Greystone GT scored a pair of landmark podium finishes last weekend in two of the most hotly contested continental GT series in Europe.
A maiden podium result in the GT4 European Series at Hockenheim for Rafa Martinez and Jon Lancaster and a first International GT Open rostrum finish of 2024 for Lewis and Stewart Proctor at Paul Ricard both made for a strong weekend for the British team.
GT4 European Series
Sunday afternoon’s second race was the setting for a superb charge through the field by Rafa Martinez and Jon Lancaster in their RAFA Racing Team McLaren Artura GT4, which is run by Greystone GT.
Having started 16th in the Pro-Am class, Texas-based Rafa made up four spots during his opening stint and handed the car over to Leeds racer Jon at the mandatory mid-race pitstops.
Jon tore through the field to reach sixth by the chequered flag; setting the fastest Pro-Am lap of the race on the way. But he and Rafa were later promoted to third place in class after a number of post-race penalties were issued to other cars.
The result means that Greystone GT have now had a class podium in every series they have ever contested since the team’s formation in late 2020.
Jon qualified second in Pro-Am for Saturday’s opening race, but the duo finished 13th after losing time when the car would not restart initially at the pitstop.
Team-mate Jem Hepworth took her best Silver category qualifying result to date in 12th spot and she and Cameron Lawrence battled hard through both races.
Victims of contact on multiple occasions in Race One, a heavy hit in the closing stages caused race-ending damage for America Cameron.
He ran inside the top 10 overall during his stint in Race Two, but time penalties for exceeding track limits changed what would have been a ninth-place finish to 14th.
International GT Open
There was podium joy in the south of France as well as Lewis and Stewart Proctor scored their first Pro-Am podium finish of the season.
Stewart’s best qualifying result of 2024 – eighth in class – was a precursor to a storming opening stint in a dry Saturday race that brought the Prosource-sponsored McLaren 720S GT3 Evo to sixth by the mid-race driver changes.
Lewis continued the charge, passing Pro-Am and even Pro class rivals as he bore down on the top cars in the class. Fourth with one corner left, he sold his challenger a dummy and got a better exit from the turn to snatch third in class by just 0.033s on the line.
That result was followed by seventh in a Sunday race that was held in conditions so poor that it had to be stopped for 20 minutes to allow the weather and track to improve.
Lewis and Stewart gave a measured display in the challenging conditions to finish seventh.
Oli Webb had earlier given the sister #24 McLaren its best qualifying result to date with eighth in Pro-Am in damp conditions. Braving the weather, he climbed into the top six overall before handing over the car to Andrey Borodin, who came home 16th.
They were 17th on Saturday; an electrical issue leading to an unplanned extra pitstop for Oli during the second half of the race as he battled to gain ground.
Oli and Greystone GT will have little rest as they continue their season in the McLaren Trophy Europe at the Nurburgring this weekend.
Mark McLoughlin, Team Principal, said: “The results this weekend are fantastic and mean we’ve now had a class podium or better in every series we’ve ever entered. Stewart Proctor was fantastic in qualifying and in his stint; maybe the best he’s ever driven over a complete weekend, and he and Lewis deserve their podium. The races at Hockenheim were a bit chaotic and both cars certainly took a few hits, but Rafa was brilliant at picking his way through, improving his laptimes and setting things up for Jon to do what he does and show all his class. Now the results are coming it feels like we can keep setting our sights higher and higher for the second half of the season.”
