The Collards led every lap of the two-hour race having started from pole in the #63 Black Bull Scotch Whisky/Collard Group-backed Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2. It marked their second victory of the season and a third in as many events at Donington for the Barwell team. The win also puts the Collards in a prime position to secure the GT3 Drivers’ Championship, with the pair now holding a 24.5-point lead with just the season finale at Brands Hatch remaining.

 

The sister Dextra Commercial Lighting-supported Huracan of Alex Martin and Sandy Mitchell was well in the fight for victory during the early stages as the Barwell Lamborghinis left the rest of the field behind, however, an unlucky puncture wrecked what would have been a dream result for the team, leaving the #78 car fourth at the flag.

 

The results were enough to give Barwell Motorsport an insurmountable lead in the GT3 Teams’ Championship, securing the title with an event to spare. It is the seventh time the team has achieved the accolade, and its fifth since joining forces with Lamborghini Squadra Corse.

There was little doubting the potential of the twin Barwell Lamborghinis heading into the penultimate event of the British GT season at Donington Park, with the crews running one-two in the championship, the Collards just five points clear of Martin and Mitchell.

 

Things looked finely poised throughout the buildup to the race too, with both cars within the top three heading into qualifying. With only tiny margins to separate the two sides of the garage, both cars would be contenders for pole position. Rob Collard beat Martin by just over a tenth of a second in the first qualifying segment, with Ricky then backing up that work and doing enough to stick with the charging Mitchell to secure pole on combined times for the #63, with the #78 lining up right behind in third.

 

Rob Collard took the wheel of the #63 for the start and duly led the pack away when the lights went out, with Martin squeezing into second through turn one to establish a Barwell one-two. Once out front the two Huracans proved unstoppable, at times lapping a full second ahead of their pursuers as Collard and Martin again showed themselves to be the benchmark amateur drivers in the field. Both cars initially set the two fastest laps of the race, with just 0.005s between them as they toured clear.

 

Collard began to establish a slender lead over Martin, but knew he would need to stretch the gap with the car having to serve an additional 15 seconds during its pit stop courtesy of its second place last time out at Snetterton. In contrast Martin could shadow the #63 and vault ahead at the stops with no extra time to serve, and the plan was working nicely for the #78 until bad luck intervened.

Martin got too close to the tyre stack on the entry to the chicane and brushed against it – as many cars had before him – but the slight contact was enough to give the car a front-left puncture, consigning Martin to the pits for repairs and dropping the car back.

 

That released Collard, who charged half-a-minute clear by the time the pit window opened and he stopped to relay Ricky. Even with the extra pit time, Ricky rejoined with 14 seconds in-hand over the chasing Blackthorn Aston Martin driven by Jonny Adam. All that was left to do was manage the gap, but Ricky’s job was made considerably harder by a late safety car called to repair barrier damage from a GT4 crash. However, with just two laps of green-flag running remaining, Collard got a GT4 car between himself and the Aston and bolted early for the restart, knowing Adam would not be allowed to pass the slower car until the start/finish line. By that time, Collard was long gone and the win secured.

 

The #78 also pulled off a solid recovery to fourth. Martin rejoined down in sixth after the puncture, and handed to Mitchell who drafted onto the tail of the 2 Seas Motorsport Porsche and pulled a brilliantly judged pass around the Melbourne Hairpin and into Goddards. Fifth then became fourth when the Team Abba Mercedes-AMG crashed out late on. The result at least limited the damage in the drivers’ points against the Collards, but was also less than the crew deserved after an otherwise superb weekend.

 

Rob Collard said: “It’s just been a dream weekend… if you’d have said to me before that we’d be on pole, lead every lap and win, plus get the teams’ championship... I’d never have believed you! The team has been exceptional all weekend, and the car was on rails – everything worked so well and I had no problems during my stint and could push all the way. I got nervous when the safety car came out at the end… we’ve been on the wrong end of some bad safety car luck already this year, but this one fortunately worked out. We’re now in a great position in the championship and will be going all out to get it over the line at Brands Hatch.”

 

Ricky Collard said: “Amazing weekend, just brilliant, and what a result for both us and the entire Barwell team. We tried some different things on setup this weekend, going a different direction from the #78 and it seemed to put us on top. Dad drove a monster of a first stint to overturn the pit time, and when I got in it was all eyes forward. The late safety car was a bit of a worry, but I could see the GT4 car behind me and knew I could take advantage so it was comfortable in the end. We’re a step closer to the dream of winning the championship as father and son.”

 

Alex Martin said: “It was a race of what could have been. This weekend the racing gods just weren’t on our side. We had the pace to win, especially with the #63’s longer pit stop, but I got too close to the tyre stack and the slightest contact was enough to puncture the tyre. These things happen, but we fought back and are still mathematically in the title fight, so we’ll give it our all until it’s impossible. However, it’s still a weekend for celebration as we did get the teams’ title over the line, which is a great achievement.”

 

Sandy Mitchell said: “It just wasn’t mean to be for us this weekend. Alex was driving brilliantly and doing everything he had to, then we just got unlucky. The car was really fast and I still got into some decent fights and made up some ground to the finish, so at least we got some points back, but it’s never over in this championship until it’s over. To see the job Barwell has done this season has been incredible and I’m proud to be a part of it. These two cars have been the standout performers all season, so the teams’ championship is a great reward for all the hard work.”

 

Barwell Motorsport team principal Mark Lemmer added: “What a weekend! We’ve enjoyed some great seasons of racing across our long history, and this one is already up there as one of the best! The fact our two cars led that race in the manner they did just makes you proud of the huge amount of work that has gone into engineering them and bringing this programme together. To win our seventh teams’ championship is amazing, and the ultimate reward for the entire team. I’m delighted for Rob and Ricky, who didn’t put a wheel wrong all weekend and full deserved the win. Alex and Sandy were also superb and deserved a lot more, but lady luck had other ideas on this occasion. They’re still in the championship picture and won’t be giving up without a fight. Now we head to Brands Hatch in a great position to make it two titles!”

 

Barwell Motorsport is next in action for the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Endurance Cup at Monza in Italy over September 20-22.