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Barwell Wins Oulton Park Race 2 Behind Safety Car

Barwell drivers Phil Keen, Jon Minshaw take double win at Oulton Park…

Photo: British GT

Phil Keen and Jon Minshaw won the second British GT Championship race at Oulton Park from behind the safety car, following a heavy incident between two GT3 competitors.

In a similar display to Race 1, the Barwell Motorsport drivers led the entire race in their No. 33 Lamborghini Huracan GT3, having started second on the grid.

Keen passed Seb Morris’ polesitting Team Parker Racing Bentley Continental GT3 on the run down towards the first corner, and went on to hold the lead while Team Parker had a race to forget.

Morris collided with the team’s sister Bentley, driven by Callum Macleod, resulting in a drive-through penalty for the No. 31 car.

An incident between a hard-charging Morris and James Littlejohn in the Macmillan AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT3 will be investigated after the race, meanwhile.

With 15 minutes remaining, Ian Loggie collided with Richard Neary, taking the No. 7 Team Parker Bentley and the Team ABBA with Rollcentre Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 out of the race.

This brought the safety car out, with the race eventually being called for Barwell ten minutes later.

“We really did struggle in the season build-up with the [new-spec Pirelli] tires and the car, and they’ve done a fantastic job to sort everything out, and it’s paid off,” Keen told Sportscar365.

“I’ve got a great team of people around me who do the job. Jon’s been driving brilliantly, and every year he gets better and better.

“I think he proved this morning that he can do the job in any conditions.”

TF Sport held on for second and third with its pair of Aston Martins, as Derek Johnston and Jonny Adam came from 11th on the grid to finish second, while Mark Farmer and Jon Barnes were third.

Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin, having started 12th, secured a fourth-place finish for Spirit of Race.

Morris and Rick Parfitt Jr. held on for fifth in their No. 31 Bentley which had started on pole but suffered several incidents over the course of the race. 

Sam Tordoff was another driver to suffer in what became a race of attrition, as his No. 6 Barwell Lamborghini slowed and pulled over to the side of the track at Lakeside.

Alex Reed and David Pittard won in GT4 for Lanan Racing, as the Black Bull Garage 59 car of Sandy Mitchell and Ciaran Haggerty was given a 30-second time penalty immediately after taking the checkered flag.

The No. 100 McLaren 570S GT4 looked set for the class win but was penalized for a pit stop infringement. Haggerty had lost positions on the start in a collision but managed to make up time throughout the race.

This allowed Reed to assume the class lead in Lanan’s No. 51 Ginetta G55 GT4 and take the honors.

Marcus Hoggarth and Matty Graham came through for second in their In2Racing McLaren, while reigning class champions Mike Robinson and Graham Johnson were third in the Optimum Motorsport Ginetta.

Martin Plowman had led GT4 early on in his Nissan 370Z GT4, after a clash between leaders Mike Simpson and Scott Malvern, in the Century Motorsport Ginetta and Team Parker Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR, took both out of contention.

RESULTS: Race 2

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.

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