Oulton Park delivers a race win and podium over a bumper bank holiday

The British GT Championship headed north for its third weekend, with a double header event over the Bank Holiday weekend at Oulton Park. The pair of 2 Seas Motorsport entries recommenced their challenge, with the opening race of the weekend saw the #18 Contempo Concept duo of Kevin Tse and Maximillian Götz score a hard-fought podium, before converting their first pole position to a convincing victory in the challenging conditions of race 2. Two tough races for the championship leaders, Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss, saw the pair finish with a top-10 finish, and still retain their lead in the standings.

With a bumper grid of over 30 cars, a strong qualifying result was critical around the tight Oulton Park circuit, and the battle across the two sessions was closely fought for both crews. With two sessions qualifying separately for the two races, each driver was individually responsible for a grid position. The opening run pitched Kevin and Charles battling hard and trading laptimes near the front of the field. In a close fight to the flag, Kevin narrowly edged the head-to-head, as the grid saw a 2 Seas Motorsport second row lockout.  The second qualifying run saw Max immediately in the mix with consistently quick laps, before eventually improving to set the benchmark and secured his first British GT pole position. With the times closely matched at the front of the field, Kiern battled hard to qualify the #42 just inside the top-10.

Race 1 got underway with Kevin immediately battling to move forwards. Holding position from the rolling start, the #18 was pushing as part of the lead trio to break away from the chasing pack, trading fastest laps. Charles was involved in a battle over the opening laps, which resulted in contact, ultimately holding position as an extended caution period neutralized the race shortly after the lead group started to catch the slower GT4 traffic. The pitstop window opened with the race under caution, and quick work by the #18 crew sent Maximillian back out on track having gained a position, in P2.  From here, the Mercedes-AMG Performance Driver hustled hard for the overall lead, crossing the line for a season-best result. Kiern, now in the #42, also showed impressive pace when racing resumed, but a penalty for the earlier contact would drop the championship leaders down the order to finish P9.

Later in the afternoon, with light rain falling, the grid for race 2 formed up, with teams forced into having to make an early call on tyre choice for the conditions. The rain continued to fall as action got underway, with Max making a clean start to lead into turn 1. The following grid battled hard around the opening lap, and Kiern held firm, immediately showing quick pace and looking to make steps forward. As he worked to find a way up the order, he was briefly pushed wide, but recovered and maintained position. With the track now drying, teams started to look at tyre strategies, and several of the leading pack opted to switch for slicks. Max remained on track, running with a comfortable lead, while Kiern headed to the pitlane to change tyres. However, as he returned to the track, the rain returned and the field was then split with cars running on different tyre types as the track became increasingly slippery once more.

At the front, Max had built a lead which allowed the team to install Kevin, a switch to slick tyres, sending the #18 back out on track narrowly holding the lead as the track started to dry. Fighting for grip through to the mandatory pit window, the #42 had dropped down the order as Charles took over for the second half of the race.  

A couple of cautious lap saw Kevin working to understand where the grip levels were, steadily building his confidence and improving his laptimes. From here, he quickly got to grips with the conditions and started to rebuild the lead. Despite no longer being in contention for a strong points finish, Charles continued to deliver improving laptimes, climbing to P11 as the hour mark approached. As the chequered flag dropped, Kevin’s impressive performance brought a first win of the season for the #18 Contempo Concept entry, signing off with a convincing 47s lead as he crossed the line.

“A perfect sign off to the weekend – P1 is the place to be! It all started with Maxi’s pole lap, setting us up for the race, but the team did a perfect job with no mistakes. We stuck to a plan and made the right tyre choice and strategy calls during the changing conditions, and I then just had to bring it home. Strong results over the weekend, and it was really great to get our first win.”

Kevin Tse, 2 Seas Motorsport driver, #18 Contempo Concept Mercedes-AMG GT3.

“What a weekend – it was great to be on the podium, twice! Qualifying was key, and we were up the front for both sessions, which allowed us to have a bit more control. It was great to be in the fight in the opening race and to score the first podium, and some important points. Race 2 we did everything right; strategy-wise, tyre choice, pressures, everything was on point. This all combined to allow us to overcome the success penalty, maintaining the lead, and Kevin did a great job in tricky conditions to take our first win. Super happy with everything we achieved this weekend, and our season really starts here.”

Maximillian Götz, 2 Seas Motorsport driver, #18 Contempo Concept Mercedes-AMG GT3.

The weekend’s results relaunch Kevin and Maximillian’s championship effort, climbing to 2nd in the championship. Despite a challenging weekend, Charles and Kiern maintain the title lead, 10 points ahead, as the championship heads for its international round at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, 20-22 June.

Follow 2 Seas Motorsport across the team’s social media channels to keep up-to-date with the latest news – Facebook, Instagram and X.