Abba Racing Sweep Snetterton As Topcats, Forsetti And Jolt Share Wins

Abba Racing scored four wins in four races at Snetterton in the latest round of the 2024 GT Cup Championship, while Topcats Racing, Forsetti Motorsport and Jolt Racing all secured double wins on Sunday.

The weekend was all about a dominant display by the Abba Racing duo of Richard Neary and Ian Loggie, who took both wins on Saturday and repeated the feat on Sunday with two controlled drives.

Their title challenge also threw Topcats Racing into team strategies late on, as they maximised their chances by sharing the GTC wins between their two Lamborghini Super Trofeo entries.

Forsetti Motorsport's two Aston Martin Vantage crews also shared a win apiece in the GTH Group, putting on a spectacular battle for honours across the afternoon. Jolt Racing also enjoyed a sweep of successes in GTA at Snetterton.

Qualifying

Team Abba Racing looked to start strongly after their double triumph from the previous day, wheeling out Scotsman Loggie for the short, sharp Qualifying session in the morning.

A time of 1m47.337s would be the decisive lap that sealed the deal for Loggie in the #6 Mercedes-AMG, claiming pole position and the top spot in Group GTO ahead of Richard Chamberlain's flying Porsche 935.

The GT3 Porsche 911 GTR of G-Cat Racing's Shamus Jennings was third overall, topping its Group in the process. The Topcats Racing Lamborghinis were piloted by Charlotte Gilbert and Warren Gilbert respectively in cars #2 and #3, competing for GTC spoils.

Charlotte Gilbert would be the driver claiming bragging rights with a spectacular lap good enough for fourth overall and best GTC entry, the team-mates separated by Paul Bailey in last year's GTO Lamborghini Huracan - brought out after mechanical issues sidelined his Brabham BT62 on Sunday.

The Forsetti Motorsport pair battled it out for the top spot in GTH meanwhile. Marc Warren headed the times with a rapid lap, pipping his Aston Martin Vantage stablemate Matthew Higgins. GTA was headed by Jolt Motorsport's McLaren 570S, continuing to up its pace this weekend.

Endurance Race

A 50-minute Endurance Race kicked off the key action on Sunday afternoon, and it got off to a dramatic start with Chamberlain's Porsche leaping into the early lead from Neary's Abba Racing Mercedes-AMG.

Behind there was contact between GT3 and GTC rivals. Jennings tried to make the move inside the Topcats Lamborghini of Charlotte Gilbert into Riches, but clipped the #2 car and put the Porsche GT3 entry out of the race. Gilbert recovered to the pits meanwhile to replace a damaged wheel from the impact.

A safety car was deployed to clean up the situation, and Neary was quick to make amends on the restart by attacking and sweeping around the outside of Chamberlain heading into the Palmer left-hander to grab the race lead back. The former GT Cup champion set about extending his advantage over the first stint before handing the Mercedes over to Loggie, who was unchallenged on his way to confirming the team's third win in three races at the 300 circuit.

A driveshaft issue curtailed Chamberlain's race and left a fantastic scrap for second overall in his absence. Bailey's GTO Huracan fended off the GTC entry of Topcats Racing rookie Fraser Fenwick for the entirety of a tense first stint, leaving his co-driver David Brabham to take up the chase in the second.

The former F1 racer and Le Mans 24 Hours winner battled to make up the success penalty seconds and almost got the job done with some sensational laps - finishing just 0.6s behind the GTC-winning #3 Lamborghini of Fenwick and Warren Gilbert. The sister Topcats Racing car was second in class, Doc Bush rounding out the GTC podium.

Forsetti Racing swapped places in the second half of the race in GTH. Higgins and Mikey Porter assumed the lead after pit stops cycled through to beat Warren and Rianna O'Meara-Hunt in the sister Aston Martin Vantage, while the SVG Motorsport Ginetta of James Townsend and Liona Theobald rounded out the podium with an impressive showing. Jolt Racing again celebrated GTA honours.

Sprint Race

Loggie took control of the Abba Racing Mercedes for the 25-minute Sprint in the afternoon, and he would be unchallenged to confirm perfection for the squad in Thetford.

A winning cushion of 47 seconds from pole position for Loggie completed the clean sweep, while Topcats Racing battled it out for GTC spoils behind. A strategic team move resulted in the #3 Lamborghini moving aside late on to allow Charlotte Gilbert to score maximum Group points in second overall for the title fight.

Both took advantage of bad luck for the remaining GTO competitors, Chamberlain removed from second place in the early laps by mechanical gremlins.

Another entertaining fight behind was for the GTH honours. Forsetti Motorsport were again in combat with themselves, and it was a race-long duel between Warren and Higgins that put on a show for the fans.

Higgins tried every trick in his many books, but could not usurp the #10 Aston Martin Vantage of Warren who capped off an impressive GT Cup outing with a Group win by just 0.253s at the chequered flag.

Jolt Racing could again celebrate another GTA victory in their learning maiden season, John Ingram and Rupert Williams enjoying a strong weekend in their McLaren 570S.

#86 Liona Theobald

“Yesterday was a really tough day with the clutch going, I'm surprised it didn't go sooner, but the team and Ginetta worked really hard overnight and got the car fixed and it was absolutely amazing. Both James and I put in good stints, and I got my first podium! I'm so happy for James and I and the whole team. I did have a cry on the in-lap I got so emotional! It's so overwhelming but it's an amazing feeling."

#10 Marc Warren

“We had the car in a sweet spot today, but in that last race it was hard work. Matt [Higgins] pushed me the whole way and the car was very loose at the start compared to how it had been and the guys said that actually some of the lap times picked up during the day, during the race. We were a bit loose at the start and I thought 'it'll come to me, it'll come to me' but it didn't and it stayed loose for the whole race. Matt was all over my bumper for the whole race! It was an amazing race but I am exhausted now!"

#2 Tom Rawlings

“It was a good weekend, we had our ups and downs but we got there in the end and good points towards the championship so really good. In the Pit Stop on Saturday there was a swap over and coming out the pit lane he was going into turn one just ahead of me and I managed to dive him on turn two. It's been a good weekend all in all!"