Will Burns made a welcome return to the top step of the British GT Championship podium as he scored a brilliant first win of the season at Snetterton.
Burns and teammate Jack Brown showed great pace as they prepared for a pair of one-hour sprint races on Sunday.
Topping the timesheets in two of three official pre-event test sessions, they fine-tuned in free practice ahead of the all-important qualifying sessions.
Brown tackled the opening 10-minute segment, securing eighth on the grid for race one, and Burns was responsible for securing their starting position for race two and duly delivered a brilliant performance.
Narrowly missing out on a front row start, Burns recorded the third fastest GT4 time, their best qualifying result of the season so far.
And their spirited efforts ultimately secured them a ninth place finish in the GT4 ranks.
Burns started behind the wheel for race two and an impressive start saw him immediately challenging for second place, picking up the place on lap three. From there, a composed, consistent drive saw him keep in touch with the leader and maintain a comfortable distance to those behind.
Brown emerged from the pitstop still in second and went on to close down a gap of over four seconds. A stunning move around the outside at Agostini corner got him the lead, which he held to the finish for both the overall GT4 and Silver Cup class victories to lie third in the overall British GT4 drivers’ standings and second in the Silver rankings, just one point off the top.
“I’m absolutely delighted we could get our first win of the season. Century Motorsport have been above and beyond to give us a fast car to go racing with and the BMW was right on the pace from the opening session on Friday," said Burns.
“With the pitstop success penalty for race one, we knew our best chance of success came in race two, so we focused our efforts on that one. I was happy with my stint, staying right in touch with the leader throughout, before Jack drove brilliantly and pulled off a superb move for the lead.
“I’m pleased we’ve been able to reward all the hard work from the team with a race victory and hopefully we can get another one or two before the end of the season. We’re in a strong position in the standings and will keep pushing hard to maximise our points opportunities in the coming races.”
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