British GT : Snetterton Update

With the Intelligent Money British GT Championship reaching middle distance for 2023, it was another double header for 2 Seas Motorsport, as the calendar headed to Snetterton. The first race would see the cars battling to overcome success penalties, both fighting to a top-8 finish, while the second race delivered one of the most exciting battles in the championship’s history. At the flag, James Cottingham claimed P2, just 0.042s off the win.

With two races over the weekend, qualifying saw the Am drivers set the grid for race 1, while the pros battled it out for the line-up for race 2. James delivered another impressive performance, immediately going quickest and then proceeding to further extend his advantage over the following laps to score provisional pole position. A post-session penalty after an incident in an earlier session would reshuffle the order, and move James back to P6.

With both cars fully serviced and the team sending them on their way, the Pro driver immediately set about recovering the lost ground, making up positions on the opening laps of the stint. Action ahead also played a part, with two cars hit with pitstop penalties. This good fortune plus consistent, quick times saw Jonny cross the line in P6, completing an impressive recovery drive.

The Pro qualifying session saw a change of order for the two 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3, with Jules initially setting the pace with Jonny only marginally behind his Factory Driver teammate. As the times continued to improve over the shootout, there was barely anything to separate the front-runners, and the session would end with Jules in P3, and Jonny only just behind in P7. Further changes to the order after the session would promote both cars by one position, moving Jules on to the front row, and Jonny in P6.

Race 2 of the weekend got off to a frenetic start, as the Pros battled at the front of the field. Jules quickly settled into his rhythm, setting the fastest lap of the race and breaking the lap record, as he battled for the race lead. Jonny held position from the start, but stayed out of trouble and moved up to P5 before bringing the yellow and green DK Engineering-backed Mercedes-AMG into the pitlane to hand over to James.

Clean stops for both drivers saw James elevated to P4. Running on new tyres, James quickly reeled in the leaders as they battled each other, closing down an 8-second gap over two laps.

With the clock running into its final moments as the quartet exited the final corner, James crossed the line separated by just 0.042s, expecting one final lap to mount an attack, with Ian only 0.3s behind the lead pair. Battles continued over the following corners, with James moving ahead and Ian losing a spot after further contact, before the race director signalled that the race had been called as they crossed the line, finalising a P2-P3 finish for the 2 Seas pair, and more valuable championship points.