One of the biggest appeals of endurance racing is the multi-class format that it provides, allowing cars and drivers of different performance and abilities to take to the track at the same time. This means that simply being the fastest is not enough to guarantee a crew victory, as traffic management and strategy all become more significant factors in reaching the top step of the podium. British GT is no different, and the dynamic of the faster GT3 cars trying to find a way past the comparatively slower GT4s has provided lots of action this year.
The Incidents of the Season
While the multi-class racing has provided plenty of spectacle, it has also produced several incidents this season. In the second practice session at the Agostini hairpin, championship leader James Cottingham was found at fault for a collision between his 2 Seas Mercedes-AMG GT3 and Freddie Tomlinson’s Raceway Ginetta G56 GT4. After unsuccessfully appealing the decision, Cottingham was handed a third behavioural warning point which, combined with the two he’d collected in the Silverstone race, meant that he received a five-place grid penalty for the opening Snetterton contest.
Cottingham lost his well-earned pole position, and it led him to question the respect between drivers in the two classes. Cottingham believes that “The GT4 drivers feel like the GT3 drivers are not respecting them, and the GT3 drivers feel like the GT4 drivers are not respecting them. Everyone just needs to take a step back. It’s a two-way street and I think everyone needs to respect each other.”
Cottingham wasn’t the only GT3 driver to be slapped with a penalty for a collision in practice, with Andrey Borodin handed two behavioural warning points after collecting the DTO McLaren Artura GT4 of Aston Millar/Josh Rowledge in FP1 at the Wilson hairpin.
The Driving Standards and Penalties in British GT
While collisions between GT3 and GT4 cars are perhaps more likely due to the speed differences, it’s certainly not to say that the driving standards within each class haven’t come under scrutiny this term. Alex West was handed two more behavioural warning points for a collision with Lucky Khera in the opening race at the Wilson hairpin. It took his season total to eight and meant the Garage 59 McLaren was handed a 10-place grid penalty, which would have denied team-mate Marvin Kirchhoefer pole position. In the end, the team decided to withdraw from the event.
The officials have been more stringent with driving standards this year, and while it could be debated just how strict these penalties should be, given none of the incidents have been deliberate, abuse of any kind cannot be tolerated, even among the drivers themselves. The officials took the decision to disqualify Michael Crees and Erik Evans from the meeting after both were found in breach of Motorsport UK’s Race with Respect code of conduct after “verbally abusive outbursts” following the second race, meaning that in Crees’s case, he was stripped of a second British GT podium from the opener.
The British GT Championship has just three rounds remaining at Algarve, Brands Hatch, and Donington Park. Rightly or wrongly, there’s every chance the championships could be settled by decisions in the officials’ office rather than on the track.
Stuart Middleton, the 2017 British GT4 champion, says, “I have been on both sides of the fence – I’m currently racing Italian GT3 and it’s exactly the same story. At the end of the day, it’s up to the faster car to make the pass safely and cleanly. If there’s not a gap, you have got to play it safe. I totally understand the frustrations of the GT3s, but it’s just the way the racing is and has been. It’s about placing the car in a good position. You have got to really play with the traffic a lot more when you’re in a battle. I think people are testing the waters and trying to see who’s going to give way.”
While multi-class racing in British GT produces action and incidents, it is still a popular format that attracts drivers and fans. As the championship heads into the final rounds, every driver will need to be mindful of their driving standards, understand the two-way street of respect, and navigate the traffic to reach the top step of the podium.
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