The British GT title race took a significant turn at Snetterton last weekend as Barwell Motorsport’s Lamborghini Huracan pairing of Alex Martin and Jarrod Waberski endured a bruising double-header, losing their championship lead to Optimum Motorsport’s McLaren 720S duo of Morgan Tillbrook and Ben Barnicoat.
Tillbrook’s and Barnicoat’s victory in the second of Sunday’s two one-hour sprint races followed success in the first for their team-mates Marc Warren and Jack Brown, capping a day of delight for the Optimum outfit, which also tasted victory in GT4 (see below).
Barwell’s difficulties began in qualifying when Martin spun exiting Hamilton and struck the barriers heavily, leaving Waberski unable to set a time and consigning them to 13th and last of the GT3 runners for race two. A late-night rebuild by Barwell’s mechanics returned the Lamborghini to service for race day, but more woes would follow.
Sunday’s opener began with an Optimum lock-out of the front row, Warren lining up on pole after pipping Tillbrook in Q1. Warren held the lead at the rolling start, but immediately up into second from third on the grid was Barwell’s other Lamborghini driven by Rob Collard. The pair quickly drew clear of Tillbrook, who had a queue forming behind, Collard applying heavy pressure for the first five laps. “I think I’ve got a Lamborghini badge engrained in my mirrors,” Warren said. “Rob got really close and we even had a bit of contact through the Esses.”
Collard added: “The first few laps were my best chance of grabbing the lead but, to be fair to Marc, he didn’t crack. We can’t keep with the McLarens on traction here – out of the corners they’re leaving us.”
Collard applies the pressure but was unable to find a way past the McLaren
Photo by: JEP
Behind, Martin’s and Waberski’s day worsened almost immediately. Light contact with Mark Smith’s Paddock Motorsport McLaren sent Martin spinning at the Esses on lap one, dropping him to the tail of the GT3 field as Kevin Tse took avoiding action on the grass.
Further incidents followed: Steven Lake’s Orange Racing with JMH McLaren lost several laps after rattling the barriers exiting Murrays; Tse and Cameron Campbell clashed at Wilson; and Smith’s race ended with suspension damage after a tangle with Tillbrook sent him into the barriers exiting the Esses.
Tillbrook’s part in the incident earned a 30-second penalty that later demoted him and Barnicoat from third to fourth behind Simon Orange/Marcus Clutton. Oddly, this worked to their advantage – finishing outside the top three meant they avoided a pitstop compensation penalty for race two.
Up front, the top two remained close as they entered the pitlane for their driver changes, Warren handing over to Brown and Collard to Hugo Cook. Their cars rejoined in the same order, the McLaren narrowly ahead. Cook kept Brown honest for the remainder of the race but never quite got close enough to mount a serious bid. “As the fuel came down we had a bit more pace but the traffic didn’t fall too kindly for me,” Cook said.
Martin and Waberski, meanwhile, recovered to fifth, their 11.5-point advantage over Tillbrook and Barnicoat now down to 9.5.
The second race opened with Ross Gunn leading the pack thanks to a mighty lap in Q2 that put his Beechdean Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage on pole. Barnicoat immediately jumped Clutton for second within metres of the start and set off after Gunn. The Aston initially held firm but, as GT4 traffic came into play, Barnicoat closed right in.
Beechdean Aston starred in race two until a couple of errors from Howard left it third
Photo by: JEP
Further back, Cook, Waberski and race-one winner Brown struggled near the tail of the GT3 runners – the second Barwell Lamborghini having started only 12th after stopping with a sensor failure in Q1 and their recovery drive would prove important for the championship picture.
Barnicoat’s McLaren was almost pushing Gunn’s Aston into pit entry as their team-mates Tillbrook and Andrew Howard prepared to take over. Howard rejoined ahead but frustratingly spun the lead away at Wilson. To his credit, he recovered strongly, closing back in on Tillbrook as Tse (having taken over the 2 Seas Mercedes-AMG from Ben Green) and Orange also joined the fight to make it a genuine four-way battle. Tse then spun at Wilson and more drama followed as Howard ran wide over the grass at Coram with a few minutes remaining.
Orange was now the threat, closing steadily, but Tillbrook – battling humidity and a broken cockpit cooling system – kept his composure to cross the line three quarters of a second clear for his and Barnicoat’s second win of 2026 thereby ensuring there was no Mercedes victory at Snetterton for the first time in five years.
The result also moved them 13.5 points ahead of Martin and Waberski – a 25-point swing across the day. “We’d perhaps gone too aggressive with the set-up and the car was difficult in the slower stuff, but I was confident I could keep whoever was behind at arm’s length,” reflected Tillbrook.
Martin and Waberski finished sixth on the road only for a 30s penalty – incurred after Martin sent Steven Lake spinning at Agostini – to drop them to ninth for just two points. They hang on to second in the table but now have Orange/Clutton and Cook/Collard seriously pressuring them, the latter pair recovering to finish the race in fourth thanks to two demon moves by Collard at Wilson during his stint. Gunn and Howard – who continued to take third following Howard’s off at Coram – also remain in touch, 28.5 points off the championship lead with 75 still available from Donington Park’s and Brands Hatch’s final two rounds.
Consistency nets MK Aston the GT4 advantage
Hawkins (l) and Orton have now grabbed the GT4 points lead from Simpson and Holland (c)
Photo by: JEP
The GT4 championship picture also shifted significantly at Snetterton as Jessica Hawkins and Will Orton (MK Racing Aston Martin Vantage) moved to the top of the standings with second and fifth place results across the two races.
Innovation Racing’s Ginetta G56 pairing of Thomas Holland and Hadley Simpson arrived with a slender 1.5-point advantage over Hawkins and Orton and extended it to 8.5 after winning Sunday’s opener. In the day’s later second race, though, things would fall apart…
Race one began with Simpson making a clean break, quickly building a healthy lead as Daniel Lavery (Grange Racing by FSR Aston) initially held off a tight group consisting of polesitter Josh Stanton (Optimum Motorsport McLaren Artura), Jack Collins (Century Motorsport BMW M4) and Hawkins.
Simpson’s strong opening stint meant Holland was still comfortably ahead after the pit cycle, and he maintained the advantage to the flag. “The first few corners worked out nicely for me and everyone squabbling behind gave me my chance – all I had to do then was hand over to Tom,” Simpson said.
Hawkins had been the first of the frontrunners to pit, and the strategy paid off with Orton emerging in second once the rest of the class had stopped. Branden Templeton, taking over from Collins, secured third ahead of Darren Turner (sharing with Lavery) and 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup GB champion George Gamble, who joined Stanton in the Optimum line-up for his first British GT outing in nearly a decade – their race stymied by a lengthy compensation time penalty during their stop thanks to being a silver driver pairing.
Simpson and Holland’s weekend unravelled after their opening victory
Photo by: JEP
Luke Shaw and Jack Mitchell (Toro Verde GT Ginetta) might have been podium contenders but Shaw’s opening-lap mistake at Wilson – missing his braking point and collecting Revie Lake’s Paddock Motorsport McLaren, which retired with damage – resulted in a 5s stop/go penalty, later served by Mitchell. They recovered to sixth.
Drama struck before race two even began when the Mitchell/Shaw Ginetta, due to start from class pole, suffered a suspected fuel pump failure and never left the garage. This handed pole to Gamble, though it was Tom Bradshaw (Toro Verde GT Porsche Cayman) who made the better start to lead early on. Gamble stayed close and swept past on the run to Wilson on lap six before rapidly building a large lead.
Holland’s and Simpson’s title hopes then suffered a cruel blow when Holland stopped on the run to Hamilton with suspected engine trouble. Out front, Stanton built on the advantage handed to him by Gamble, the Optimum McLaren’s winning margin in the end some 30s. Turner/Lavery took second, just a second ahead of Bradshaw/Ian Duggan – Lavery pouncing when Duggan was delayed by a GT3 car lapping them.
Hawkins and Orton finished a comfortable fifth – enough to take over the GT4 championship lead by 1.5 points from Holland and Simpson. “It’s been so close all season and this race shows how one result can change everything,” Hawkins said.
Gamble (l) and Bradshaw had a close battle at the start of race two, but the McLaren ultimately prevailed
Photo by: JEP
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– The Autosport.com Team
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