Orange Racing and Raw Motorsport Share Saturday Spoils At Brands

Simon Orange picked up a second win of the 2022 GT Cup Championship season at Brands Hatch with Michael O'Brien in support, sharing the Saturday spoils with Raw Motorsport's Steve Burgess on day one (30 April).

Under sunny skies, the GT Cup brigade supported GT World Challenge for Rounds 5-6-7-8 of the season, with the first two of those taking place on Saturday afternoon.

Victory in the opening race was fought over by Enduro and Raw Motorsport, with Burgess nicking it in a classic scrap for honours to maintain a 100% record in the GTO group. Another win followed in terms of the group, but GT3 competitors got their revenge in the endurance race as Orange and O'Brien added the team's second win of the season.

Lucky Khera and Topcats Racing with HEX.com shared the GTC honours, while there was a double win for the Valluga Racing Porsches in GTH. Geoff Steel Racing and Saxon Motorsport's BMWs were victorious in GTB.

Qualifying

Morgan Tillbrook powered the Enduro Motorsport McLaren 720S to GT3 and overall pole with a blistering lap under sunshine and blue skies. He traded fastest times with Ian Loggie in the RAM Racing Mercedes, but the Scotsman couldn't dig any deeper and settled for the outside of the front-row. 

Steve Burgess took GTO pole with a typically rapid performance in his Raw Motorsport Radical RXC, while Lucky Khera prevailed in GTC in his Racelab Ferrari Challenge.

Sam Maher-Loughnan prevailed in a tightly-fought contest with Team HARD Racing's Callum Jenkins to put Valluga Racing on pole in Group GTH. 

Sprint Race

What followed was a classic 25-minute Sprint to kick off the weekend's GT Cup race action. It would be a contest centred on the dicing Radical and McLaren teams, with Tillbrook heading a safety car start for Enduro ahead of Burgess who made his way by Loggie early on.

The fight took a twist when Burgess powered by Tillbrook's 720s on the back straight up Pilgrims Drop, but the fight would go all the way to the chequered flag as the McLaren man fought back.

A move up the inside of the Radical at Graham Hill Bend as it drifted wide with 11 minutes to go meant a lead change once more, but the power of the Radical was utilised when Burgess cut back inside a corner later to get the run he needed into Hawthorns and move back ahead.

It would be the first overall win of the season for the overall championship leaders who made it five GTO wins from five, while Lucky Khera made it four wins from five in GTC with a lights-to-flag performance. GTH was a feisty affair, won by a charging Matthew Graham as the Carrera Cup GB star took the lead for Valluga Racing's #51 car - and invitational entry - and victory over its title-chasing #50 car. Saxon Motorsport's return was christened by a well-earned GTB win for Tom Barrow.

Pitstop Race

The fastest lap of the sprint race gave Simon Orange pole position as his reward ahead of the 50-minute endurance race, and he made best use of the advantage by fending off the rapid Radical on the opening lap.

Leaving behind a fight for second place, which went the way of Tillbrook initially, the Orange McLaren lost the lead briefly to Loggie's Mercedes in the pitstops as the latter gained time as a solo driver.

Both were nose-to-tail on the exit of the pit lane, and it took all but four corners for the charging O'Brien to make his decisive move up the inside of the RAM Racing man to confirm a lead he would never surrender as the car took a second victory of '22.

Marcus Clutton recovered from a drive-through penalty to grab second place overall, while GTO honours again went the way of the Raw Motorsport Radical after a tough fight throughout.

A first GTC group win of the season finally went to Warren Gilbert and Jensen Lunn in their Topcats Racing with HEX.com Lamborghini Huracan, while a race-long squabble between the Valluga Racing cars went the way of the #50 car of James Wallis and Sam Maher-Loughnan in GTH. A different BMW took the spoils in GTB, with Geoff Steel Racing and Sam Allpass celebrating success in their Evolution. 

#7 Steve Burgess

"We're definitely quick in a straight line, I don't think we've quite got the aero around the corners compared to the GT3s. But in a straight line, it's rapid! You have to be brave around the back, but yeah the pace we've got down the straights means we can just drive past the GT3s. Hopefully, more of the same would be nice tomorrow."

#66 Morgan Tillbrook

"It was a good start to the weekend. Being at the front was important and then in the sprint, once the Radical got going then it was hard to keep it behind. A couple of times I managed to get back past them and it was a good fight, but if I was fighting too hard and other GT3s were closing in on me, the team got onto the radio and we decided to play it a bit safer to be sure."

#66 Morgan Tillbrook

"It was a cracking race!  Full credit to the team and Simon first of all for not only a great car but an amazing opening stint where he built up the gap and even with the pitstop penalty from Donington, we were able to come out right in the mix. That helped me make the move straight away because with Ian's speed and experience, I thought 'right, I've got to be decisive here, I've got to get past him' which I did. Then I knew I had the pace to control the race and was able to just enjoy it, get in a rhythm and bring the car home."

#9 Warren Gilbert

"It really went well today. Lucky was unlucky, he was going really well but we did have the legs on him and I think it could have been really close at the end. Unfortunate for him, but we gained this time - he'll be back and we'll be dicing with him tomorrow."