Rob Collard and Hugo Cook claimed a hard-fought victory during the first British GT Championship race of the weekend at Oulton Park this morning.

Collard managed a flying start as chaos unfolded behind him into Old Hall among the GT3 competitors, moving past polesitter Andrew Howard into turn one. Further behind, Morgan Tillbrook’s Optimum Motorsport McLaren was tagged by Paddock Motorsport’s Mark Smith, sending him into a spin and to the back of the pack.

As the Barwell Motorsport machine stretched its lead at the front, the other Optimum Motorsport McLaren of Marc Warren hounded the Beechdean Motorsport Ltd Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo of Andrew Howard for second place but struggled to find a way past.

In the GT4 category, Century Motorsport’s Jack Collins took a trip through the grass and resumed third in his class after losing some time. A close battle developed between the BMW M4 GT4 Evo and MK Racing’s Jessica Hawkins over the following laps.

The GT3 frontrunners then settled into a quiet period, with caution thrown into the wind. Tillbrook continued to fight through the pack and passed the first GT3 in his way with 48 minutes remaining on the clock, easing past the 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG of Ian Loggie on the exit of Lodge.

His next move into the final corner resulted in Cameron Campbell being tagged into a spin, continuing an eventful first half of the race for the McLaren. The Rodin Motorsport Ferrari sat on the grass for nearly a minute before moving on.

As soon as the pit window opened, the majority of the GT3 class poured in for their mandatory driver change. Hugo Cook resumed with a considerable 10-second lead for Barwell Motorsport, with Ross Gunn chasing him for top spot.

Drama then unfolded into Druids at the Optimum Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4 of Josh Stanton suffered a heavy crash, before Marcus Clutton also fell victim to some slippery conditions and took a trip into the gravel.

The Orange Racing by JMH McLaren was pushed back onto the circuit with the assistance of the marshals, handing his race another lifeline as a full course yellow was thrown, neutralising the race.

A full safety car was deployed soon after, bunching the pack up once more and setting up a nail-biting conclusion to the race. With Cook’s lead eradicated, he now had to worry about pressure from Gunn in the Beechdean Motorsport Ltd Aston Martin, and Jack Brown in the Optimum Motorsport McLaren.

When the race resumed, Cook’s mirrors were full of the lapped Orange Racing by JMH McLaren of Clutton, but he managed to use him as a buffer to hold the lead and race with 10 minutes to go. Behind them, a major tussle developed for fourth place, led by Paddock Motorsport’s Martin Plowman.

With five cars separated by two seconds between fourth and eighth, all eyes returned to the front as Gunn closed the gap to race leader Cook to just eight tenths with two laps left. Eventually, Cook crossed the line just two tenths ahead of Gunn, one year on from securing his first British GT victory with co-drover Collard at the same venue.

Brown followed home in third, while Plowman just about held on ahead of a hounding pack to finish fourth. Jarrod Waberski came fifth for Barwell Motorsport and Ben Green managed sixth for 2 Seas Motorsport.

An excellent recovery from the Optimum Motorsport McLaren shared by Tillbrook and Ben Barnicoat saw them finish seventh, tailed by Charles Clark of Century Motorsport in eighth, Matt Griffin of Barwell Motorsport in ninth, and Aaron Walker of 2 Seas Motorsport in tenth.

In the GT4 class, Branden Templeton held off consistent pressure from Will Orton to claim victory for Century Motorsport. Thomas Holland completed the podium for Innovation Racing in third.

British GT Championship, Race 1, Oulton Park

1. Collard/Cook, Barwell Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2

2. Howard/Gunn, Beechdean Motorsport Ltd, Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, +0.235s

3. Warren/Brown, Optimum Motorsport, McLaren 720s GT3 Evo, +8.151s

4. Smith/Plowman, Paddock Motorsport, McLaren 720s GT3 Evo, +9.834s

5. Waberski/Martin, Barwell Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, +10.548s

6. Green/Tse, 2 Seas Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, +11.395s

7. Barnicoat/Tillbrook, Optimum Motorsport, McLaren 720s GT3 Evo, +11.692s

8. Beeson/Clark, Century Motorsport, BMW M4 GT3 Evo, +12.314s

9. Cameron/Griffin, Barwell Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, +14.017s

10. Walker/Loggie, 2 Seas Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, +14.970s

Click here for full times and results from this event.