Cook Defies Power Cut For Electric Double GT Cup Win At Snetterton
Hugo Cook did the double on a dramatic penultimate day of GT Cup Championship action at Snetterton circuit (7 October) while Paul Bailey edged closer to the overall crown with one day to go in the 2023 season.
With four races left in the season, the GT Cup Championship travelled back to Snetterton's 300 circuit in Norfolk to decided its overall and group champions.
The opening pair of races were won by J&S Racing, with Cook getting the better of his GT3 rivals in the Sprint before catching and Passing 7TSix Racing's McLaren in the Endurance contest to make it two from two on day one.
Double triumphs also went the way of AF Corse in GTC, Kendall Developmens in GTO and Racelab in GTH, all after a dramatic power failure in the second race briefly left the outcome unknown.
Qualifying
The weekend's first point of call was Qualifying, and the signs were ominous from the moment Cook took the Audi R8 GT3 Evo 2 out onto the 300 circuit.
An early flyer was chalked off for track limits, but his next effort was strong enough to dispose of the Orange Racing with JMH McLaren 720S of Tom Roche to move to the head of the timesheets with a lap of 1m45.843s. That put Cook over 0.6s clear of his front row rival, with returnee Ian Loggie slotting onto the second row in the 7TSix McLaren.
The GTO pole-sitter joined the latter on row two. Kendall Developments - who also run championship leader Bailey - acquired the former Rollcentre Racing Mosler for Morgan and Marcus Short, and it would be Marcus who started the car for the Sprint race at the head of the group with Bailey next up in his Lamborghini Huracan.
Then GTC champions-in-waiting, Topcats Racing, topped the times in their group thanks to a fine performance from the ever-improving Charlotte Gilbert. The Lamborghini Huracan driver batted off the attentions of AF Corse and their Ferrari, driven by Graham de Zille.
GTH meanwhile went the way of Racelab and their young charger Callum Davies in the McLaren Artura.
Sprint Race
The penultimate 25-minute Sprint race of the season was there for the taking for the rapid Cook, and he was not to be denied as he defended his line in the opening two corners to keep Roche at arm's length on lap one.
It would be a time trial between the pair for the remaining 24 minutes as Cook put the hammer down, pulling just under three seconds clear of Roche to confirm a seventh overall win of the season for the Audi racer. Loggie rounded out the GT3 podium in a distant third.
Behind them it was a dominant GTO victory for the Kendall Development Mosler, with Marcus Short behind the wheel of the popular machine. Jay Shepherd put in a sterling drive in the Lotus Evora, passing Bailey's Lamborghini before surrendering second in the group to his rival late on as Bailey grabbed maximum points behind the invitational Mosler entry.
GTC enjoyed a great scrap between Topcats Racing and AF Corse, with the latter claiming victory thanks to the efforts of a flying Dan de Zille ahead of Gilbert in the first Snetterton race for de Zille in four years.
GTH was once again - just like at Donington Park - a straight fight between the duo of Davies and Morpheus Racing's Chris Hart. Davies streaked clear early on but was soon reeled in by Hart, although the Mercedes man could not quite find a gap to make his move stick as Davies added another impressive win.
Pit Stop Race
A mid-race power cut hitting the Norfolk circuit would take the headlines of a bizarre second race on Saturday, a race that was otherwise dramatically won late on by a charging Cook in the second half of an - ironically - electric contest.
Cook's co-driver Sacha Kakad was pipped at the start by the fast-starting Orange Racing with JMH McLaren of Simon Orange, which held onto the lead all the way to the mandatory pit stops despite the sublime efforts of a charging Loggie. The Scot chased and passed both Short's Mosler and the Audi of Kakad at Agostini and Brundle corners respectively to move up to second place, catching Orange as both headed into the pits to change drivers.
Loggie handed over to Tom Emson, the McLaren now in the overall lead ahead of Cook, now in the Audi, and Roche now third in Orange's McLaren.
What followed was a frenetic cat-and-mouse battle as Cook reeled in Emson and finally made a bold move to grab the lead on the outside at the Brundle left-hander with just over a lap remaining, sealing a dramatic double win from the 7TSix crew, Orange and Roche third.
The fourth-placed Mosler once again won in Group GTO, while Patrick Collins and Marcus Clutton went from the fifth row of the grid to round out the top five in a GT3 Lamborghini run by Orange Racing with JMH, after their Porsche 911 suffered mechanical dramas earlier in the day. Bailey grabbed second in GTO in sixth.
A spin for Gilbert dropped her back in the GTC fight early on, but they still took second thanks to the charge of stand-in co-driver Sam Neary. The former GT Cup champion could not quite catch AF Corse's Ferrari, the de Zilles winning to complete a group double.
GTH also produced double delight for Racelab, Davies and Sai Sanjay winning ahead of Jon Currie and Phil Keen for Morpheus Racing after second-placed Greystone GT were denied a podium by a puncture. Paddock Motorsport rounded out the group top three.
#32 Hugo Cook
“This morning, good quali and the car felt really good. We made a tweak last night and it felt good. Sprint Race was pretty straightforward to be honest, car felt good and had really good pace. But then the Endurance Race was a bit more confusing to be honest! I passed Tom Emson on the outside of Brundle which was interesting.”
#88 Marcus Short
“It’s been a brilliant day because yesterday we weren’t even sure we were going to be racing. We weren’t sure how the new engine would hold out but it’s managed to do the full day and it’s been pretty successful so we’re pretty happy! I had a good start in the Endurance race, I was up to third and alongside the leaders into Turn 1 but we just lacked pace, our car doesn’t quite suit this circuit - not like the other tracks where we could really compete with the GT3s.”
#13 Callum Davies
“Chris was filling my mirrors! He got past me at Turn 2, but luckily I got a better exit to get back past. We were changing fastest laps all the time and I think there was barely any difference between our lap times so he was definitely in my mirrors every lap of the Sprint - it was definitely close! A good race, started first and finished first. I’ve got used to the Artura really well, it’s not much quicker than the Ginetta I’ve also been racing this year but it’s a lot more to get used to - different tyres, different aero and all the technology in the car. I’m loving the experience driving it.”
#19 Dan de Zille
“It’s been a really strong day, we turned up yesterday having not been here since 2019 and I was a bit unsure about how it was going to go! I set some good times in quali, a good first race and then a good second race so really happy! Race one was nice to get my head down and learn the car and tyres again and it’s all coming good. It’s always nice round here because it’s quite a balanced circuit for all the different types of cars.”
