Simon Orange and Marcus Clutton claimed outright victory in the final race of the 2026 British GT Championship to secure this year’s GT3 title at Brands Hatch this afternoon. The win was the pair’s first of the year, as well as Orange’s maiden trip to the top step of the podium full stop.

The first half of the race was bookended by two moments of drama involving Rob Collard, who’d entered the finale as series leader alongside Barwell Motorsport teammate Hugo Cook. Entering the race with a maximum pit stop success penalty following their victory in the previous round, Collard did everything he needed to at the start, swooping past pole-sitter Kevin Tse to take the lead around the outside at Paddock Hill Bend.

From there Collard sought to control the opening stint, while Tse in the 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG he co-pilots with Chris Lulham circulated in second. A wide moment from Tse at Stirlings allowed Orange through though, and it was from there that the Orange Racing by JMH McLaren began to pressure Collard.

The title race took a massive turn though just as the mid-race pit window began to dawn, when Collard slid off the track and into the gravel trap at Sheene on lap 37. That promoted Orange into the lead and, while Collard was eventually able to get going again, his and Cook’s title hopes were effectively over.

By the time they cycled out of the pits, Clutton found himself with a comfortable advantage. He was able to control the race from there, avoid taking too many risks through traffic and seize a first outright GT3 title for the duo with a lead of more than 16 seconds over the next nearest car by the flag.

Second across the line was another McLaren, the Optimum Motorsport example of Morgan Tillbrook and Ben Barnicoat. Tillbrook actually managed to pass Orange at the start, before the latter moved back by on the exit of Druids on the opening lap. It was a move which may well have been crucial in deciding the fate of the championship.

When the cars emerged from the pits, Barnicoat was in fourth, behind Lulham, now subbed in for Tse, and Jack Brown who’d resumed in second at the wheel of another Optimum McLaren, shared with Marc Warren. From there Barnicoat was a man on the charge, quickly passing Lulham and later moving by Brown to take second. He was able to set the fastest lap of the race too, but was never really in a position to challenge the leader.

Brown and Warren drove home to complete the podium, marginally ahead of Jonathan Beeson and Charles Clark’s Century Motorsport BMW. Clark was another charger in the latter part of the race, passing Jarrod Waberski’s Lamborghini with an opportunistic move at Paddock Hill Bend. Waberski and co-driver Alex Martin were classified fifth.

Behind them, there was a sixth place finish for two-time champion Andrew Howard in his final British GT race alongside Ross Gunn, while Tse and Lulham wound up seventh. The top 10 in the premier class was completed by Mike Price and Callum Macleod in eighth, Todd Kingsford and Aaron Walker in ninth and Mark Smith and Martin Plowman in 10th.

The GT4 title battle was a classic, though there was heartbreak for the Innovation Racing crew of Thomas Holland and Hadley Simpson which arrived at Brands Hatch with a slender series lead on countback. But it was neither they, nor the Century Motorsport pairing of Jack Collins and Branden Templeton, who they’d been tied with, who emerged from the two-hour race with the main prize.

It all came down to a frantic final few minutes, by which point the Optimum Motorsport car of title outsider Josh Stanton and George Gamble had disappeared into the distance. This meant it pretty much came down to a straight fight for second where Darren Turner, sharing a Grange Racing with FSR Aston Martin with Daniel Lavery, faced stint-long pressure from the Toro Verde GT Ginetta of Luke Shaw and Jack Mitchell.

With just minutes to go, Mitchell attempted a move on Turner as they were being lapped by GT3 runners and they made contact at Druids. This allowed Will Orton, in the MK Racing Aston Martin he was sharing with Jessica Hawkins, into third in class behind Turner. But he still needed to pass the similar machine ahead to take the title.

The trio diced right up until the final lap of the season, with Orton trying to pass Turner with a final run to the line. But it was the veteran Aston Martin racer who held on to seal the crown for himself and Lavery.

British GT Championship, Race Result, Brands Hatch

1. Orange/Clutton, Orange Racing by JMH, McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, 80 laps
2. Tillbrook/Barnicoat, Optimum Motorsport, McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, +16.510
3. Warren/Brown, Optimum Motorsport, McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, +34.594s
4. Beeson/Clark, Century Motorsport, BMW M4 GT3 Evo, +35.192s
5. Martin/Waberski, Barwell Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, +53.079s
6. Howard/Gunn, Beechdean Motorsport, Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, +53.885s
7. Tse/Lulham, 2 Seas Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, +54.118s
8. Price/Macleod, Optimum Motorsport, McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, + 1 lap
9. Kingsford/Walker, 2 Seas Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, +1 lap
10. Smith/Plowman, Paddock Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R, + 1 lap

British GT Championship, GT3 Standings

1. Orange/Clutton, Orange Racing by JMH, McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, 138.5
2. Tillbrook/Barnicoat, Optimum Motorsport, McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, 132.5
3. Collard/Cook, Barwell Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, 124
4. Martin/Waberski, Barwell Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, 122
5. Howard/Gunn, Beechdean Motorsport, Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, 107 

British GT Championship, GT4 Standings

1. Lavery/Turner, Grange Racing with FSR, Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo, 143.5
2. Orton/Hawkins, MK Racing, Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo, 143.5
3. Collins/Templeton, Century Motorsport, BMW M4 GT4 Evo, 139
4. Josh Stanton, Optimum Motorsport, McLaren Artura GT4, 134
5. Holland/Simpson, Innovation Racing, Ginetta G56 GT4 Evo, 127

Click here to view full times and results from the weekend.