Victory and a podium at British GT Opener

Former champ and Lamborghini Factory Driver Sandy, bags a win and podium at the British GT Opening Weekend with Black Bull and Barwell.

Lamborghini factory driver and former champ Sandy took a win and a podium finish in the opening British GT Championship Easter Monday double-header at Oulton Park. The 24-year-old from Forfar, partnered by his new and experienced co-driver for the 2024 campaign, Alex Martin, now heads to the next round at Silverstone leading the championship.

“It’s a fantastic start to the season,” Sandy, personally backed by Huntly-based Black Bull Scotch Whisky, said alongside his No 78 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, prepared by Barwell Motorsport.“

In the opening 60-minute race, contested in wet conditions, Martin started from third on the grid, a position he held until the on-track competition was neutralised by a Full Course Yellow following an incident. When the race restarted following a short Safety Car period, all cars had completed their compulsory driver change and despite setting three successive fastest laps of the race, Sandy took the chequered flag in third, just 0,779secs off second place. The race was won by Barwell’s sister #63 Lamborghini.

Starting the second one-hour race from pole position, Sandy led through the opening two corners before the Safety Car was again deployed following another incident. When the race went green after 12 minutes, the Scot immediately rattled off four successive fastest laps of the race to quickly establish a 4.6s advantage over the second-placed car.

“I knew we had to serve an extra five second Success Penalty at our driver change having finished third in the opener,” Sandy explained, “so it was important to open a gap to the rest of the field.”

When Sandy did pit to hand the car over to Martin, as the damp conditions dried, he had extended his advantage close to seven seconds.
The #78 Lamborghini was fractionally delayed by traffic in the congested pitlane meaning Martin rejoined the race in second place immediately behind the #77 McLaren. But with both cars now on slick Pirelli tyres to take advantage of the drying track, Martin made a bold and positive move to immediately take the lead.

The decisive move proved crucial as, having opened the gap at the front to 1.5secs the race was again neutralised by a FCY yellow after another incident caused damage to the safety barriers. The race finally finished behind the Safety Car with Martin taking the chequered flag.

“Alex’s brave and bold move right at the start of his stint was the pivotal move in the race,” 2020 British GT champ Sandy, who left Oulton with a five-point lead in this year’s title race, stated. “That put us back in front, and with the rest of the race run under Full Course Yellow and then behind the Safety Car the move proved crucial. This is Alex’s first full season in the British GT, and first driving the Lamborghini. He did a fantastic job right through the weekend and now we head to Silverstone for the first three-hour race of the season with a great haul of points, a win and a podium, and leading the championship. It’s a great way to start the season.”