Strong showing on Silverstone return for 2 Seas Motorsport

The Intelligent Money British GT Championship resumed for round 3 over the weekend with the headline event of the calendar, the Silverstone 500. 2 Seas Motorsport arrived at the event looking to kickstart the 2022 campaign, running with full season entry James Cottingham and Lewis Williamson joined by 2018 series champions Flick Haigh and Jonny Adam for the first of several events with the team. The three-hour event saw Flick and Jonny move up the order to finish P6 overall, while James and Lewis’ weekend was brought to an early end on the opening lap after receiving heavy contact.

Returning to the event as reigning champions having claimed a dominant victory in 2021, early pace for the pair of 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3s was strong, ending the opening test session P1 and P2. The pair worked through various setup changes over the following practice sessions, running near the front of the Pro-Am field throughout. The DK Engineering-backed #4 then led a close qualifying effort for the team as James initially went quickest and set Lewis up for a strong showing in the second 10-minute shootout. The pairing secured an impressive second row start, while the team made some setup changes mid-session to the #75 securing a second top-10 grid slot.

Fortunes, however, would switch for the race, which got underway in warm and sunny conditions. After holding position from the start amongst the lead pack, James received heavy contact as he defended P3. As he attempted to recover, he was pushed into the path of further traffic, receiving another heavy impact and race-ending damage to the rear suspension. Making her first series race start for four years, Flick got away cleanly and avoided various contact over the opening laps to make important early progress. From here, she continued to run cleanly and consistently, moving the blue and black #75 up the order over the opening hour.

With several front-runners opting to pit early, the 2 Seas Motorsport pitcrew chose to extend the opening stint and maximise the opportunity to run in clean air. At the hour mark, Flick finally entered the pitlane from P3 and handed over to Jonny. Another long opening stint for the four-time British GT champion moved up the order once again, with pitstops set to play a role in the closing stages. Jonny’s outright pace was among the quickest on track and, as he approached the end of his opening run, he inherited the race lead before pitting with just over 30 minutes remaining.

Two short sprints then followed as Flick completed another strong stint, again running in clean air and firmly near the front of the field. Completing the mandatory three pitstops, Flick handed back to Jonny for one last splash and dash stop, and he set about closing the gap to the leading pack who had already completed their final stops. Over the closing laps, Jonny made significant gains over the cars ahead, bringing the deficit down consistently with each lap. As the clock reached 180 minutes, the #75 Mercedes-AMG GT3 crossed the line in P6 overall, P4 in the Pro-Am class to complete an impressive and hugely welcomed return to the championship for Flick and Jonny.

Round 4 of the Intelligent Money British GT Championship heads to Donington Park for the first of two visits this year, over the weekend 28-29 May.

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