectacular, paint-trading action as rising stars claimed their first career breakthroughs:
The Dragon Roars: In Race 1, Jack Collins and Branden Templeton steered their fan-favourite, dragon-liveried #24 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 Evo (affectionately nicknamed "Chomp") to a maiden class win. They capitalized on hefty pit-stop compensation penalties given to the Silverstone round winners to hold off the MK Racing Aston Martin.
Grange Racing Defies the Odds: Race 2 looked to be in the bag for Toro Verde GT's Ginetta, but a dramatic front-left suspension failure handed the lead to Daniel Lavery and Darren Turner in the #27 Grange Racing by FSR Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo. The final lap saw a heart-stopping duel as Jessica Hawkins (MK Racing) aggressively hunted Lavery down, with both cars dipping wheels onto the grass, but Lavery hung on to seal the victory.
