Euro GT3 Pro Sprint Cup: Top 8

Lamborghini factory driver Sandy, and team-mate Hugo Cook, finished their debut GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Pro Sprint Cup campaign with a top-eight finish at the season finale in Valencia.

Twenty-four hours after Sandy was the innocent victim of a first-lap incident which broke the suspension on his car, the duo brought their No78 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, prepared by Barwell Motorsport and backed by Dama Fortuna Premium Tequila, home in eighth place in the final 60-minute race of the campaign.

“After the disappointment of the opening one-hour race on Saturday, it was great for everyone in the team to get a strong top-10 finish in the Pro Cup,” Sandy, the 25-year-old from Forfar, explained. In the opening race, just seconds after the start, the Scot was safely positioned on the outside of the first long straight approaching a tight left-hander when he was hit on the right-rear by a rival Audi. This was followed by contact on the same side from an another car. “The first impact broke the right-rear suspension and the second pushed me on to the grass on the left-hand side of the track,” Sandy, personally-backed by Tunnocks, continued. “Once on the grass I was really just a spectator.” Despite nursing the stricken car back to the Barwell garage, it was immediately obvious that the race was over.

Sunday’s second race at the Spanish circuit saw Cook — whose best qualifying lap was ruined by the appearance of a Red Flag halting the session — start the sprint before handing the car to Sandy. In what proved a, thankfully, uneventful race, the Scot comfortably brought the car home eighth in the Pro Cup.
“It was a good, solid race from Hugo and everyone in the team,” stated Sandy, who posted his fastest time of 1min 33.681secs on lap 17 of the 14-turn, 2.48-mile Circuit Ricardo Tormo Valencia, “and to end the season with a top-10 finish is good. This is the first season Hugo and the Barwell team have competed in the Pro Sprint Cup, and throughout the year we’ve shown we have a really fast and reliable car. For one reason or another, we just haven’t got the results we deserved, but we’ll all build on this.”

Former British GT champ Mitchell returns to action with Barwell when he contests the final two-hour round of the British GT Championship at Donington on October 4/5.