British GT Championship: Silverstone

Lamborghini Factory driver and Championship leader Sandy bids for record third British GT Silverstone win with Black Bull and Barwell.

Sandy bids to extend his lead in the British GT Championship when he tackles the series’ Blue Riband endurance race, the Silverstone 500 this weekend (April 27/28). The 24-year-old from Forfar is bidding to win the three-hour race for a record third time. Sandy will share the No 78 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, prepared by Barwell Motorsport, with Alex Martin. The duo combined to bag a race win and a podium finish in the opening two 60-minute races at Oulton Park last month.

Sandy, who clinched his 2020 British GT title by winning the Silverstone 500 when it was run in November due to Covid, is confident he again has the package to be battling for another win. “Alex and I, plus the whole Barwell team, showed at Oulton that we have the car to win races and consistently be competing at the front of the field,” Sandy – personally backed by Huntly-based Black Bull Scotch Whisky, Tunnocks, Alan Davie Transport, Upper Dysart and Results Gym – and who leads the championship by five points, stated.

“Oulton was the first time Alex and I had raced together and we proved we gel together really well. We’ve tested recently at Silverstone and again we both showed really good pace. Silverstone is a completely different circuit to Oulton. The fantastic grand prix circuit has a very fast, sweeping nature which lends itself perfectly to the Lamborghini, and the track is much wider making overtaking easier. The Barwell guys always deliver a fast and reliable Lamborghini, and we know the car suits Silverstone, so we’ll be pushing hard to bag our second win of the year. During the recent test everyone in the team was pleased with the pace and times we set. Now we have to replicate that first in qualifying, then in the three-hour race.”

The Silverstone 500 is one of only two three-hour races on the 2024 calendar, the other being at Donington at the end of May. Both carry enhanced championship points, so could prove crucial in the title race. “There’s a 50% increase in the points awarded in a three-hour race — the winner gets 37.5 compared to 25 in a normal endurance race — so these next two races are very important,” explained Sandy, whose Lamborghini will serve an extra 20-second success penalty — a result of the duo’s win at Oulton — at its final driver change. We know we’re competitive, but we also know with 43 cars and crews lining up, this is the most competitive grid of the year because this is the race everyone wants to win. It’ll be tough. Strategy plays a big part in the outcome. It’s about anticipating and then reacting to incidents, and in the Barwell crew we have many, many years of experience in managing races. Get the calls right, and if we manage to stay out of trouble we know we have the pace to be fighting at the sharp end of the race. Do that, and we’ll be in the mix for another win.”