#BritishGT – Snetterton Race 1 result confirmed following Optimum’s appeal

The result of this season’s first British GT Championship race at Snetterton on May 27 has been officially confirmed following the conclusion of Optimum Motorsport’s appeal yesterday (September 4).

The team’s #75 Aston Martin, driven by Flick Haigh and Jonny Adam, originally finished fourth overall but dropped to ninth in the provisional classification after contact with Beechdean AMR’s Aston Martin resulted in a post-race drive through penalty, which was converted to a 30-second time penalty. This has now been overturned following Optimum’s successful appeal.

The additional 10 points earned for finishing fourth has seen Haigh and Adam’s championship lead increase to 27.5 points with one round remaining.

Following a previous decision by the MSA National Court and a subsequent MSA Investigatory Hearing on the interpretation of regulation C2.1.6, Optimum Motorsport were allowed to appeal the decision of the Clerk of the Course to impose a penalty. That appeal to a panel of stewards has been upheld with the decision that it was a racing incident and no penalty should be applied.

The MSA has subsequently amended the regulation to clarify that the decision to impose a stop/go or drive through penalty cannot be appealed. That decision was effective from July 2018 following the MSA National Council ruling in June 2018.

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For 26 years the British GT Championship has been an intrinsic part of the UK’s national motorsport fabric. But, having undergone a number of changes throughout that quarter-century, it’s difficult to envisage an era more competitive than the current GT3 and GT4 format.

First organised by the British Racing Drivers Club in 1993, the BRDC National Sports GT Challenge (as it was known until 1995) featured grids of wildly different machinery loosely grouped into vibrant classes comprising sportscars and saloons.

Today, under SRO Motorsports Group’s guidance, British GT grids comprise 30-plus GT3 and GT4 specification supercars tuned to varying degrees of race preparation. Both classes take their cues from road-legal models – examples include Ferrari, Aston Martin, Lamborghini and Bentley – that have been developed specifically for the track.

GT racing is traditionally seen as an endurance discipline, and British GT honours that by mandating two drivers per car. Driver changes take place during pitstops, when tyres are also replaced and fuel added. Race durations vary and can last one, two or three hours.

For more information visit www.britishgt.com, or follow the championship on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.