British GT4 Brands Hatch: Academy fight back after qualifying woes 30.08.2020: Intelligent Money British GT Championship Brands Hatch Sunday, August 30th 2020 Jordan Albert and Matt Cowley repaid Academy Motorsport’s overnight work by claiming the team’s maiden victory with the Ford Mustang in a breathless GT4 encounter at

Intelligent Money British GT Championship
Brands Hatch
Sunday, August 30th 2020

 
Jordan Albert and Matt Cowley repaid Academy Motorsport’s overnight work by claiming the team’s maiden victory with the Ford Mustang in a breathless GT4 encounter at Brands Hatch.



The two-hour race featured four different leaders, two Safety Car periods, and a four-car fight for glory that went right down to a frenetic final few laps.



Before the start, Albert and Cowley looked long-odds for the win after an engine sensor issue during qualifying restricted their straight-line speed and left the car starting down in eighth. In contrast, TF Sport’s twin Aston Martins looked favourites, having shared top spot in both practice sessions and pole position between them. But their race unravelled late on, allowing Academy to take its first win of the season, Century Motorsport its first podium of the campaign, and Gus Bowers and Chris Wesemael a third place that sees them lead the Drivers’ Championship by half-a-point.



After his impressive qualifying performance, Connor O’Brien made an equally strong start to the race by holding top spot as the pack ran through Paddock, while Dan Vaughan slotted into second after fending off the fast-starting Speedworks Toyota in the hands of Sam Smelt. But that wouldn’t be the end of the battle, as Smelt threw everything at Vaughan in an attempt to split the Astons.



The battle behind helped O’Brien escape, and he enjoyed a near six-second lead by the time Smelt eventually did breach Vaughan’s defences on lap eight to snatch second. Once past his rival, Smelt did brilliantly to eat into O’Brien’s advantage and was just under two seconds behind when disaster struck the leading Aston.



O’Brien was negotiating the Druids hairpin when he was clipped by Richard Neary’s ABBA Racing Mercedes-AMG as the GT3 pack worked its way through. The contact was slight but sufficient to turn O’Brien round on the exit of the corner, which dropped him to fourth and allowed Smelt into the lead.



But the star of the opening stint was Albert, who progressively picked off cars to work his way into fourth just before O’Brien’s rotation put the Mustang into a podium spot.



Things were further spiced up when Nick Jones’ Bentley was tipped into the gravel at Hawthorns and required a Safety Car period to clear, which arrived just seconds before the pit window opened.



As the race leader, Smelt would be cutting it fine to get into the pits just as the window opened on the 58-minute mark. Not wishing to risk a penalty, Speedworks ordered him to stay out, but everybody else rolled the dice and dived in at the first chance with the race at reduced speed. It turned out to be the right call for the others, as Smelt had to do a full tour behind the Safety Car, which ultimately cost the Toyota the race.



In the pits, Jamie Caroline got away first after taking over from Vaughan to assume the lead, while Academy got Cowley out right behind him and crucially ahead of Patrick Kibble in TF’s second Aston and Ben Green in the lead Century BMW.
The cars re-joined just as the race went green again, and Cowley wasted no time in selling Caroline a dummy on the run toward Hawthorn Hill before diving inside for the lead.



Once ahead, Cowley pushed hard to forge a gap, eventually managing to graft a one-second advantage over Caroline. But push as he might, The Mustang driver’s efforts were almost ruined by a second Safety Car, called to clear debris from Hawthorn Hill after Jordan Collard’s HHC McLaren suffered a tyre delamination.



The caution period bunched the top-four up again and, when racing resumed with just under 20 minutes remaining, a thrilling finale ensued. At the restart, Green got himself amongst the Astons, nipping past Kibble for third when he was run wide by a lapping GT3 at Graham Hill Bend. Kibble attempted to close the door, but Green made the move stick into Surtees.



On the penultimate tour, Kibble tried to fight back with a dive inside on the exit of Clearways just as Green was attempting to undercut Caroline. The three cars made contact but all survived to gather themselves up along the straight before Green was squeezed down to fourth on the exit of Paddock Hill.



But the drama wasn’t over: both TF Astons then collided into Paddock at the start of the final lap, with Kibble’s car being spun into the gravel. Caroline continued unscathed to finish second on the road behind the superbly driven Mustang.
That final incident ultimately resulted in the #97 Aston Martin incurring a 40s post-race penalty in lieu of a 10s stop-go, which dropped Caroline and Vaughan to sixth in class.



Instead, Green and Andrew Gordon-Colebrooke emerged battered but delighted with second place and Century’s first podium of the season, while Gus Bowers and Chris Wesemael overcame the full 20s Success Penalty to finish third.



Speedworks’ Toyota salvaged fourth ahead of Century’s second BMW shared by Ben Hurst and Adam Hatfield, and TF Sport’s penalised Aston Martin. Kibble and O’Brien completed sufficient distance to be classified seventh ahead of Balfe’s McLaren, which picked up a puncture.



- Tom Hornsby, photo SRO