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19 May 2025 Barwell battles on the beach in Zandvoort GTWC Sprint Cup

Barwell Motorsport produced yet another fighting performance in the latest round of the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup at Zandvoort last weekend, overcoming a string of challenges to leave the Netherlands with twin points scores.

Hugo Cook and Sandy Mitchell again produced an eye-catching display aboard the #78 Dama Fortuna Premium Tequila/FindGoodSpirits.com/J&S Auto Accessories Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, fighting within the top five during the weekend’s opening race.

The #76 Pelican Energy Consultants/Wing Venture Capital/BAM Motorsport Management/Lady Luck Irish Whiskey entry shared by Christian Bogle and Bijoy Garg continued to make progress, with the drivers also getting on the scoreboard in race one.

With GT World Challenge returning to the Dutch track for the first time since 2023, and the weekend marking Barwell’s first competitive outing at the venue since 2021, the entire team began the weekend with a learning mission. The lack of pre-event testing opportunities meant both crews went straight into practice on Friday with very limited time to learn the intricacies of the track, the new Pirelli DHG tyres and refine the setup of the cars.

Constantly changing track conditions and ambient temperatures made the day a tough one as both cars struggled to find traction, but sweeping changes overnight revitalised the team for Saturday and set up a brilliant turnaround.

Mitchell took the wheel of the #78 for Qualifying, knowing he would only have 10 minutes to both set a quick lap and validate the new set up. The Scot did a great job qualifying just outside the top 10 overall, with Bogle doing likewise aboard the #76 in the Silver order.

Often overtaking in modern GT3 can be a challenge, but a turbulent first race provided plenty of opportunity for both cars to move forward, and made for a thrilling watch.

Mitchell got a good start to hold his own into Turn One, but then a collision directly in front scattered the pack. Mitchell did superbly to avoid the chaos and settle into ninth when things calmed down and the resulting Safety Car was withdrawn. Mitchell hounded the Boutsen VDS Mercedes ahead until the pit window opened and the team made the tactical call to keep Mitchell out slightly later into the window to pit in a quieter pitlane, and a superb service and driver change got Cook installed and out on fresh Pirellis and up to fifth, having vaulted several cars in the process.

From there Cook underlined his star potential, defending hard from the Garage 59 McLaren of Benji Goethe, Kelvin van der Linde’s WRT BMW and Maxime Martin in the Boutsen AMG. On his first visit to the track, Cook excelled, refusing to give any of the more experienced drivers behind breathing room and, even though the door was opened when Goethe gave the Huracan a shove in the door to get past, Cook held a superb seventh overall and sixth in the Pro order to the flag, keeping the super-experienced Martin in his mirrors.

The #76 enjoyed arguably an even greater rate of progression, making up a heap of places as Bogle and Garg worked their way up the field. Despite starting 40th overall, Bogle made his way up 12 places during a determined opening stint before handing across to Garg. A delay on their driver change was a setback, but Garg did enough to cement eighth in class and bag a useful points score.

The momentum appeared to be continuing for Sunday, but ultimately two doses of bad luck held both cars back from their true potential. Garg qualified the #76 a season-best eighth in class to mark a bright start, but Cook admitted to not quite hooking up his quali run in the more grippy conditions and would start 12th.

That would set up a frustrating second race with Cook mired in traffic for the entire first half, and Mitchell unable to make much additional progress so 12th would be the limit. But to come away with solid points from such a challenging weekend at the highest level of GT3 racing was still some achievement.

Likewise, the #76 would also endure its own issues. Despite Garg fighting hard at the start and completing a clean switch with Bogle, the Huracan was pincered in the closing stages, bending a steering arm and forcing Bogle back into the pits. However, they would still be classified at the finish.

Hugo Cook said: “It’s been an up and down weekend with the highs of Saturday and then a tough Sunday, but that’s racing. Sandy did a great job in his quali, I don’t think there was much left on the table there, and I defended for my life across the second half. I knew exactly which drivers were behind me, but you also know that factory drivers rarely do something stupid, so it was a good fight and a great experience. We were always up against it after the difficult quali on Sunday, but we continue to learn with every race and there’s definitely more to come.”

Sandy Mitchell said: “To get points in race one was really good, especially after a tricky start to the weekend. I really enjoyed that race, made up a few places and then Hugo did an awesome job defending in the second stint. Race two was a tough one, but I feel we still made some good progress this weekend and it’s always cool to learn a new track.”

Christian Bogle said: “We made a lot of progress over the weekend with the car and it was great to learn a circuit like this. We were on for a good result in race two before I got pinched between two other cars and one turned into me and caused the damage.”

Bijoy Garg said: “I enjoyed this weekend and we made some good steps from start to finish, it was just a few things went against us that held us back. I was happy with my qualifying, first time here and at this level, it showed some real progress for us and will put us in a good position heading to Monza. The track is also awesome, I just wish we’d had more laps around here!”

Barwell Motorsport team principal Mark Lemmer added: “We definitely got a lot of learning done this weekend, and that’s never a bad thing. This track was new to all the drivers, with new tyres this year and constantly changing track temperatures, which led to a difficult start. But the way the guys turned things around on Saturday was great, with both cars going on to score points and show some serious race pace. Race two was one of those where things just went against us, but we did complete both full tyre changes in 19 seconds each, which is really impressive from the pit crew and the driver changes were super-smooth, which is vital to success in the Sprint Cup. All four drivers conducted themselves brilliantly under pressure. We’ll take the lessons and move on to the next one.”

Barwell Motorsport is next in action for round three of the British GT Championship at Oulton Park across Bank Holiday weekend, May 24-26.