A podium finish for Barwell Motorsport at the 24 Hours of Spa, for the third year running! A mega effort by the entire Barwell crew who have continued their 100% Spa 24 Hours GT finishing record, with seven points finishes out of five events, including three podiums! This year’s huge achievement by the Barwell Motorsport squad was made even more special, as they triumphed to be the only Lamborghini team to step onto the podium of the legendary Belgian battle.

The #666 Demon Tweeks backed Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Jon Minshaw, Phil Keen, Oliver Gavin and Joe Osborne, finished in third position in Pro-Am and 17th overall from a 65 strong grid. The grueling 24 Hours saw the Italian machine reach the highs of first in class and third overall during the event. This result was a combination of great driving, brilliant strategy calls by the Barwell engineers and slick pit work by fuel and tyre change crews.

We also achieved a strong, top eight finish in Pro-Am and 25th overall for Marco Attard, Leo Machitski, Marco Mapelli and Tom Kimber-Smith piloting the #78 Vimetco Extrusion/VI Holding/The Calais Wine Superstore supported Huracan. This was well deserved, after many competitive battles and overcoming a closing stages encounter with the barriers at Blanchimont, whilst it was on course to finish fourth in class. The team did a fantastic job to repair the damage stricken Lamborghini and get it back on circuit to complete what is arguably the toughest event in GT racing.

The starting order was decided by a three stage qualifying procedure, qualifying, night qualifying and then the top 20 of the two sessions combined would compete in the Super Pole two lap dash. Night quali saw the #78 Huracan sit at the top of the Pro-Am category and ninth overall courtesy of Mr. Mapelli, but they narrowly missed out on making the cut for Super Pole by 0.075 of a second and would therefore start fifth in Pro-Am and 21st overall. Demon Tweeks Pro Phil Keen took to the hot seat for the top 20 shoot-out in the #666, “anything higher than 20th and I will be happy!” claimed Keen. Much to his and the teams delight, he placed the car second in class and ninth overall.

Keen and Mapelli took the race start in their respective Huracans, and both stayed well out of trouble throughout their double stints to hand over to Attard and Minshaw. Keen especially posted a very strong stint as he hung with the top 10 overall leading group, mainly comprised of factory Pro team runners. Unfortunately, the Ams’ shifts were marred by a long full course yellow and safety car period, “the plus side of my first stint was that I was doing the same lap times as the Pro class leader!” joked Minshaw.

Man on a mission, Joe Osborne, took over from Minshaw at the sixth hour and rocketed up to first in Pro-Am and third overall. Frustratingly, Osborne’s mega effort was tarnished by a slight setback for #666, in the form of a failing wheel gun during a pit stop, which meant that the crew lost around a minute before sending Olly Gavin on his way.

At multiple stages throughout the 24-hour race, the Barwell cars were the fastest on circuit, many times with Lamborghini superstar Mapelli at the wheel. This was a huge credit to the quality of our Pro drivers considering the calibre of driver line ups that they were up against. This success shone through when Joe Osborne posted the fastest Lambo lap of the race, out of all 12 Lamborghinis! Bronze graded driver Leo Machitski performed impressively during his stints overnight, and he was lapping very closely to the pace of the Pro drivers he was battling with. The half way mark saw both Barwell Huracans sit within the top ten in class as they continued their solid running, the #666 scoring points for third and the #78 in eighth at this stage, and well in the hunt for two very strong end results.

These excellent positions at this stage were due to some great driving and also in no small part to the ‘backroom’ heroes of the team, our master strategy tacticians and engineers. They had capitalized on the early safety car period perfectly with the timing of our pit stops, jumping many factory team cars in the process who were slow to react! They also worked the Full Course Yellow periods perfectly, and with both cars managed to get the 5-minute mandatory ‘technical pit stop’ (i.e. front brakes change) done under these conditions – thus minimizing the actual race time and position loss incurred.

In true Spa style, the ever changing weather conditions made it hard work for the team to make crucial strategy calls. Barwell’s new recruits truly shone through as Tom Kimber-Smith adapted superbly to the unstable weather and set consistent rapid lap times in all circumstances. Olly Gavin and his Barwell engineer made an incredible call to stay out in the pouring rain on slick tires, which meant that the team did not have to make an unscheduled pit stop – a time saving which many of our rivals didn’t capitalize on. Despite his reports of aquaplaning, Gavin did an incredible job to post super competitive lap times and managed the Huracan around the taxing bends until the track started to dry.

With around four hours to go whilst Minshaw was running a fantastic stint in wet conditions, misfortune hit the Demon Tweeks machine as it picked up a puncture. Jon managed to nurse the Lamborghini back to the pits and with a rapid change by the Barwell crew, they managed to get the car back out under the minimum pit stop reference time and the least possible track positions were lost – unfortunately though this puncture cost us the hard earned second place that we had at the time. With the #78 sister car also running up at the sharp end, both cars were within the top five in Pro-Am and top 20 overall with two hours to go, which was an incredible feat considering the demands of the Ardennes assault.

The true strength of the Lamborghini was proven after Attard took a slight excursion to the armco at Blanchimont. Thankfully, Marco was unhurt and was able to bring the car back to the pits, where the entire team descended on the Huracan to straighten it back out and send Leo out for the final stint. There was not a chance that the crew were going to be defeated within the final hours! Machitski did a fantastic job to push the Huracan as fast as he could despite the condition of the battle scarred machine, and he brought #78 home eight in class and 25th overall. The all British, all BRDC member line up of #666 crossed the line, with Keeny at the wheel, in a podium placing position and 17th overall.

Thanks to the strong results at Spa, Barwell Motorsport are now placed fifth in the Pro-Am Endurance Series Teams championship and despite not racing at Monza and having a DNF at Silverstone, Phil Keen is sitting fourth in the Pro-Am Drivers Championship standings! Another strong result in September’s season finale at the Nurburgring would likely promote both Barwell and Keen up to third in their respective championships.

The crew already have their eyes focused on the next event, as the penultimate round of the British GT Championship is this coming weekend at Snetterton in Norfolk.