British GT: Jessica Hawkins claims GT4 Silver class victory at Oulton Park
- LIAM REDFORD
- 27 minutes ago
- 8 min read
Jessica Hawkins maintained her excellent start to the British GT Championship season as she claimed her first GT4 Silver class victory of the season, while standing on the overall GT4 class podium in both races at Oulton Park, maintaining a 100% podium finishing record and a strong second position within the overall GT4 championship standings.
Jessica Hawkins maintained her excellent start to the British GT Championship season as she claimed GT4 Silver class victory alongside teammate Will Orton, while standing on the overall GT4 class podium in both races.
Hawkins enjoyed an excellent GT4 debut in the season opening event at Silverstone. After displaying frontrunning pace throughout the entirety of the event, Hawkins and Orton secured a runner-up finish while missing out on the race victory by just over a second. The MK Racing duo therefore established themselves as early championship challengers with consistency being the key to a successful campaign.
Oulton Park had previously been a successful circuit for Hawkins after she claimed a historic victory at the track in TCR UK back in 2022. Two years ago, Hawkins made her British GT Championship debut at Oulton Park driving in the GT3 driver for Beechdean AMR. Therefore, Hawkins was looking to build upon those experiences and once again fight for GT4 class honours.
Prior to the race weekend getting underway, the teams participated in a test day at Oulton Park during the second week of May. Hawkins and Orton completed a total of 102 laps and set the second fastest time within the GT4 class on a 1:41.770. This time was set by Hawkins during the afternoon session while the duo were the quickest team among the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo runners.
The race weekend began on Friday as the British GT drivers participated in a trio of test sessions. Hawkins and Orton made considerable progress throughout the day and ended the final session at the head of the GT4 field. It was an impressive performance from the MK Racing team whose fastest lap of a 1:41.803 was almost half a second faster than their nearest GT4 rivals.
Saturday’s action began with free practice and with the session running broadly uninterrupted, it was a good opportunity for Hawkins and Orton to bank further mileage. Both drivers were extremely consistent and this resulted in a fifth-place overall result in GT4, while the MK Racing duo ended the session in second position within the GT4 Silver class.
Pre-qualifying followed shortly after and it was another strong session for Hawkins and Orton. Setting the second fastest time in GT4 overall, the MK Racing team led the way in the GT4 Silver class with a quickest lap of a 1:42.257.
Qualifying completed Saturday’s action and with two, one-hour sprint races at Oulton Park, each driver had the chance to set the grid position for one of the races. Hawkins drove in session one and she was immediately on the pace, briefly holding the fastest middle sector of any GT4 driver. On her final qualifying lap, Hawkins set the overall fastest first sector on her way to a new personal best lap of a 1:41.925. This time placed her in third position both within GT4 overall and within the GT4 Silver class, but just over one tenth of a second away from pole position.
Orton drove in the second session which was held directly ahead and set the grid for race of the weekend. It was a strong session for the MK Racing driver who qualified on pole in the GT4 Silver class, while claiming second position overall within GT4. Orton’s fastest lap of a 1:41.350 was almost a quarter of a second faster than nearest rival Thomas Holland as the team continued their strong early season form.
After day off on Sunday, the drivers returned to action on Monday for the pair of one-hour races at Oulton Park. Hawkins got behind the wheel to begin the first stint where she lined up from third place within GT4. As the lights went out, Hawkins got a good start and by starting on the inside of the grid, she was able to smartly avoid the spun McLaren 720S GT3 machine of Morgan Tillbrook at Old Hall corner. With class rival Jack Collins forced to take to the grass in avoidance, Hawkins moved up to second position at the end of lap one.
As Collins looked to fight his way back through the order from fifth, the battles behind allowed Hawkins to build a comfortable gap behind her. By the end of the second lap, her margin over third-place driver Josh Stanton stood at almost three seconds which allowed Hawkins to focus forward on race leader Hadley Simpson.
By lap four, Collins had passed Stanton and the Century Motorsport driver was now the fastest driver on track as he looked to bridge the deficit. Hawkins was maintaining a consistent pace in the early stages and this meant she remained within striking distance of Simpson should he make a mistake from the class lead.
On lap seven, the gap between Hawkins and Collins had reduced to just half a second with Hawkins now having to defend her position. Just ahead in the GT3 class, contact between Tillbrook and Cameron Campbell at Lodge corner spun around the Rodin Motorsport Ferrari 296 GT3 and with Campbell’s car stopped on the racing line, the GT4 drivers had to take avoiding action. Hawkins gained time on Collins while both cars negotiated the GT3 machine with the MK Racing driver pulling clear by over a second.
After Collins closed back in once more, Hawkins did a nice job to protect her position on lap 11 with the Century Motorsport driver almost drawing alongside down the main straight. The GT4 competitors were now faced with the challenge of negotiating the faster GT3 Am drivers who were making their way through. Hawkins used her experience to good effect as she consistently gained time on Collins during the traffic, before a small mistake at Hislops on lap 12 saw the BMW M4 GT4 Evo close back to within a car length.
Hawkins continued her superb defensive drive until the pit window opened and she briefly assumed the GT4 class lead after Simpson pitted the Innovation Racing Ginetta G56 GT4 Evo. On lap 19, contact between Jack Mitchell and Josh Stanton at Druids saw Stanton hit the barrier and spin into the gravel with fluid subsequently dropped on the racing line. Hawkins negotiated the incident and kept the car on the circuit as the race entered a full course yellow period.
Now running at a reduced pace, Hawkins brought the MK Racing machine to the attention of the crew with Will Orton getting behind the wheel for his stint. Due to additional time spent in the pits due to a success penalty from the season opening round, Orton rejoined behind Branden Templeton who had now climbed aboard the Century Motorsport BMW. With the previously class-leading Ginetta pitting when the race was under green flag conditions, second stint driver Thomas Holland had lost out and therefore Orton remained in second position within GT4 as the safety car was deployed.
The restart came with 12 minutes remaining and Orton faced the additional challenge of the WSR FlexiFly BMW of Colin Turkington sitting in between himself and class leader Templeton. Turkington was fighting to unlap himself and therefore it was difficult for Orton to make a move knowing it was not for a class position.
After a spell of sustained pressure, Orton passed Turkington with two laps remaining and he could now set his sights on Templeton. The MK Racing driver just ran out of time to make a move with Orton taking the chequered flag in second position within GT4, also claiming a runner-up finish in the GT4 Silver class, losing out to Templeton by a margin of less than one second.
The second race at Oulton Park took place on Monday afternoon and began behind the safety car after technical issues at the circuit forced a change in the timetable. Orton started the MK Racing Aston Martin from second position within GT4 overall, while lining up on pole position in the GT4 Silver class.
As the safety car pulled into the pit lane, Orton got an excellent start and maintained second position overall while Thomas Holland came under attack from Darren Turner behind. As Holland and Turner battled in the early stages, Orton was able to pull clear and set about lapping at a fast and consistent pace. The MK Racing driver was especially quick through the middle sector and by lap six, his margin over Holland had grown to over two seconds.
Running in clean air, Orton continued to extend his lead in the GT4 Silver class and although Mitchell was edging away at the head of the GT4 field, Orton remained in a strong position. At the end of lap 11, his gap to the Innovation Racing Ginetta had reached six seconds with the GT4 competitors now being lapped by the GT3 machines for the first time.
Orton drove smartly in traffic and as the pit stops began within the GT4 class, he was now nine seconds clear of Holland. On lap 19, Mitchell pitted his Toro Verde GT Ginetta with Orton staying out one lap longer to assume the overall GT4 lead. The following lap saw Orton bring the Aston Martin to the attention of the MK Racing crew with Hawkins getting behind the wheel for the second stint.
With the team serving extra success time in the pits due to their race one result, while also adhering to a longer minimum pit stop time compared to the GT4 Pro Am class competitors, Hawkins left the pits in fifth position overall, while just retaining the GT4 Silver class lead over Innovation Racing’s Hadley Simpson.
As the drivers accelerated out of pit lane, Hawkins made a quick pass on veteran racer John Hartshorne to move into fourth within GT4. Hawkins got up to speed quickly and this allowed her to pull a sizeable gap over Simpson through her first two flying laps. Initially, Daniel Lavery was the next car ahead, however he overtook James Townsend on lap 22 with Townsend also receiving a stop-go penalty for a short pit stop.
The following lap saw misfortune for the overall GT4 class leader as a technical issue forced Luke Shaw off the circuit at Lodge and into retirement. After Townsend pitted and with Shaw’s car stranded in the gravel trap, Hawkins was now into second position with Lavery assuming the GT4 class lead. The race director decided not to neutralise the race to remove Shaw’s stricken car and instead Lodge corner was covered by yellow flags for the final 15-minutes of the race.
Hawkins was consistently faster than Lavery and often taking three-quarters of a second per lap out of the seven second advantage held by the Grange Racing by FSR machine. At the current rate, it was going to be extremely close as to whether Hawkins would catch Lavery by the end of the race and therefore it was important for the MK Racing driver to be smart in traffic with the GT3 leaders now approaching.
With five minutes remaining, the gap between Lavery and Hawkins had been reduced to two seconds as the Aston Martin driver was consistently one of the fastest drivers on track. Hawkins had cut the deficit to just half a second with two laps remaining and she was now forced Lavery to defend his position. As the GT3 traffic moved through, Lavery was fortunate as to where the faster machines passed him and therefore Hawkins had to continue pushing onto the final lap.
After getting a good run out of Brittens and into Hislops, Hawkins forced Lavery into a mistake on the exit of Knickerbrook. Lavery ran onto the grass and Hawkins looked to the outside coming up Deer Leep, however with this part of the circuit extremely narrow, the MK Racing driver also dipped a wheel onto the dirt. Therefore, Lavery was just able to hold on through Druids and with the yellow flags continuing to be displayed at Lodge, Lavery held onto the overall GT4 victory by a margin of four tenths of a second.
Nonetheless, Hawkins and Orton claimed their first GT4 Silver class victory of the season with a superb performance which saw them secure the honours by 17 seconds over Innovation Racing. As a result, the MK Racing duo maintained their strong second position within the overall GT4 championship standings as they maintained their 100% podium finishing record.
Hawkins and Orton will now be targeting the top step of the podium when the British GT Championship resumes at Spa-Francorchamps on the weekend of June 20th/21st.