Barwell Motorsport was back at the sharp end of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup field last weekend at Magny-Cours, with both of its cars showing determination against the odds.
The penultimate Sprint Cup event of the season proved a rollercoaster for the #78 Dama Fortuna Premium Tequila/J&S Accessories-backed Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 of Hugo Cook and Sandy Mitchell. After an unlucky collision set them back in Race 1, they produced a superb recovery drive to finish inside the top 10 in the Pro order. That set up a super Sunday, with the pair running to an excellent seventh overall on the road, even if a post-race penalty would drop them back.
The #76 BAM Motorsport Management/Wing Venture Capital/Collard Group/Lady Luck Irish Whiskey car shared by Bijoy Garg and Ricky Collard enjoyed its best-scoring event of the season so far, twice finishing inside the Gold points, highlighted by a strong run to fifth in the finale.
After disappointment during the last Sprint Cup event in Misano just a few weeks ago, the Barwell team arrived in France determined to bounce back. With the Lamborghini shorn of some of the additional balance of performance weight it was forced to carry in Italy, both crews set about dialling into Magny-Cours’ 2.7-mile track.
There were flashes of potential across Friday, with the twin Barwell Lamborghinis impressively finishing in formation in 10-11th overall during the night-time Pre-Qualifying session. Mitchell secured a top 10 for the #78 as Collard produced a class-leading lap to finish right behind in the #76, topping the Gold order in the process.
Cook took over for Qualifying on Saturday morning and would line up on the fringes of the top 10 in Pro. However, with the highly developed Grasser Racing Huracan scoring pole, all Lamborghinis would have 15kg of ballast added ahead of the opening contest. Cook would have to battle his way through traffic to get into the fight for overall points, but the potential to do so was there as the field roared away under the fading evening light.
Cook navigated a turbulent opening lap well to make up some early ground, but his progress was then halted when the HRT Ford Mustang got things wrong into the hairpin, misjudging its braking and ramming a series of cars ahead. Cook was at the end of the chain reaction that followed, with a heavy hit on the rear spinning the #78. Fortunately, Cook could continue, but was now at the tail of the 40-car field. Regardless, a rapid in-lap, fine pit work and a strong second stint from Mitchell would help the #78 gain a superb 24 places overall over the remaining 30 minutes, taking the flag in 16th, and 10th in the Pro category.
The #76 also endured a frustrating race, with Garg stuck in traffic across the opening half and with caution periods limiting his chances to attack. Garg still picked up a host of places overall while keeping his class rivals in sight before relaying Collard. Ricky continued the forward momentum, rising to 24th overall and chasing the class championship-leading Emil Frey/Verstappen.com Racing Ferrari across the line in sixth place in Gold.
Things then got more complicated for Sunday. Overall victory for the Grasser car in that first race brought with it an overnight balance of performance tweak that landed Barwell’s Huracans with an additional 10kg of ballast, bringing the total added to the Lamborghinis to 25kg. That, allied to some others shedding weight, led to a sizeable swing against the team’s rivals. Now in a similar position to where they found themselves in Misano, Race 2 would prove an uphill fight.
Mitchell qualified 11th overall with a fine effort, but knew he would need a stellar performance to break into the top 10. The Scotsman again showed his class by doing just that, getting a rapid start to rise immediately to eighth, settling into a fight with Maxime Martin’s Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG over seventh.
Mitchell kept the pressure on the AMG, running deep into the pit window allowing the #78 to briefly lead the race outright as the stops cycled through. When he finally did hand to Cook, a clean switch got the car back out in eighth, but Cook would soon come under attack from the title-chasing MANN Filter Mercedes-AMG behind.
Cook defended superbly, keeping the yellow AMG in his mirrors across the closing stages to take the flag seventh on the road, elevated a spot by a time penalty for the #50 Ferrari ahead. It marked Mitchell and Cook’s fourth outright top-10 finish of the Sprint Cup season, and their first since Zandvoort in May. However, a post-race time penalty for a Full Course Yellow infringement came as a bitter pill. While it dropped the pair to 11th and out of the points, there was no hiding the mighty effort that took the car back to the sharp end.
Collard and Garg completed their best event yet as a pairing with an equally strong run in the #76. Starting fifth in Gold, Collard put on his own early charge to put the car firmly in the fight for a podium, trading third in class with the Garage 59 McLaren up until the pit window. Garg took over for the second stint and brought the car home fifth in class, impressively keeping the Verstappen.com Ferrari behind at the flag. The results mean a best points score of the year for the car, moving Garg and Collard into eighth in the Gold Drivers’ Championship.
“Magny-Cours was a challenging weekend for us, but I’m very pleased with the way the entire team responded, especially for the performance on Sunday. Having to strap in yet more weight overnight after an already tough race can be quite demoralising, but nobody in the team let that show and we fought on to take two very strong results. Sandy and Hugo did superbly and deserved to finish inside the top 10 again. It was a real shame about the penalty taking the points away, but it can’t take the performance away from them. Likewise, it was great to see Bijoy and Ricky get their best points score yet. It’s been great having Ricky in the car for the last two rounds, and he’s been a really great asset to the team. I know Bijoy has learned a load from working with him and that’s reflected in the points. I hope we’re in a good position to enjoy a strong end to the season.”
