GT Cup - Oulton Park Supercar Pageant 

Report by Matt Evans

1st July 2023

The GT Cup was offered as the racing segment of Oulton Park’s Supercar Pageant but proved to be eventful and brilliant in its own right. A day of red flags, safety cars and even a sudden shower, the GT Cup presented many photo opportunities for the multitude of camera toting spectators. 

The morning’s qualifying sessions passed relatively uneventfully, with Hugo Cook setting the fastest time in GT Cup qualifying in his Audi R8 GT3 Evo2 after battling back from a track limits penalty. However, Tom Roche was not far behind in his distinctive orange McLaren 720S GT3, setting a lap just 0.4 seconds behind Cook.

In the GTO class Paul Baily put his Huracan ahead of Chris Murphy’s M3 GTR and Morgan Short made the switch from Mosler to Lamborghini in the GTC class. 

Focus Cup

The first race of the day would be race 1 of the Focus Cup. A rather interesting one make series, the Focus Cup races are comprised of racing spec Ford Focuses, which are all set up and maintained by the same team and provides close racing at a cost of a very reasonable £15K for a full season of racing.

As the lights went out the cars roared off towards Old Hall, with the cars in the mid-pack going 4 wide. However this would not last long as Jamie Goode and Greg Saunders were spun out as the cars entered the turn. The race continued until lap three, where a collision at cascade between Simon Watts and Josh North brought out the safety car and this was followed by the red flag. 

GT Cup - Race One

Next up was the first of 2 GT Cup races. As the cars lined up for the formation lap the clouds began to move in and the teams had a choice, take slicks and hope for a dry race, or chance it on the wet tyres. Only Sacha Kakad in the pole position Audi opted for wet tyres, with the rest of the grid choosing to race on slicks. For the first two laps the weather held, but on lap three the first drops of rain began to fall. 

Dan De Zille in the AF Corse Ferrari was hot on the heels of Kakad and the Simon Orange who was doing the first stint in the Orange Racing McLaren. De Zille made his move through Knickerbrook, but the race was halted shortly after, as the No 22 Lamborghini Huracan of Greystone GT had lost control at Druids, with the car clearing the Armco and going through the fencing.

Thankfully the driver walked away uninjured, but the barriers had suffered significant damage. This resulted in a 3-hour delay as the track maintenance team worked tirelessly to build a new section of barrier so racing could continue. The drivers were awarded half points for the race, with Kakad taking the win in GT3, De Zille winning in the GTC class, Paul Baily took 1st in GTO and Paddock motorsports McLaren winning in GTH. 

Boxter Cup

After the delay a revised schedule was created, with shorter races to allow them to finish before Oulton Park’s 18:30 noise restriction. The Boxter Cup was the first race post delay and would run for 20 minutes as opposed to 25.

Another one-make series, the cup uses older Porsche Boxters converted from road cars in short sprint races. The cars were painted in some very remarkable colour schemes, many harking back to the old Porsche schemes used at Le Mans.

The race leaders pushed hard, with the middle pack remaining more closely bunched throughout. A crash from the 38 car of Eric Bridges brought an early end to the session, although thankfully the damage to the barriers was light and was repaired quickly before the next race. 

Open Cup & 911 challenge

The next race was another Porsche club event, this time the Open Cup & 911 challenge. A combined grid, the Open Cup uses 996/997/991 Cup cars and races alongside the 911 challenge, where competitors are free to use any model of 911 from 1965 onwards up to the 993.

This provides an amazing opportunity to see modern 911s competing on the same grid as some of the most iconic Porsches ever built. Despite the small grid of only 6 cars, the race still provided some brilliant action as the faster Open Cup cars caught up to their older counterparts, who weren’t always keen to just give up without a fight.

This race although without an accident was still eventful, with the No 26 car blowing an engine in the last few laps. 

Porsche Club Championship and Focus Cup

The Porsche Club championship followed, with this being a step up for many previous competitors in the Boxster Cup. Running on slick tyres the championship is divided into two classes, with the first using the Porsche 996S/997S Cayman and the second using the same 987S Boxster as the Boxster Cup.

Run over a shorter 20 minutes, the race provided the same close pack racing as the other series. This was followed by the second race of the Focus Cup, which thankfully much less uneventful. I used the second race to try some wide-angle shots using a 24-70mm. 

GT Cup - Race Two

The second race of the GT Cup soon got underway and this time round, it was the turn of the Orange Racing McLaren to lead the pack, with the J&S Audi battling hard to get past De Zille’s prancing horse.

De Zille managed to make his Ferrari an immoveable roadblock for the Audi of Cook, but eventually he had to relent and give the Audi second place. By this point the McLaren had left the rest of the field behind and when they came in for their mandatory pit stop, it resulted in no lead change.

The teams in GTH fought with each other and as the faster cars caught up, provided some spectacular multi class racing, rivalling the British GT Championship. Race 2 ended without incident, with Orange Racing’s McLaren storming to victory and the Audi and Greystone GT’s McLaren 720S GT3 making up the rest of the top 3.

The battle in GTO went to the line, with Charlotte Gilbert keeping her Huracan in catching distance of De Zille’s Ferrari, and after a last lap battle, Gilbert’s teammate Morgan Short took the place from De Zille and raced to the line, fighting off De Zille’s effort after he gathered momentum out of Lodge.

In GTH the battles were equally hard fought, with the Makehappen Mercedes taking both top spots in the class with James Guess and Tom Canning in their Aston Martin GT4. 

Boxster Cup - Race Two

The final race of the day was the second race of the Boxster Cup. The race got underway with the 18:30 curfew fast approaching.

As the race began, the pack spread out and it looked like it was going to be a dead on 18:30 finish for the day, but an accident at Old Hall crushed that hope, with a car hitting the tyre wall and becoming buried. The safety car came out, but at this point the crowd and commentators knew this would be the final race of the day.

The safety car came in and the grid raced the last few minutes, but the crowd was packing up and going. With the chequered flag out, it signalled an end to the race and the day. 

Overall, it was a worthwhile day out, with the race officials doing their best with the circumstances they were given. Despite the delay the officials worked hard to get some racing underway.

The marshals and engineering team had their work cut out for them repairing the track, and the crash reminded us all how dangerous this sport is and the risks taken by those who go racing.

The GT Cup now heads to Silverstone and the Porsche series will take a summer break until September, when they head to Brands Hatch for their Festival of Porsche.