Greystone GT to make GT3 race debut with McLaren in GT Cup at Donington

Greystone GT will step up to GT3 competition for the first time at Donington Park this weekend as they field a McLaren 720S GT3 in the penultimate round of the hotly-contested GT Cup.

The Silverstone-based team have competed exclusively with the McLaren 570S GT4 so far in 2021, and scored their first victory last time out at Silverstone.

They will now field an additional car in the GT3 class alongside four machines in the GTH division at Donington.

The 720S GT3, examples of which have competed in some of the world’s most prestigious sportscar races, will be raced by GT Cup debutant Andrey Borodin and the highly-experienced professional racer Ed Pead.

Andrey, from Moscow, made his race debut in the Britcar Endurance Series in 2020 with Ed as his co-driver. The pair contested the Snetterton round earlier this year with Greystone GT in a McLaren 570S GT4, twice finishing fourth in class.

Ed has vast experience of British motorsport and finished as the runner-up in the British Touring Car Championship-supporting Renault Clio Cup UK three years in a row from 2003-05.

A regular winner in Britcar, Ed finished sixth in the Asian Formula 3 Championship before switching to motorbike racing and competing in the British SuperSport Championship as recently as 2017.

The Londoner has since returned to four-wheeled motorsport and established a reputation as one of the most highly-respected Driver Coaches in the UK.

The pair have tested the Greystone GT 720S GT3 several times throughout 2021 and will compete as a guest entry, meaning they will not be eligible for championship points.

Ed Pead said: “I’m really excited to be racing the McLaren 720S GT3 with Greystone GT. Since I stopped racing motorbikes a couple of years ago, my focus has mainly been on coaching and instructing, so to be competing against so many pro drivers in the GT Cup is something I’ve been looking forward to ever since we started discussing a race programme with the team. Andrey and I raced a GT4 McLaren with Greystone GT at Snetterton a few months ago in the pouring rain and he did very well once he settled into things. The GT3 is another step up, but we’ve done a good amount of testing to prepare for this weekend. The aim is to help Andrey acclimatise to the series and to racing the GT3 car and to see his confidence continue to grow.”

Mark McLoughlin, Team Principal, said: “Since we established the Greystone GT race team in October last year, it has been our ambition to race the McLaren 720S GT3 alongside the 570S GT4s that have made up the backbone of our programme across 2021. Now we have the chance to showcase the level to which we prepare and run cars in another class of racing, and that’s very exciting. The drivers are well-prepared and Ed brings a wealth of experience to the line-up that goes far beyond what we could have hoped for.”

Greystone GT adds fourth GT4 McLaren to Donington Park GT Cup line-up

New GT Cup race winners Greystone GT will expand to a four-car line-up for the upcoming round at Donington Park with an additional McLaren 570S GT4.

Debutant Phillip Carter and international GT race winner Michael Broadhurst will be behind of the wheel of the McLaren, which will compete at the East Midlands track on September 18-19.

The duo will join the existing cars raced by Silverstone winners Rich Mason/Jon Lancaster, Mark Hopton/Adam Carroll and Iain Campbell/Oli Webb in the hotly-contested GTH class.

Phillip, from York, began undertaking a thorough test and development programme behind the wheel of the GT4 McLaren during the second half of 2020 with Michael performing coaching duties.

Further track time has been added for the self-confessed ‘speed freak’ during 2021 as he has focused on developing his on-track skills within the Greystone GT family.

Michael, 33, will make his first appearance in the GT Cup since 2019, when he completed a clean sweep of GTH class wins on a one-off outing at Snetterton.

The Northampton-based racer wrote his name into British GT history in 2008 by taking GT4 victory on the category’s series debut and finished third in the pro-am class in 2019. He is also a race winner in the European GT4 Cup, Radical Enduro and Ginetta G20 series.

Phillip Carter said: “I’ve been a speed freak all my life, be it fast jets, bicycles or, more recently, racing cars. The opportunity to get on-track with the McLaren and be a part of a team like Greystone GT is something that has really spurred me on this journey towards making my race debut, which I couldn’t be more excited about. I chose Greystone GT because of the high-quality way they do things, and Mark [McLoughlin] and Tim [Mullen] have been great in helping me outside of the car. On the driving front, Michael first sat alongside me at Goodwood last year and I couldn’t wish for a better teacher and co-driver. I feel as prepared as I can be, but I also know there’s nothing like the real thing, so I’m expecting a baptism of fire. I haven’t set any targets, but getting to the end of the first event and enjoying it feels like a good place to start.”

Michael Broadhurst said: “I’m really looking forward racing in the GT Cup again. My last time was in 2019 at Snetterton when we won our class in every race. Mark [McLoughlin] was actually my driver coach when I was in Formula Renault 15 years ago, so it’s quite a privilege that he’s asked me to part of the Greystone GT racing programme alongside some really top professionals. Phillip has shown impressive speed in testing against a number of more experienced drivers, but he hasn’t raced before so going wheel-to-wheel with other cars and having to deal with traffic-management in a 40-car field is going to be quite an eye-opener. He’s clearly a fast learner and if we have a good weekend, I hope we can turn it into a full programme for 2022.”

Mark McLoughlin, Team Principal, said: “It’s hard to imagine that just 12 months ago the Greystone GT race team didn’t exist, and yet here we are as race winners in a hugely-competitive series like the GT Cup against drivers and outfits with years of experience and achievement behind them. And now we’re expanding to a fourth car with Phillip - who has learnt so quickly since he first drove the McLaren 570S GT4 at out Silverstone High-Performance Test Day last September - and Michael, who’s a model professional and has been with him every step of the way. This is yet more validation that our focus on driver development - which has now taken four enthusiastic rookies from zero to race-ready - is doing exactly what we hoped and I’m sure Phillip and Michael will have a great experience.”

Greystone GT score first race victory at Silverstone

Greystone GT became race winners for the first time as Rich Mason and Jon Lancaster scored an extraordinary GT Cup victory on a chaotic weekend at Silverstone.

It was an inspired strategy call that put the #22 McLaren 570S GT4 into prime position in the GTH category - the most hotly-contested class in GT Cup - in Saturday afternoon’s Endurance Race.

An on-track incident brought out the safety car close to half-distance, and it was still on-track when the mandatory pit window - in which all cars must spend at least 70 seconds stationary and driver changes are allowed - opened on the 29-minute mark.

While most of the field had passed the pit entry for the 11th time when the window opened, several cars running lower down - such as Rich’s McLaren - were able to come in, swap drivers and rejoin the action while their rivals ran at slow speed.

When green-flag racing resumed next time around and the majority of the field pitted, it was Leeds racer Jon - now having relieved Harrogate-based Rich - who led.

The former European Le Mans Series champion clung on to that advantage too, winning by just 0.032 seconds for a memorable first success for Greystone GT.

It was a magnificent result for Rich, who was competing in only his third racing event, and for Silverstone-based Greystone GT, whose race team was established less than a year ago and has taken on the challenge of GTH with three rookie competitors.

Iain Campbell and Duncan Tappy were fourth with Mark Hopton and Adam Carroll scoring their best result of 2021 in with a fine performance in fifth.

Rich was sixth in Sunday’s sprint race while a 20-second success penalty - applied due to the #22 car’s class win 24 hours earlier - restricted he and Jon to ninth in the finale.

Both Iain and Mark were involved in major incidents in Sunday morning’s sprint; the former after scoring a career-best fifth place in qualifying.

Iain’s McLaren became a launching ramp for a rival and suffered heavy right-side damage - the Sandhurst racer fortunately unhurt - while contact a few laps later also put Mark, from Repton, out.

Incredible work from the Greystone GT mechanics - for which they were later named ‘Team of the Weekend’ got both cars back on-track, and while Iain and Duncan used it to climb to fifth by the chequered flag, Mark and Adam retired with a clutch issue.

The event had begun with with Iain scoring his best solo finish to date in fifth in the opening sprint with Mark and Rich 11th and 13th. Iain and regular co-driver Oli Webb moved up a place to seventh in the standings with Rich/Jon 11th and Mark/Adam 12th.

Rich Mason said: “It’s absolutely fantastic to get the first win for myself, for Jon and for Greystone GT - and in only my third-ever race weekend. It wasn’t expected and we certainly had a bit of luck that our track position gave us the chance to do the driver change before most of the other cars, but it was a genius move by Katie [Lawrence - Race Engineer] and the team in the pits to call us in at the last minute. That won us the race because Jon’s such an experienced and fast driver that when you put him in the lead, he’s not likely to give it up. The set-up at Greystone GT is first-class and we couldn’t have done it without them.”

Jon Lancaster said: “It’s one of the strangest wins I’ve ever had, but naturally we’re all over the moon. For Rich to get this win in only his third-ever race weekend is pretty special and shows not only the progress he’s made behind the wheel, but also the fantastic job Greystone GT have done to get us into this position. We’re not kidding ourselves by thinking we’re the fastest, but we were where we needed to be when it mattered and the team made a perfect call to pit us just as the window opened. I’m going home very pleased.”

Iain Campbell said: “I’m happy with the weekend overall. We started the season at the back of the grid with me as a total rookie and here we’ve been fourth of fifth in more or less every session. It’s easily the best I’ve driven around Silverstone by over half a second consistently. It wasn’t a nice feeling being sat in the car in Race Three when another car tried to mount me, but I walked away and the team did an amazing job to even get the car into a fit state to drive in Race Four, even if the steering was a bit off. It was nice sharing with Duncan and both he and Oli [Webb - regular co-driver] were in constant contact over the weekend. I’m already looking forward to Donington.”

Duncan Tappy said: “I’ve really enjoyed the weekend and I think we had a chance at the win in the pitstop race on Saturday given how well Iain drove. Maybe we could have pitted at the same time as Rich and Jon - which could have put us at the front - but I think it was really touch and go given where we were on-track when the pit window opened and maybe a bit more clear-cut for them as they were a few seconds further back. The car wasn’t perfect after Iain’s incident in Race Three, but to even get out again was a miracle that the team should be really proud of. I hope to get another chance to race with Greystone GT in the future.”

Mark Hopton said: “There are plenty of positives to take from the weekend, not least our first top-five finish. Silverstone is a tough circuit and during the test last week I was doing 2m16s, so to qualify in the high 2m13s for both races really pleased me. Sunday was a bit of a shame. I had contact with a Porsche in Race Three that damaged the radiator and put me out and then in Race Four I had an overheating clutch that the team tried to fix, but kept affecting us and eventually put us out. It’s another step forwards and we certainly learnt a lot.”

Adam Carroll said: “Mark’s made a positive step forwards this weekend, especially with his qualifying at a track he hasn’t felt that comfortable at in testing. Silverstone’s probably the hardest track for a new driver in the UK, so he’s done really well to make such an improvement. We raced hard, got stuck in and came away with a top five on Saturday. It’s a shame Sunday never really got going for us. The driving was pretty chaotic and Mark did well to avoid two very big incidents on the first lap. It will be interesting to measure how far we’ve come since the Donington opener when we go back there for the next event.”

Mark McLoughlin, Team Principal, said: “To get the first win feels fantastic. The circumstances were maybe a little fortunate, but Rich and Jon’s crew made an excellent call to pit them at the earliest possible opportunity and reaped the rewards. Rich, Mark and Iain have all taken a big step forward again this weekend, which is exactly what we’d hoped for. Everybody’s worked so hard, and after the tireless work by the mechanics to fix both Iain and Mark’s cars after Race Three, being named Team of the Weekend is a justified reward for them.”

Campbell & Webb on GT Cup podium again for Greystone GT

Greystone GT scored another GT Cup podium finish at Oulton Park on a day when ultra-tough weather conditions forced the crews of their three McLaren 570S GT4s to be on top of their game.

Iain Campbell and Oli Webb added to their rostrum finish at Snetterton with third place in the GTH class in the first of two ‘Endurance’ races at the Cheshire circuit while the cars of Rich Mason/Duncan Tappy and Mark Hopton/Adam Carroll also showed excellent speed. 

Overnight thunderstorms left the track drenched as qualifying began on Saturday morning; none of Greystone GT’s Sporting Drivers having much experience of the circuit in such conditions.

Iain responded magnificently with a career-best seventh place on the grid; and the Sandhurst driver followed this up with a strong opening stint on a drying track, despite a brief spin at the ultra-fast Druids double-right near the end of the lap.

An inspired strategy call from the pit wall led to Iain staying out one lap longer than most of his rivals once the mandatory pit window opened. The result was a near-empty pitlane in which to swap his wet tyres for slicks.

Oli, from nearby Knutsford, took full advantage, setting several fastest laps in the class and hauling the McLaren up to third place by the chequered flag - just three tenths of a second away from second spot - to earn the duo their second-best finish of the year.

Sadly there was no such reward in Race Two as contact from a rival car resulted in rear-end damage that caused Iain to retire. The pair remain eighth in the points, however.

Like Iain, Rich Mason enjoyed his best-ever qualifying result in 10th; the Harrogate racer returning to the GT Cup for the first time since the Donington Park season-opener.

He kept his nose clean during the opening stint of Race One to hand over to new co-driver Duncan Tappy, who was substituting for the unavailable Jon Lancaster, in seventh.

Duncan, from Frimley, Surrey, put on a charge similar to Oli’s; the pro racer finishing fifth. Sadly a multi-car collision eliminated Rich on the first lap of Race Two, denying the pair another shot at the podium.

Mark Hopton superbly equalled his career-best result with eighth place in the wet qualifying and, after a number of position changes, entered the pits in Race One for his mandatory driver swap in the same position.

A slow stop, caused by a sticking wheel nut, caused a loss of over 20 seconds and left pro co-driver Adam to finish eighth, despite lapping just as quickly as Oli and Duncan.

Contact in Race Two from another car left Mark with a buckled wheel-rim, not only affecting his laptimes, but also leading to an enforced wheel-change in the pits and a time loss of around 30 seconds.

Northern Irishman Adam put in a strong series of laptimes to again finish eighth.

Iain Campbell said: “It feels great to be on the podium again, but it was hard work with the weather conditions being what they were. I actually preferred it when it was bucketing down in qualifying than when it dried out during my stint in Race One. The track was very greasy - I had a spin at Druids that definitely cost us second place. We had a great strategy to stay out a lap longer than most people on wets so I had a clear pitlane when I stopped, and we really benefitted. In Race Two I was hit at the chicane and the damage put me out. We have some momentum now though and the championship top five isn’t a million miles away so it’s something to aim for at Silverstone.”

Oli Webb said: “It’s really good to be on the podium again, which I think was a combination of good work from Iain and myself plus a very clever strategy call from our engineer Barclay. Iain stayed out an extra lap when the pit window open and just nailed the in-lap. When he came in, the pits were empty so we got a great stop, made up more time than we lost through Iain being on worn wets when new slicks were preferable, and I felt the McLaren just really worked well on the drying track on slicks. Race Two didn’t go our way when Iain got hit and the damage put us out, but I know he’ll be strong at Silverstone next time.”

Mark Hopton said: “My confidence is sky-high after right now. I just felt a lot more focused and relaxed behind the wheel compared to my debut at Donington in April and I think that showed in being able to qualify so well in what really weren’t the nicest track conditions with the rain. We had podium pace all day at Oulton and that’s hugely encouraging. Unfortunately we had a wheel nut get stuck in the Race One pitstop, which cost us about 30 seconds and probably a shot at the podium, and then in Race Two I had a damaged wheel after contact and had to have it changed, but the speed was still good.”

Adam Carroll said: “The team did a great job this weekend and I’m particularly lucky they spotted Mark’s damaged wheel at the pitstop in Race Two and changed it, because without that I could potentially have had a tyre go down on my out lap and had a big accident. For Mark to come here and need to qualify in such bad weather was a huge challenge for him, but he got his best ever grid spot so he can be very proud. For me, because we’d been delayed in the pits, there wasn’t a lot for me to aim for so I just focused on getting the laps reeled off and keeping the car in one piece so we collected useful points.”

Rich Mason said: “It’s been a tale of two races today, but I’m still smiling. Race One was great. I concentrated on not going off in the wet, because lots of other drivers passed me and then fell off the road pushing too hard. We had a short delay in the pitstop because there was a lot of traffic in there, but Duncan did a great stint and we only missed fourth place by a small margin. Race Two was over almost before it began as I was involved in an incident at Knickerbrook; the first time I’ve had something like that happen. Huge thanks to Duncan for standing in for Jon this weekend and I’m pleased we have a good result to take away from it.”

Duncan Tappy said: “It’s been a positive weekend and I really enjoyed being back with the guys at Greystone GT for the first time this year in general and the first time ever as a race driver. It was a very comfortable working relationship. Rich made some excellent progress, especially as we improved the car. He stayed out of trouble in Race One and I probably only needed one more lap to get fourth in GTH; not bad considering we had a delay in the pits. Race Two never really got going, which was a shame. I’d love to have the opportunity to return to Greystone GT later in the season, so I guess we’ll see if the chance comes up.”

Mark McLoughlin, Team Principal, said: “It’s been a hectic event with every kind of weather, lots of incidents and plenty going on. Mark, Iain and Rich all scored career-best qualifying results in what were really difficult weather conditions and they were all over the moon with that, and race pace-wise all three showed they have not only more speed than in previous events, but more consistent speed too, which always gives their pro more of a chance of getting on the podium. The wheel nut issue for Mark was frustrating but, as always, we’ll address this for the next event - our home race at Silverstone - and come back even stronger.”