For 2024, I decided to visit two British GT Championship rounds, the flagship event, The Silverstone 500 and the final, The Battle of Brands. This is the first time SINCE 2009 that Brands Hatch has hosted the season final for this championship.
Within the British GT Championship, teams and drivers compete for the below honours:
GT3 Overall Drivers
GT3 Pro/Am
GT3 Silver/Am
GT3 Teams
GT4 Overall Drivers
GT4 Pro/Am
GT4 Silver/Am
GT4 Teams
Sunco Fastest Driver of the Year
Allan Simonsen Award
As well as watching some close GT racing, I wanted to see how much can change in a short space of time across a season of motorsport. The answer is quite a lot.
The Silverstone 500 is a three hour race that usually has a lot of guest entries, this year was no exception.
The Battle of Brands is a two hour race with a somewhat smaller grid but no less quality of racing and drivers.
All cars competing GT3 and GT4 comply with the Balance of Power rules that keep the racing close and fair.
To describe the weather as wet for the Silverstone 500 as wet would be a huge understatement, the rain did stop over the course of the weekend only to resume soon after.
The weather for the Battle of Brands was overcast but thankfully it was a dry race.
This is also the first championship I have been present for with two dad and lad drivers, Rob and Ricky Collard driving for Barwell Motorsport and Richard and Sam Neary driving for Team Abba Racing.
Both events had static car displays, trade villages, plenty of refreshments and busy paddocks.
This is a big blog post and there is a lot to see and unpack, so here we go!
Silverstone Static Supercars
Lotus Eletre.
Ferrari SF90 Spider.
Aston Martin DB12.
Ferrari 599 GTO.
Aston Martin DBS Superleggera V12.
McLaren Artura.
Ferrari SF90 Stradale.
Brands Hatch Static Car Display.
Lamborghini Countach.
Ferrari SF90 Assetto Fiorana.
Mercedes AMG GT 63 4Matic + Premium Plus.
Ferrari F12 Berlinetta.
Ferrari 296 GTS.
McLaren 675 LT Coupe.
Dodge Challenger.
Porsche 911 GT3.
Aston Martin DBS V12.
Mercedes AMG GTS Premium 510.
McLaren MP4-12C.
Audi R8 V10 Plus Coupe
Mercedes AMG GT R Premium.
Ferrari 360 Modena.
Racing photos and video clips.
Silverstone pit lane exit.
Brands Hatch pit lane exit.
Lucky Khera and Euan Hankey driving the No 24 RACELAB Mclaren 720S GT3 Evo at Silverstone.
Andrew Gilbert and Fran Reuda driving the No 84 Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 Evo at Silverstone. This car was a guest entry for the Silverstone 500.
Simon Orange and Tom Roche driving the No 67 Orange Racing by JMH McLaren 720S GT3 Evo at Silverstone.
At Brands Hatch, Simon was partnered by Benji Gothe. This car was a non point scoring entry at Brands Hatch.
Issues leaving the pit lane for the warm up. Simon later confirmed a throttle body was the issue that was quickly replaced and the car would start the race.
Marc Warren and William Orton driving the No 47 Forsetti Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo at Silverstone.
At Druids Corner, Brands Hatch
Rob and Ricky Collard driving the No Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 at Silverstone.
Brands Hatch Photos
'Ian Loggie and Phil Keen driving the No 6 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo at Silverstone.
Ravi Ramyead and Charlie Robertson driving the No 71 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 at Silverstone.
Giacomo Petrobelli and Jonny Adam driving the No 87 Blackthorn Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo at Silverstone.
John Ferguson and Raffaele Marciello driving the No 15 Ram Racing BMW M4 GT3 at Silverstone.
Darren Leung and Dries Vanthoor driving the No 1 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 at Silverstone. This car was a guest entry for the Silverstone 500.
Shaun Balfe and Adam Smalley driving the No 59 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo at Silverstone.
and at Brands Hatch
At Brands Hatch, same car and drivers but a very different livery.
Trouble later in the race for the No 61, this would see the car pit under the black and orange flag to have the bodywork removed.
Freddie Tomlinson and Stuart Middleton driving the No 56 CMR Ginetta G56 GT4 Evo at Silverstone.
At Brands Hatch, Freddie is now partnered with Aston Millar in the DTO Motorsport Ginetta.
Mark Radcliffe and Tom Gamble driving the No 27 Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 Evo at Silverstone.
Racing at Brands Hatch.
Chris Buncombe and Jann Mardenborough driving the No 23 Team RJN McLaren 720S GT3 Evo at Silverstone. This car was a guest entry for the Silverstone 500.
Harry George and Luca Hopkinson driving the No 17 Ram Racing Mercedes AMG GT4 taking corrective action at Silverstone
The rear view from Brands Hatch.
Colin White and Thomas Holland driving the No 58 CWS Racing Ginetta G56 GT4 Evo at Brands Hatch.
Andrew Howard and Tom Wood driving the No 97 Beechdean Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo at Brands Hatch. This car was a non point scoring entry.
Tom on his debut in the Aston Martin would set a lap record at Brands Hatch for the GT3 Category with a time of 1:24.031.
At Silverstone, Andrew was partnered by Jessica Hawkins.
Charles Dawson and Seb Morris driving the No 31 Team Parker Racing Mercedes AMG GT4 at Brands Hatch.
Carl Cavers and Lewis Plato driving the No 22 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 at Brands Hatch.
Mark Smith and Martin Plowman driving the No 9 Paddock Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 Evo
A drive through penalty for an accident on the pit straight for the number 9.
Kavi Jundu and Dan Vaughan driving the No 44 Toyota Gazoo Racing UK Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo at Silverstone.
Benjamin Tusting and Michael O'Brien driving the No 44 Toyota Gazoo Racing UK Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo at Brands Hatch. This car was a non point scoring entry.
Morgan Tillbrook and Marcus Clutton driving the No 77 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo at Brands Hatch.
In the pits for a routine stop.
Ian Gough and Tom Wrigley driving the No 29 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 at Brands Hatch.
Time to fuel up.
Back to racing.
Tim Docker and Jordan Albert driving the No 79 Forsetti Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT4.
Jamie Day and Mikey Porter driving the No 7 Forsetti Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo at Brands Hatch.
Michael Johnston and Dan Harper driving the No 14 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 at Silverstone.
Ian Duggan and Geordie Mutch driving the No 20 Mahiki Racing Lotus Emira GT4 at Brands Hatch.
Richard and Sam Neary driving the No 8 Team Abba Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo at Brands Hatch.
Steven Lake and Nathan Harrison driving the No 69 Mahiki Racing Lotus Emira GT4 at Brands Hatch.
Kevin Tse and Maximilian Goetz driving the No 18 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes AMG GTE Evo at Silverstone..
Sadly Kevin was accidently nudged off at Paddock Hill Bend at Brands Hatch on the opening lap and would end his race.
A clip I took of the first lap from Druids Corner, you can see the incident in the background.
Having been dragged out of the gravel trap, Kevin made his way back to the pits taking with him a lot of gravel and dust that can be seen from the back of his car
Callum Davies and Sai Sanjay Thirugnanasambandam driving the No 95 RACELAB McLaren Artura GT4 at Brands Hatch.
Jack Brown and Zac Meakin driving the No 90 Optimum Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4
Chris Salkeld and Nathan Freke driving the No 65 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 at Brands Hatch.
Sacha Kakad and Hugo Cook driving the No 32 J&S Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II at Silverstone.
At Brands Hatch.
Alex Martin and Sandy Mitchell driving the No 78 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo 2 at Brands Hatch.
Pit Stop.
Joshua Caygill and Alex Buncombe driving the No 2 Team RJM McLaren 720S GT3 Evo at Brands Hatch. This car was a non point scoring entry
Richard Neary chasing Rob Collard around Druids Corner,
Mark Radcliffe being chased by Simon Orange having lapped Harry George heading towards Graham Hill Bend,
Mark Radcliffe and Carl Cavers lapping Will Moore in the No 22 Academy Motorsport Ford Mustang GT4.
Shaun Balfe chasing Mark Smith for position.
Lewis Plato is being chased by Adam Smalley around Graham Hill Bend.
Chequered Flag.
A happy team.
Podium trophies and champagne.
So there you have it, throughout the course of a season, cars teams and drivers can change. I've left some hints as to who won the race but no spoilers.
The one thong that does not change is the high quality of drivers teams and close racing.
If you don't know who won and you want to watch the races, there are links below to the Silverstone 500 and the Battle of Brands
With the season at a close, thoughts now look forward to the 2025 championship.
I'm looking forward to see how it unfolds and who will be racing, hopefully I will be attending.
Below are the links to the British GT Championship and the two races I attended.
Silverstone 500
Battle of Brands
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