Victory leaves Dawson and Jewiss on cusp of the crown at Brands Hatch

A third victory of the season helped 2 Seas' Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss take a giant leap towards clinching this year's British GT Championship at Brands Hatch, while Optimum's Harry George and Luca Hopkinson celebrated becoming first-time GT4 winners.

The #42 Mercedes-AMG took full advantage of its rivals' Compensation Time and Blackthorn's drive-through penalty to beat Morgan Tillbrook and Marvin Kirchhöfer (Optimum) by less than a second. Rob Collard and Hugo Cook (Barwell) completed the overall podium after leading the opening stint.

Blackthorn fought back to finish fourth, leaving Giacomo Petrobelli and Jonny Adam as well as Tillbrook and Kirchhöfer 28.5 points behind Dawson and Jewiss. 37.5 remain available for winning #DoningtonDecider next month.

Further back, the late Safety Car period moved Century's GT4 title-chasing BMW onto the tail of Optimum's McLaren. But Hopkinson stood firm, and even gapped Charlie Robertson who now heads to the finale as championship leader with co-driver Rami Ramyead after Marc Warren and Jack Brown retired on lap one. 

Jon Currie and Phil Keen completed GT4’s podium.

GT3: 2 SEAS TAKES A STEP CLOSER

Compensation Time for three of their championship rivals meant starting sixth wouldn’t necessarily dent Dawson and Jewiss’ podium hopes. And they were gifted two places immediately when Tillbrook checked up behind the slow-starting Alex Martin, who’d mistakenly hit the rev limiter.

Further ahead, Petrobelli took the lead from Kevin Tse around the outside at Paddock Hill. But his advantage was short-lived: after the first of three Safety Car periods Blackthorn’s Aston Martin was hit with a drive-through for a grid procedure infringement.

The next neutralisation was required when Mahiki's #84 Ginetta caught fire, handing the penalised Vantage a lifeline. 35 minutes had elapsed when racing resumed, and Petrobelli immediately went on the attack by passing three cars in quick succession. Johnny Ip's Honda provided a sterner defence, but the pursuing Italian eventually found a way past. Beechdean's Aston Martin and Paddock's McLaren were also dispatched before the pit window opened.

Up front, Collard initially picked up two places and then assumed the lead from Petrobelli before steadily edging clear of Tse. But with both cars serving Compensation Time, it was 2 Seas' other Mercedes-AMG that duly jumped from third to first. Dawson spent the opening stint roughly a second behind his team-mate and crucially within the 10 seconds that Barwell's #1 Lamborghini had to serve.

Jewiss therefore resumed with a small advantage over Kirchhöfer whose co-driver Tillbrook ran fifth throughout the opening stint.

Optimum's McLaren and the leading Mercedes-AMG spent the next 30 minutes running nose to tail, albeit without Kirchhöfer ever working an opening, until the third Safety Car period – instigated by Sven Müller hitting Martin Plowman – bunched the pack. But Jewiss remained resolute at the restart to beat Kirchhöfer by 0.5s.

Cook had reeled in both of them before the final Safety Car but, like the McLaren ahead, was never close enough to mount a serious challenge. 

Adam completed Blackthorn’s comeback by finishing fourth overall. He and Petrobelli now have no choice but to win the finale if they’re to have any chance of overturning Dawson and Jewiss’ considerable advantage.

Another Aston Martin finished right behind thanks to Beechdean’s Andrew Howard and Tom Wood who backed up qualifying’s fastest time with fifth overall and Silver-Am victory. That class championship crown will also be decided at Donington.

Orange/JMH’s Simon Orange and Marcus Clutton completed the top six ahead of 2 Seas’ Tse and Götz who defied convention by pitting at the end of the window. +20s in the pits for winning at Snetterton ensured they would have emerged at the tail of GT3 regardless, prompting the team to gamble on a Full Course Yellow or Safety Car period that might have negated the penalty. #18 remains a mathematical but slim GT3 title contender.

Like Tse and Götz, Optimum’s other McLaren shared by Jon Kearney and Callum Macleod also benefitted from the late clash between Team Parker’s Porsche and Paddock’s 720S, debris from which punctured the #78 Barwell Lamborghini’s front left tyre.

GT4: GEORGE AND HOPKINSON PREVAIL

Warren and Brown began the race with a reasonable chance of wrapping up the GT4 title. But their hopes were dashed at Druids on lap one when Ramyead’s sliding BMW unintentionally nudged Optimum’s McLaren, which ended up in the tyre wall.

In terms of raw pace, Mahiki’s #84 Ginetta looked odds-on to score its first win of the season. But although Jack Mitchell led away from pole, his and Josh Miller’s hopes literally went up in flames after 20 minutes.

That left Optimum’s #17 McLaren out front. And with Century’s maximum Compensation Time effectively cancelling out the Silver handicap, this became Hopkinson and George’s race to lose after suffering bouts of bad luck throughout 2025.

The latter was able to build a gap over Luke Garlick once Mahiki’s #69 Ginetta finally cleared Ramyead before Hopkinson rejoined more than 20 seconds ahead of the same two cars. That grew before the final Safety Car period bunched the pack once more, but Optimum’s advantage – as well as its crew’s first British GT4 win – never appeared under serious threat.

Mahiki might have been part of that scrap had Garlick and Blake Angliss not been penalised for a pitstop infringement. Instead, their misfortune became Team Parker’s delight when Jon Currie and Phil Keen scored their second overall podium of the year.

Angliss and Garlick finished fourth, one place ahead of team-mates Ian Duggan and Joe Wheeler who served 15 seconds of Compensation Time. Century’s other BMW finished sixth but, crucially, second of the Silver entries. The scrap for class honours will now be resolved at Donington where Chris Salkeld and Branden Templeton will go head to head with Hopkinson/George for the crown.

Results are HERE