Phillip Carter and Michael Broadhurst triumphed in the last race of the 2023 GT Cup Championship as Greystone GT finished the season in perfect fashion at Snetterton.
The win for the #14 McLaren 570S GT4, which came in the hotly-contested GTH class, helped Phillip and Michael seal third place in the Drivers’ standings in the category; their best campaign to date in only the second full season of racing for York-based Phillip.
The duo were one of four crews that arrived at the Norfolk circuit in contention for the GTH title but were ruled of of mathematical contention when a last-lap puncture in Saturday’s 50-minute Pitstop Race denied them a second-place finish.
That race was already running in unexpected circumstances as a power cut with just under 20 minutes to run left teams without, among other things, a working electronic timing system.
While it initially looked like a result would be declared when the power outage occurred (as this was the last point at which accuracy could be guaranteed), Phillip and Michael – second at that point – were eventually classified fourth as a result of the puncture.
They put that disappointment out of their minds on Sunday however; Phillip running third throughout his opening stint of the season finale, sticking to the rear bumper of the second-place car.
Slick pitwork helped Professional racer Michael – who lives in Northampton – emerge in second and he then reeled in the leader over the next 20 minutes; turning a 10-second deficit into nothing with a Herculean drive.
Making it by on the penultimate lap, he streaked away to give the #14 McLaren its first Pitstop Race win and its second victory in total after Phillip’s solo Sprint Race victory at Silverstone in August.
Phillip had earlier finished fifth and sixth in the two Sprint Races; Sunday’s encounter featuring a race-long fight for second with five cars running nose-to-tail and often side-by-side for the duration.
The pair finish third in the standings with two wins, nine podiums and two fastest laps for the season.
Just two events remain for Greystone GT – the newly-crowned McLaren Trophy Teams’ Champions – in 2023 with both the British GT Championship and International GT Open finales taking place in just under two weeks’ time.
Mark McLoughlin, Team Principal, said: “If you’re going to end a season, you should probably do it with a win so it lasts you right through the winter. Phillip and Michael did an excellent job all weekend and were definitely robbed of a podium on Saturday by the late puncture, but there was no denying them on Sunday. Phillip stuck right in the pack and Michael was relentless in his late-race charge. It’s our intention to return next year and we’ll hopefully firm-up plans to do that in the coming weeks.”
