Ben Barnicoat and Morgan Tillbrook claimed an impressive victory in race two of the British GT Championship at Oulton Park this afternoon.

Under a rolling start, Beechdean Motorsport Ltd’s Ross Gunn held the lead into turn one, shadowed closely by Optimum Motorsport’s Barnicoat. Everyone else behind was very well behaved throughout the first lap.

In the battle for eighth, Aaron Walker made slight contact with Joshua Buchan, with both drivers escaping unfazed. Out in front, the top two broke away from the rest of the GT3 pack, leaving Barwell Motorsport’s Hugo Cook in third with a bit of a train behind him.

The most intense battle was for sixth place, as Barwell Motorsport’s Jarrod Waberski was forced to defend from the stern advances of Century Motorsport’s Charles Clark for multiple laps.

As the first stint progressed, Gunn came under increased pressure from Barnicoat, who seemed content with sitting behind his rival until peeling into the pit lane for a mandatory driver change. In the GT4 class, Colin Turkington made slight contact with Tom Bradshaw. The resulting damage meant that his door was ajar, forcing him to retire a handful of laps later.

The running order remained stagnant until the very end of the pit window, and when the cars rejoined, Morgan Tillbrook claimed the lead in his Optimum Motorsport McLaren. Almost immediately, the GT3 drivers faced a wave of GT4 traffic, but Tillbrook’s three-second lead ensured he wasn’t under too much pressure from the Beechdean Motorsport Ltd Aston Martin of Andrew Howard behind him, whose car started from pole position.

With 20 minutes to go, the top four converged and fewer than two seconds separated them with the silverware all to play for. GT4 class-leader Luke Shaw was lapped by the GT3 group but continued to hold a 16-second lead over James Townsend in the Townsend Racing powered by Fox Motorsport Aston Martin.

Chaos would unfold when Rodin Motorsport’s Cameron Campbell made contact with Paddock Motorsport’s Mark Smith in the battle for eighth place in the GT3 class, which forced the latter to retire. Then GT4 leader Shaw then went straight on and into the gravel at Lodge, ending his race and handing the lead to Grange Racing with FSR’s Daniel Lavery.

Howard was left hanging on to second place from the 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG of Kevin Tse, who threatened several moves. The fight allowed Tillbrook to stretch his lead beyond four seconds with just 10 minutes to go. Rob Collard passed Barwell Motorsport teammate Alex Martin for sixth and immediately began his pursuit of Jonathon Beeson in fifth.

A feisty affair followed in the closing stages, including a close fight for top spot in the GT4 category. Jessica Hawkins filled Lavery’s mirrors in her MK Racing Aston Martin, but couldn’t find anywhere to squeeze past, despite an ambitious attempt across the grass to get past.

Tillbrook eventually crossed the line to take the GT3 win for Optimum Motorsport, nearly four seconds ahead of Beechdean Motorsport Ltd’s Howard in second and 2 Seas Motorsport’s Tse in third.

Simon Orange of Orange Racing by JMH missed out on a podium by six tenths, while Collard managed to rise to fifth ahead of Martin in another Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini in sixth, and Optimum Motorsport’s Warren in seventh.

Beeson came home in eighth for Century Motorsport, Ian Loggie secured ninth for 2 Seas Motorsport, and Cameron rounded out the top 10 for Rodin Motorsport, despite suffering some damage during his late scuffle with Smith.

British GT Championship, Race 2, Oulton Park

1. Barnicoat/Tillbrook, Optimum Motorsport, McLaren 720s GT3 Evo

2. Howard/Gunn, Beechdean Motorsport Ltd, Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, +3.750s

3. Green/Tse, 2 Seas Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, +4.341s

4. Orange/Clutton, Orange Racing by JMH, McLaren 720S Evo, +5.780s

5. Collard/Cook, Barwell Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, +12.090s

6. Waberski/Martin, Barwell Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, +13.239s

7. Warren/Brown, Optimum Motorsport, McLaren 720s GT3 Evo, +29.439s

8. Beeson/Clark, Century Motorsport, BMW M4 GT3 Evo, +33.617s

9. Walker/Loggie, 2 Seas Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, +35.521s

10. Cameron/Griffin, Barwell Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, +1m03.953s

Click here for full times and results from this event.