Greystone GT scored a sensational maiden outright GT Cup victory as the 2022 season kicked off with four action-packed races at Donington Park.
Drivers Iain Campbell and Oli Webb, whose last race for the team was a victorious GT4 campaign in January’s Gulf 12 Hours, were simply magnificent as they raced the McLaren 720S GT3 for the first time and bagged the landmark result for the Silverstone-based team.
Following contact at the start of Saturday’s Pitstop Race that punctured a tyre and eliminated him from proceedings, Iain, from Sandhurst, qualified 1.1 seconds quicker than 24 hours previously; a superb achievement in the Sunday session.
An ultra-strong run to third in the Sprint Race - just 1.5s behind the winner and within 0.2s of the fastest lap - was further evidence of Iain’s ever-improving race pace.
It was in the final battle of the weekend - Sunday’s Pitstop Race - that the magical result arrived.
Pitting under safety-car conditions just past the halfway mark, Iain transferred to Oli; his ‘Pro’ status meaning that under series regulations the McLaren had to spend 15 seconds longer stationary than the leader and giving Oli a 12-second gap to work on with just 19 minutes left.
The Knutsford racer was, however, relentless in his pursuit and dived past his key rival with six minutes remaining; clearing off to take victory for Greystone GT.
While Iain secured the ‘Driver of the Day’ award for his outstanding performance, he and Oli sit fourth in the GT3 points.
Alongside the GT3 McLaren were three 570S GT4s competing in the GTH category; the best-placed of which by the end of the weekend was that of Phillip Carter and Michael Broadhurst.
York racer Phillip - contesting only his second-ever race event, beat his previous effort to qualify ninth on both days and paired-up with Pro racer Michael in Sunday’s Pitstop Race to finish sixth and claim his best result to date.
Derbyshire’s Mark Hopton, competing at his local circuit, has a new co-driver for 2022 in former British GT Champion Euan Hankey.
Mark qualified 10th on both days, but the races were increasingly dramatic for the #77 McLaren, which was involved in a heavy impact in Sunday’s Sprint as the cars were being bunched-up by the class leaders as a safety-car restart approached.
Sterling work from the Greystone GT team readied the car for the final Pitstop Race, in which Euan survived being punted into a high-speed 360-degree spin while lying fifth, and eventually crossed the line ninth.
American Ron Trenka, who was racing outside the USA for the first time, was paired with former European Le Mans Series Champion Jon Lancaster in the #80 McLaren.
The New York-based racer spent the weekend finessing his driving at the challenging Donington circuit and closed the gap on many more experienced ‘Sporting’ drivers in GTH.
He and Leeds racer Jon combined to finish eighth in the final race of weekend - a result that gave the duo their first points of the season.
The next races take place on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit in Kent on April 30-May 1.
Iain Campbell (#23 McLaren 720S GT3) said: “I’m over the moon. If this weekend had just been the Saturday Sprint Race, where I finished fourth, I’d still have been over the moon, but we made a step up on Sunday, worked on the car, found over a second in qualifying and really matched the guys I expected to be setting the pace in the Sprint. I was particularly proud of finishing third in that one because it was on my own and I felt I really had to earn it. To get the win though… Just an awesome feeling for myself, Oli and the Greystone GT team. Let’s push on now and try and get some more…”
Oli Webb (#23 McLaren 720S GT3) said: “It was my first time racing a GT3 car since 2016 so to not only win first time out, but do it with Iain too - who I’ve been with since his race debut at this very circuit - is a great feeling. I didn’t know what position I was in when I got in the car - I didn’t want to know, but when [engineer] Gary told me, ‘you’re P2, it’s 12 seconds for the win,’ I just focused and got my head down. It was good, respectful racing for the lead and I managed to finish off the job. The real star was Iain though; Driver of the Day and lapping within two or three tenths of British GT race winners… Very impressive.”
Phillip Carter (#14 McLaren 570S GT4) said: “Sixth in the final race was definitely higher than I expected - way higher - but I absolutely loved it. It definitely felt like survival at some points as you had cars hitting each other and going off, but we kept things clean across the weekend and I was pleased with the way the speed’s coming too. There’s a long way to go, but I’m heading home very happy with the way results have gone.”
Michael Broadhurst (#14 McLaren 570S GT4) said: “I’ve been so impressed with the job Phillip’s done. I think because he’s been part of the Greystone GT family for a while, people forget he’d only ever done one race event before this weekend, but he has the right attitude, is focused on learning, clearly still has some development on racecraft, but is getting there. Top qualify in the top 10 on both days and get sixth in the last race was a very good start to the year.”
Ron Trenka (#80 McLaren 570S GT4) said: “It’s been quite the learning experience, especially racing against the drivers with a lot more experience than me - which feels like almost everyone. The Greystone GT team have been fantastic in how they’ve supported me and I’ve learned a lot and become more comfortable and confident in the car. The top 10 was the target for the weekend and Jon and I managed this in the last race, so I’m leaving pretty happy with what we’ve achieved.”
Jon Lancaster (#80 McLaren 570S GT4) said: “We achieved our goal of a top-10 finish and it always feels satisfying when together you can do this - especially with a quite inexperienced driver like Ron, who has never raced outside the US before and has had to get used to the way things work in UK racing. We basically lost our full planned test Day on Thursday to dreadful weather, so he missed out on all that potential track time, but his pace has improved all weekend and we leave pretty happy.”
Mark Hopton (#77 McLaren 570S GT4) said: “It’s been a tough weekend and we just haven’t had the breaks we needed. The contact in the Sprint Race on Sunday pretty much summed it up as a car somewhere up ahead backed up the pack and I had nowhere to go. The Greystone GT team did a great job getting the car in shape for the last race and we’d have been on for a top-five if Euan hadn’t been spun by another car. We’ll definitely be up for a better weekend at Brands Hatch.”
Euan Hankey said: “It wasn’t the weekend we hoped for from a results point of view, but there’s definitely been some progress made by Mark, especially with the racing, and that has been a positive. We started Sunday’s Pitstop Race from near the back, but Mark made up ground, we had a good pitstop and we were in the top five when I was spun around by a car that went on to finish on the podium! That’s all the evidence I need to think that we could have been in the top three here and that’s something that gives me a lot of confidence in us as a pairing going forwards.”
Mark McLoughlin, Team Principal, said: “What a dramatic first round for the team and a great start especially in the GT3 category and for Iain, who has now won at each of the last three events he’s competed at with us. He is thoroughly deserving of Driver of the Day for Sunday. Phillip, Ron and Mark have all performed well this weekend; Phillip and Ron with their best-ever results and Mark would have done so too without some bad luck at the hands of other drivers. Our Pro drivers were fantastic as always and they clearly helped our Sporting drivers hugely; they’ve built strong relationships and have the potential to achieve great things in 2022 in both GT3 and GTH.”
