The British GT championship-leading 2 Seas Motorsport squad enjoyed a dominant weekend as its cars each took a win across two one-hour races at Snetterton.
Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss aboard the #42 Mercedes took the chequered flag in the opening contest, before Kevin Tse and Maximilian Gotz won race two in the #18 car.
It leaves 2 Seas controlling the teams’ standings as the Bahraini squad leads defending champions Barwell Motorsport by 33.5 points with 129 available across the final two rounds. Both 2 Seas entrants are in a multi-team fight for the drivers’ crown too, and the #42 Mercedes arrived at Snetterton with a two-point championship lead which had been whittled down from 30 just three races prior.
So Dawson knew his pole for race one was crucial, having pipped his then nearest title rival Giacomo Petrobelli (Blackthorn Aston Martin) by only 0.151 seconds.
Dawson carried that form into Sunday by keeping his lead at the start after taking the inside line approaching Riches, but trouble hit the sister 2 Seas which started third.
Tse dropped behind reigning champion Rob Collard (Barwell Lamborghini) into fourth, before withstanding pressure from Alex Martin in the #78 Barwell car; Tse blamed his poor start on cold tyres.
That allowed the top three to gain over two seconds, yet the narrow Snetterton track meant wheel-to-wheel battles at the front were non-existent – Petrobelli’s only hope was for a mistake from Dawson.
But it didn’t happen as the Mercedes driver kept a 1s gap, though in the 20th minute an anti-lock braking system failure forced Collard into the escape road at Brundle. It dropped the #1 Huracan to fifth, moments before the GT3 pit window opened and everybody came in except the top two who were forced into an extra lap due to track position.
The driver change period was key to jumbling up the order, as the top three finishers from Spa had to serve extra time in the pitstop. Blackthorn’s addition was 10s, the #1 Barwell served 5s, while Optimum’s Marvin Kirchhofer and Morgan Tilbrook stopped an extra 7s - but a poor qualifying meant the McLaren was already down in 10th.
The second and final stint therefore had Jewiss leading Gotz by 12s, with Sandy Mitchell (in for Martin) now third ahead of Jonny Adam (Petrobelli’s co-driver) and fifth-placed Martin Plowman, who shared the Paddock McLaren with Mark Smith.
Jewiss took a “no risk” approach to finish 7.8s clear of Gotz, who thwarted pressure from Mitchell ahead of Adam and Plowman. The #1 Lamborghini crossed the line ninth but was classified eighth, after a 10s penalty for Simon Orange and Marcus Clutton (Orange Racing McLaren) for the latter hitting Collard’s co-driver Hugo Cook while fighting for sixth at Oggies dropped them to 10th.
It was an all-German front row for race two with Gotz beating Kirchhofer to pole, while Mitchell, Jewiss and Adam rounded out the top five. They all kept position at the start and, from there on, Gotz knew he needed “quali lap by quali lap” to overcome the 7s success penalty his crew was due to serve in the pits.
His mission was aided by Mitchell battling Kirchhofer, who finished ninth in race one, with Gotz thus building his advantage to 6.5s come the midway driver change. Though not quite the full 7s, Tse still left the pits just ahead of Tillbrook while the #78 Lamborghini remained third.
But it was the Team Parker Porsche of Nick Jones (in for Sven Muller) running fourth after rising two spots during the pit window. One was because Blackthorn pitted Adam a lap early, dropping him into sixth behind the Porsche and #1 Huracan. The other position gained was down to the #18 Mercedes serving an extra 20s - 10s for winning race one, and 10s for Jewiss being out of position at race start - dropping it from fourth to ninth.
Up ahead, Tse was faultless and Tillbrook instead defended from Martin, who knew “patience” was key and he waited until five minutes remained to overtake. Tillbrook had a poor exit from Agostini, allowing the Lamborghini to go down the inside of Hamilton and complete his move into Oggies.
Martin rushed clear, but Tse was already too far ahead and eventually won by 13.9s with Gotz describing it as the “perfect” stint from his co-driver. Completing the podium was actually the #1 Barwell, as Collard closed in on Tillbrook after inheriting fourth when Jones went off at Riches and rejoined sixth.
On the final lap, the 15-time British touring car winner attacked Tilbrook down the inside of Agostini and was wheel-to-wheel until Collard completed the manoeuvre two corners later. But just as Collard did, Petrobelli, who had a front row seat to the battle, tagged the McLaren’s rear right causing Tillbrook to spin at the exit of Oggies. It meant the Aston Martin crossed the line in fourth with Optimum car fifth.
Then the stewards intervened. Although Petrobelli claimed Tillbrook slid and unexpectedly cut across, Blackthorn was penalised 11s for “gaining an unfair advantage”, meaning they swapped positions post-race.
It all leaves Dawson/Jewiss, who finished eighth in race two, leading Tse/Gotz by eight points with third-placed Petrobelli/Adam a further point adrift.
Both Tillbrook/Kirchhofer and Martin are 18 off the top, with 75 points left available to fight for across Brands Hatch and Donington Park.
Top two GT4 cars maintain superiority
The GT4 title contenders demonstrated their authority at Snetterton as the #90 Optimum McLaren and #71 Century BMW claimed a win apiece in the two one-hour races. Championship leading Optimum pair Marc Warren and Jack Brown won race one, while Ravi Ramyead and Charlie Robertson took victory in the second contest.
They are still the only GT4 winners in 2025, despite four poles for the #84 Mahiki entry but reliability issues and operational failures have prevented it from winning.
An opportunity for Mahiki’s Ginetta arrived at the start of race one, as Josh Miller climbed from third to first after polesitter Luca Hopkinson banged wheels with team-mate Warren at Riches. It still wasn’t a disaster for Warren, who settled into third as both cars ahead were due to pit an extra 14s for being an FIA-graded Silver-Silver pairing, as opposed to Pro-Am.
The pit window was therefore crucial for deciding the result and Brown inherited a 7s lead over Robertson, who also benefited from the Silver entry penalties.
But there was one final twist, as the #71 BMW received a drive-through penalty for too many track-limits infringements, with many coming at Turn 3, giving Brown an even more comfortable victory.
Second instead went to Jack Mitchell (in for Miller), who fended off Hopkinson’s co-driver Harry George, while Robertson and Century’s Chris Salkeld (in for Branden Templeton) completed the top five.
Race two was a different story for Century’s leading BMW, as Robertson took the lead from polesitter Miller at Brundle on lap two. The #71 entry then kept its cool while rivals faltered throughout.
Mistakes first occurred during the pit window when Mahiki attempted an undercut to overcome Miller’s 1.6s deficit to Robertson. Yet that resulted in a 1s stop-go after too short a pitstop for the #84 Ginetta, which also happened to the #90 McLaren that had been running third with Brown.
Those penalties promoted the #69 Mahiki Ginetta (Steven Lake/Blake Angliss) into second, yet too many track-limits infringements gave that Ginetta a drive-through late on.
It all resulted in Ramyead winning by a lap, while the #88 Mahiki car (Ian Duggan/Joe Wheeler) and Salkeld/Templeton completed the podium. Fourth went to Hopkinson/George, directly ahead of Miller/Mitchell with Warren/Brown finishing a disappointing sixth.
They still lead the standings nonetheless, as Warren and defending champion Brown have 162.5 points to Ramyead/Robertson’s 139. It means Warren/Brown can seal the title before the Donington Park (4-5 October) finale if they outscore their Century rivals by more than 14 points at Brands Hatch (23-24 August).
