The weekend of the 11th and 12th July 2020 saw the much-anticipated start of the 2020 season for the GT Cup. With the first round being hosted at the Snetterton circuit in Norfolk. This was also the first weekend since the Covid-19 pandemic that spectators, although in reduced numbers were allowed to watch events at Snetterton.
The GT Cup comprises five classes (GT3, GTC, GTA, GTH and GTB) that incorporate amateur drivers and, in some teams, Pro drivers. The format for the events over the weekend comprises of a single 15-minute practice session followed by a 15-minute qualifying session each day. The races follow a two-race format for each day with the first race being a sprint race for 25 mins, of which is not open to the Pro drivers. The second race is a pit stop race and this runs for 50 mins.
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The weather over the two days was sunny and broken cloud and thus made for some fantastic racing. The #55 Lamborghini Huracan car as driven by John Seale and Marcus Clutton set the fastest lap of the Saturday free practice session and then managed to place themselves third in the Saturday qualifying. Sadly, due to mechanical issues in the first race for the #55 car the #88 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 car driven by Michael Igoe and Dennis Lind was the only GT3 class car to complete the four races over the two days and was totally unstoppable.
Michael Igoe and Dennis Lind in car #88 managed to win all four races over the weekend and on average they were over a minute ahead of the nearest competitor with a fastest lap time of 1.49.286
The GTC class was also a complete four race win for the #61 car of John Dhillon and Aaron Scott in their Euro Key Recycling Ferrari 488 with a top lap time of 1.53.540.
The GTA class was evenly split with two race wins each for the #34 Ginetta G55 GT4 car of Team Hard driven by Callum Jenkins and the #67 Ginetta G55 GT4 car of Team Hard Racing driven by Joshua Jackson and Simon Orange.
The GTH class was predominately led by the #80 Ginetta G55 GT4 car of Scott Sport Racing and driven by Craig Wilkins. Craig placed his car first in the first three races but did not manage to complete race four and thus the #82 Ginetta G55 GT4 car of Feathers Motorsport as driven by James Guess took the last race of the weekend.
The GTB class was also predominately led by the #78 Porsche 997 car of Team Hard with 24-7 Motorsport as driven by Ben Clayden and Sam Randon. The #3 Marcos Mantis car of Top Cats Racing and driven by Jensen Lunn and Warren Gilbert managed to grab a first-class place for the sprint race on Sunday.
The next round of the GT cup will be held at Silverstone on the 15th and 16th August 2020.
