Top draw for Topcats as Gilbert & Rawlings clinch GT Cup crown
G-Cat Racing were twice victorious on the final day of GT Cup Championship action at Snetterton on Sunday (6 October), but it was Topcats Racing who came away lifting this year's overall crown and Sprint Challenge honours after a tremendous campaign.
Charlotte Gilbert and Tom Rawlings entered the final meeting of a hugely competitive GT Cup title fight with the advantage following a strong points haul at Donington Park in September, and they did enough to bring home the outright and GTC title spoils for the #2 Topcats Racing Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo crew.
Gilbert also became the series' first overall female champion in doing so, while a double win for G-Cat Racing confirmed the #33 Porsche 911 of Shamus Jennings and Greg Caton as GT3 group title winners.
GTO victors from the season were Kendall Developments, after one more win for Paul Bailey and David Brabham in the group made it three from four in Norfolk.
Forsetti Motorsport were unable to participate in the Snetterton finale, but had enough in hand to fend off Paddock Motorsport to claim the GTH honours for the year. Jolt Racing capped off a debut campaign in GT Cup with a title success in GTA for Rupert Williams and John Ingram in the McLaren 570S.
Topcats Racing also took home the Teams' Championship honours to boot on a fabulous campaign for the squad, while Sprint Cup went to its driver Warren Gilbert with a fighting display in the two entertaining curtain-closers.
Qualifying
After a sensational showing on Saturday, Fraser Fenwick demonstrated his pace once again by taking pole position for the day's opening Sprint contest the following morning in the #3 Topcats Racing Lamborghini Huracan.
His effort beat away the chasing FF Corse Ferrari 458 Challenge of the returning Bonamy Grimes - sharing with Johnny Mowlem - by 1.2s, with third for Jennings (G-Cat Racing) being enough to be fastest GT3 entry. Bailey headed GTO immediately behind. GTH was again in the hands of Paddock Motorsport as Michael Orant put the McLaren Artura on group pole, Jolt Racing topping GTA.
Endurance Race
The final 50-minute Endurance race of the year kicked off the final day of racing for 2024, and it served up a royal treat which was left up in the air right the way down to the chequered flag.
Fenwick it was who scampered clear at the front of the field in the Lamborghini, bursting away from a captivating scrap for second spot between Grimes and Jennings that ebbed and flowed before the mandatory stops.
Grimes fended off the Porsche 911 for many laps, retaliating bravely around the outside of his rival as the Irishman tried to squeeze by at the Agostini hairpin. Eventually, Jennings did make his way by before handing the GT3 over to Caton for the second stint, and they were then handed a boost when the safety car emerged to bunch the pack in the final 10 minutes.
The cause was for problems with the title-winning #2 Topcats Racing Huracan after Rawlings took over from a charging Charlotte Gilbert, who had come up to fourth from the pitlane following a gearbox input shaft repair job by the Topcats crew.
On the restart, Caton instantly put the hammer down and dispatched the lead Lamborghini now with Warren Gilbert behind the wheel, but he spent the final two tours valiantly defending from a fired up David Brabham - now aboard Bailey's #28 Kendall Developments Huracan.
The GT3 and GTO winners finished only 0.2s apart in a nail-biting photo finish, ensuring a second win of the weekend overall for G-Cat Racing. Behind them, Gilbert and Fenwick confirmed the GTC win, but further back the GTH fight was far from decided. The SVG Motorsport Ginetta G55 of Owen Hizzy and Marc Elman defended superbly in the final lap to keep Martin Plowman at bay, denying Paddock Motorsport a clean sweep in Norfolk.
Woodrow Motorsport finished a brilliant second in GTC thanks to the efforts of Chris Murphy and Kev Clarke in their BMW. Jolt Racing added another GTA win to their tally.
Sprint Race
A fantastic finish to the year followed with one final Sprint race. Leading the way was Warren Gilbert in the #3 Lamborghini from the sister Topcats machine of Charlotte Gilbert, setting up a four-car fight for the win with Grimes and Jennings in close proximity.
The Ferrari of Grimes was first to make a move by slotting past Charlotte for second spot at Agostini, but a better exit from the final corner put the Lamborghini back ahead. A spin for Grimes put the FF Corse man out of contention at Wilsons, just as Jennings took second place to split the Topcats cars.
The defining move then came shortly afterwards as Jennings powered through into the lead at the final corner, paving the way for he and Caton to win the final race of the season and confirm their GT3 title in the process.
Warren Gilbert's second place was a key moment, winning GTC and taking home another prize for Topcats by clinching the Sprint Challenge for the year in car #3.
A second win of the day in GTH came the way of SVG Motorsport thanks to Elman, Jolt Motorsport doubling up also in the McLaren in GTA.
#2 Charlotte Gilbert
“It has been a brilliant year for us and it was a bit of a godsend for me that Tom came to us at the beginning of the year wanting to do the championship and he’s been my dream team really for GT Cup. I owe a lot of that to him. He’s a really relaxed, really easy-going character and he’s a young gentleman and I’m a slightly older woman but we get on really well and we seem to have the same sense of humour and I’ve really enjoyed racing with him this year - not just to get the results but the entire atmosphere of the season has been fantastic.
“Fraser has also been a revelation, we didn’t know what to expect from him when he came in in June and he proved to be a bit of a challenge for us because at that point we knew we were in contention for the championship so we had to double our efforts to stay ahead of them as well because they’ve been probably our biggest rival in GTC this year. The funny thing is, you can say we’ll just relax but that’s not what racing drivers do - it’s really hard. All I had to do for the Pitstop race was do the first lap and then I’ve kind of won, but you can’t do that. I know there’s laps to be set and you want to be on the top step of the podium whether you’ve won the title or not.”
#3 Warren Gilbert
“It’s been mega, it was actually a lot of pressure in that final race because it doesn’t happen often that you can do a clean sweep and it’s a rare thing. To walk away with every single award, I’m so chuffed. The team, the drivers - Fraser, Tom, and Charlotte - haven’t put a foot wrong all season, I’ve put a few feet wrong! But we pulled it all together and we’ve done it and that’s no mean feat. Charlotte is getting quicker and quicker, I don’t think I’ve beaten her in the last four races. She’s just been amazing, Tom and Fraser are blown away with her pace, it’s just come on massively. We’re just a small team from Aylesbury, we don’t do it full time, we’re a garage normally. We’re normally there or there abouts, but this year it’s been the best ever.”
#33 Greg Caton
“The format looks good for next year so there should be a few of the British GT teams coming in. It’s good fun, it’s always been enjoyable. There’s been some great battles with Ian Loggie and here with David Brabham too, a mid-race safety car is always fun.”
#86 Marc Elman
“It’s been amazing, just getting used to the GTH car - my first time in it and I think it’s been a good job! Absolutely great competition with Paddock, I think we’re wanting to come back next year with a GTH car so we’ll see where we end up.”
