The fifth and sixth rounds of GT Cup took place on Saturday at Brands Hatch and for Balfe Motorsport, it was another stellar weekend with the overall victory in the first race – a first for the McLaren 720S in this championship – and a further podium in the GTH class in the second race.
Having secured a double podium at Donington Park last time out, expectations were high heading into this compressed race weekend. The team tested on the shorter Indy circuit on Friday ahead of the challenge of the longer GP circuit on race day. For Stewart Proctor, this was a completely new challenge having never seen, nor driven, the configuration before.
Starting 12th overall and tenth in class, the first 50-minute race quickly came the way of Stewart and Lewis Proctor in the #36 GT3 McLaren. A strong start from Stewart saw him vault to sixth position in the opening laps, whilst fending off a challenge from Nick Jones in the #60 Parker entry. The race settled with the Brands Hatch rookie pitting mid-race for teammate Lewis in sixth position.
Lewis returned to the circuit after a great stop from the team, running in fourth position, albeit a five-seconds behind third placed #61 of Phil Quaife. The gap quickly diminished ahead of a safety car, closing up the top four runners nicely. The final laps of the 50-minute race were frantic, with Lewis passing Adam Balon for third, then chasing down the battle for the lead. Minor contact between Leo Machitski and Phil Quaife at Surtees opened the door for an audacious pass for the lead, with Lewis sweeping through at Hawthorns to take the lead, and ultimately the race victory.
With a 20-second success penalty in the second race, it was always going to be difficult for the Proctor pairing, but still, it was another strong showing followed with a fifth-place finish.
The GT4 entry of Mike Price and Callum MacLeod also enjoyed a successful race day at Brands Hatch. The former had never driven the McLaren 570S at the circuit, but it didn’t hinder his great progress in his first season of GT4 competition. A podium looked to be on the cards in the first race, but some dubious tactics from a rival denied this after passing whilst behind a late race safety car, dropping the pairing to fourth place in the GTH class.
The second race was far more rewarding with Mike battling hard and making gains from ninth to sixth ahead of the first safety car. Callum took over mid-race in fourth, making a great pass at Paddock Hill in the closing stages to secure a standout third place finish.
With fond memories, a victory and a further podium, Balfe Motorsport now begin preparations for the second phase of the season - International GT Open and British GT – before returning to GT Cup at Snetterton 5-6 June. |
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STEWART PROCTOR, #36 McLaren 720S GT3
“We can certainly build on that result! It was in essence a preparation weekend, a chance for us to run on the long circuit ahead of British GT. I had a really good start and then the safety car bunched it up nicely. I got the Aston to box P4. I made a couple of small mistakes, but that’s all part of this game, to learn and improve for the next race.” |
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LEWIS PROCTOR, #36 McLaren 720S GT3
“That was good fun, I really enjoyed today. Before the race I knew it was important to keep the car in one piece, but then I swiftly forgot about that for the 20-minutes I was in the car! The battle for the lead was really good. They touched on the right at Surtees and then I went around the outside of them at Hawthorns – I’ve seen it on YouTube a lot, so I thought ‘yeah I’m going for that!’.
“The car felt really good, even if I didn’t get many laps behind the wheel over the last few days. It took a little while to get into the groove, and then it was race on really as soon as I saw the P3 car and I was able to close the gap. I’m now looking forward to coming back here in British GT.” |
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MIKE PRICE, #90 McLaren 570S GT4
“That was a very solid weekend for us. A fourth and a third in a 15-car class is a good result. I really enjoyed that second race today as it was really the case of ‘proper racing’ and I’d picked up the pace and my times were competitive. The start was a bit gain-and-loss, but then some good overtakes – I had to find extra pace to defend – and I really enjoyed figuring out where to pass around here. A good day of racing.” |
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CALLUM MACLEOD, #90 McLaren 570S GT4
“We should have been third in the first race, but it came back to us in race two. On balance, it’s been another fantastic race day with some very solid results. We tested on the short circuit and Mike’s times were superb, so then onto the longer GP circuit with no time to practice, it’s always a big ask. We should hold our heads high and be very very pleased with our results.” |
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