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Lamborghini opens Huracán GT3 EVO2 victory accounts - in British GT and GT Open
Lamborghini recorded two more victories for the new Huracán GT3 EVO2 courtesy of Barwell Motorsport and Oregon Team. Both outfits opened their win accounts in British GT and International GT Open respectively to kickstart their title campaigns in fine fashion.
The Snetterton circuit in heart of the Norfolk countryside was the venue for the fourth round of the British GT season and the second sprint format meeting of the year. Lamborghini Factory Driver Sandy Mitchell and team-mate Shaun Balfe entered the weekend off the back of a seventh-place finish at the previous meeting, looking for a strong result.
The crew of the #78 Barwell Motorsport Huracán GT3 EVO2 did just that, setting the sixth-fastest time in combined practice and the second-best time in qualifying. Thanks to a penalty for the pole-sitting Mercedes, the pair inherited top spot on the grid for the first one-hour race of the weekend, with Balfe leaping away at the front as the lights went out. Balfe then opened up a comfortable lead of over six seconds before handing over to Mitchell at the mandatory driver-change pit-stops. Once at the wheel, Scotsman Mitchell extended the margin from the chasing BMW, due largely to the fact that Barwell elected to fit new tyres onto the #78, giving it a significant advantage over the rest of the field.
Mitchell duly kept it clean and drove home to victory to the tune of over 11 seconds from the BMW of Dan Harper, while the sister Barwell Motorsport car of Mark Sansom and Will Tregurtha claimed a podium finish in the Silver-Am class. “It was one of those perfect races, which doesn’t happen very often in British GT, it’s so competitive: Shaun qualified right at the front and I was a little bit off the pace and found myself back in P8 for race two,” Mitchell said. From eighth on the grid in race two, the #78 had to serve a success penalty which negated any chance of a repeat performance for Balfe and Mitchell. But the duo scored more valuable points with a solid ninth-place finish.
Oregon Team secures dramatic final corner victory in GT Open
Defending champions Oregon Team claimed a sensational first win of the GT Open season at the Hungaroring, with Maximilian Paul vaulting two positions on a dramatic last lap of race two.
On a circuit which has historically suited the Lamborghini Huracán, Paul and team-mate Pierre-Louis Chovet ran third in the early stages of the race after qualifying fourth on the grid. The #63 machine moved into the net lead of the race after the pit-stops but dropped to second where it finished on the road before a five-second track limits penalty relegated the pair to third.
Race two on Sunday was a topsy-turvy affair as the #63 started eighth on the grid but moved forward due to the success penalties of the previous day’s top two cars. Following the pit-stops, Paul took over from Chovet and settled into third place behind the #51 Ferrari. The places seemed decided on the final lap, but the Ferrari made a clumsy move on the leading McLaren which allowed Paul to assume second. The German driver wasn’t done, however, and pulled off a sensational overtake around the outside of the Ferrari at the very last corner to snatch the victory by just two-tenths of a second.
“After a difficult start to the season, we finally managed to bring home some good points this weekend,” said Paul. “On the last lap, I just tried to stick to them and see what happened, either we won or we finished second, so we are very happy.”
