+ Beeson and Clark surprise early GT3 leaders
+ Initial GT4 advantage with Innovation
+ Provisional entry list: Oulton Park
The British GT Championship heads to its most northerly outpost this Bank Holiday weekend for two 60-minute races at Oulton Park.
The sprint format of rounds two and three could not be more different to Silverstone’s season opener last month when a strategic gamble helped Australians Yasser Shahin and Garnet Patterson win the championship’s blue riband three-hour race, while Thomas Holland helped Hadley Simpson and Innovation Racing make a dream start to their maiden GT4 campaign.
But with Optimum’s duo only scheduled to contest Silverstone, and GT4’s victorious Ginetta hamstrung by the maximum compensation time in race one, it’s highly likely that both classes will welcome four new winners across Monday’s two races.
As ever, qualifying and both races are live on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel and app, while the same coverage can also be watched as it happens on Sky Sports F1.
GT3: USUAL SUSPECTS PLAYING CATCH UP
Two guest entries in Silverstone’s top three and first Silver-Am crew to win overall since the same race in 2024 leaves British GT3’s early standings with something of an unusual look.
That’s not to say Century’s Jonathon Beeson and Charles Clark do not deserve their lead. More that a late Safety Car period played perfectly into their hands on an opening weekend when most of British GT’s more experienced drivers failed to score as heavily as expected.
Second overall but first of the full-season entrants earned Century’s BMW the full 37.5 points. That’s 10.5 more than Pro-Am leaders Simon Orange and Marcus Clutton scored for finishing fourth on the road and second of 2026’s full-time combinations, while another Silver-Am partnership – Alex Martin and Jarrod Waberski – complete both the championship’s early top three and Oulton’s list of Race 1 compensation time recipients.
Clark might top the standings but it was his Silver-Am rival and the SRO GT Academy leader Waberski who turned heads during Silverstone’s qualifying by setting the second fastest time of all. Now, Oulton’s sprint format offers him an opportunity to start Race 2 where he qualifies.
He and Martin can also take comfort from Barwell’s recent record at Oulton where its Lamborghinis have a habit of winning. Indeed, the Huracan and Mercedes-AMG have claimed 10 of the last 11 victories between them there – a remarkable record stretching back to 2020.
Martin is responsible for one of those. But it’s his team-mate Rob Collard who could make it three wins in as many years around Oulton, as well as a second in short order alongside Hugo Cook who opened his British GT account there last year. Pointless after Silverstone, the crew that many considered pre-season title favourites will be eager to bounce back immediately at a circuit well suited to the V10-powered Lamborghini.
Reigning teams’ and drivers’ champions 2 Seas find themselves in a similar predicament following a bittersweet season opener. Aaron Walker, who occupies sixth, is joined for the remainder of the year by former champion Ian Loggie who used the same team/car combination to win at Oulton in 2023. Kevin Tse is also a two-time winner with Mercedes-AMG in Cheshire but now, more than ever, needs good results to ignite his and Ben Green’s expected championship challenge following a non-score on the opening weekend.
Beechdean’s Aston Martin was there or thereabouts at Silverstone before ultimately scoring what, in time, could become 18 very valuable points. Doing so also, crucially, avoids a pitstop handicap in Race 1 when Andrew Howard and Ross Gunn will again hope to claim the team’s first overall win since 2015. They came closest to ending that long wait at Oulton three years ago when Gunn was pipped on the line by Jonny Adam following their last lap skirmish at Lodge.
Optimum’s Morgan Tillbrook and Ben Barnicoat will likely be amongst the frontrunners again after an untimely Safety Car period thwarted their victory chances at Silverstone, while Matt Topham joins Mahiki in place of Ed McDermott who continues to recover from the serious thumb injury that forced him to withdraw from the season opener.
GT4: EARLY ADVANTAGE FOR INNOVATION
Yes, Innovation’s Ginetta one-make experience stood them in good stead prior to their British GT4 debut at Silverstone. But even so, few would have predicted Holland and Simpson’s victory from pole prior to the weekend – and not least given Optimum and Century’s class domination for much of the past two seasons.
Truth be told the Silver duo were good value for their win after seeing off the MK Racing Aston Martin shared by class rivals Will Orton and Jessica Hawkins who entered the campaign as arguably this year’s strongest combination. One swallow doesn’t make a summer, but Silverstone’s evidence suggests this is a battle that will rage throughout 2026.
But both crews, as well as Luca Hopkinson and Josh Stanton who took Optimum’s McLaren to third, must overcome their respective 10, seven and five seconds of compensation time during Monday’s first race if they’re to mix it with several well-matched rivals who scored less well first time out.
That certainly applies to Revie Lake and Blake Angliss whose race was cut short by Darren Turner’s errant Aston Martin. Both Mahiki and Grange/FSR’s crews are therefore without points following the first of this season’s eight races, and realistically cannot afford another slip up if they’re to feature in the championship shake up come season’s end.
Chomp – aka Century’s BMW – can also take a bite out of Innovation’s lead following Jack Collins and Branden Templeton’s fourth position on the first weekend, while Jack Mitchell’s fastest lap underlined the pace of Toro Verde’s Ginetta which also features one-make champion Luke Shaw. That particular G56 leads the early Pro-Am standings.
But with Q2’s fastest time securing Race 2 pole, Oulton provides a first opportunity for multiple BTCC champions Colin Turkington and WSR to really demonstrate what they’re capable of. Silverstone’s endurance format presented a steep learning curve, but a race situation more akin to tin tops should play to their strengths at a circuit where the same combination of team, driver and manufacturer has won many times before.
There is one other element to consider that’s new for 2026: in addition to any overall Compensation Time, the top three Silver Cup crews from the previous race must serve an additional 15, 10 and 5 seconds during their pitstops. In Race 1 those cars are the same as GT4’s overall Silverstone top three: Innovation, MK Racing and Optimum. Silver cars no longer carry additional ballast, while those that didn’t finish first, second or third overall at Silverstone are only subject to GT4’s minimum pitstop time.
OULTON PARK TIMETABLE
Friday 22 May
10:45 – 11:40: Test 1
13:20 – 14:15: Test 2
15:30 – 16:25: Test 3
Saturday 23 May
09:30 – 10:30: Free Practice
12:00 – 13:00: Pre-Qualifying
15:35 – 15:45: Qualifying 1 (GT3)
15:49 – 15:59: Qualifying 2 (GT3)
16:03 – 16:13: Qualifying 3 (GT4)
16:18 – 16:28: Qualifying 4 (GT4)
Monday 25 May
09:15 – 09:30: Warm-up
11:05 – 12:05: Race 1
13:15 – 13:45: Pitwalk + autograph session
15:45 – 16:45: Race 2
LAP RECORDS
GT3 – 1m33.380s – Sven Müller – Team Parker Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R – 2025
GT4 – 1m42.237s – Jack Brown – Optimum Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4 – 2025
PITSTOP SPECIFICS – ONE-HOUR RACE
GT3 cars must make their mandatory driver change at 22-32 minutes, while GT4’s pit window is 28-38 minutes.
Mandatory Pitstop Times (pit-in to pit-out)
GT3: 70s | GT4: 100s
Pitstop Compensation Time
Each class’ top three finishers from the previous round must be stationary for additional time during their mandatory pitstop.
10s – #44 Century Motorsport BMW – Beeston/Clark
07s – #67 Orange/JMH McLaren – Orange/Clutton
05s – #78 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini – Martin/Waberski
10s – #74 Innovation Racing Ginetta – Holland/Simpson
07s – #21 MK Racing Aston Martin – Hawkins/Orton
05s – #59 Optimum Motorsport McLaren – Hopkinson/Stanton
Additional pitstop compensation time applies to Silver class entries that finished in GT4’s overall top three at the previous race.
