Topcats Defend GT Cup Championship Crown As Mark Smith Sweeps Snetterton
Topcats Racing defended their overall GT Cup Championship title in an intense season finale at Snetterton's 300 circuit, while Mark Smith collected a quadruple of race victories in his Paddock Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3.
The #10 machine was imperious at Norfolk thanks to the efforts of ever-improving American driver, Smith, who swept the board in terms of overall and GT3 wins. It ensured he also wrapped up the Group GT3 title to cap off his exceptional first GT Cup season. He would also clinch Sprint Challenge glory.
It would be Topcats Racing who scooped the biggest prize of them all, as they successfully defended the outright GT Cup Championship crown thanks to the stellar performances put in all season long by Fraser Fenwick and Charlotte Gilbert in the Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo. They also clinched the GTC Group title spoils as an additional reward.
Group GTH title honours went the way of Feathers Motorsport's Tom Canning and rookie sensation Archie Clark in the experienced squad's Aston Martin Vantage, while SVG Motorsport were champions in GTA with Ian Astley and Neil Wallace aboard their BMW M4.
SVG Motorsport and Topcats Racing battled it out all season for the Teams Championship. In a tense deciding round, it would be Topcats Racing that were able to lift the trophy and seal the bragging rights after an epic year of on-track action.
Qualifying
Come the start of the final day of the campaign, it was Smith who once again shot out of the blocks like a McLaren-shaped cannon. 1m47.559s was the ultimate best effort he mustered in Qualifying during the morning, beating away the attentions of Peter Erceg, who piloted the PB Racing powered by JMH Auto Audi R8 GT3 on another impressive weekend for the series newcomer.
The JMH squad also had reason to smile when looking at the GTC times, after a superb showing from Frank Morris proved enough to slot the #63 Lamborghini on the Group pole - fourth overall - ahead of Topcats Racing's Gilbert.
Fastest in GTH was the Ginetta G56 of Innovation Racing's Luke Bennett, while the Ginetta GT55 of Triple M Motorsport was quickest in GTA.
Pitstop Race
The 50-minute enduro was first on the agenda this time, but Smith would enjoy a somewhat more straightforward route to taking the chequered flag first in the Paddock Motorsport machine.
From pole, he held Erceg's Audi at bay throughout and survived a one-lap shootout following a safety car interruption to make it three on the bounce ahead of his rival, all but confirming his own GT3 title fate and jumping to second in the Overall standings.
Behind the leading GT3 trio it was all about Fenwick and Gilbert in their Lamborghini, which came home fourth overall to also put them firmly in the hot seat with a race still to run. GTH was another familiar battle between Innovation Racing and Feathers Motorsport meanwhile, which again went the way of the former thanks to Hadley Simpson this time.
Simpson briefly surrendered the lead to a charging Clark when the latter out-braked his Ginetta rival on the inside line at Wilson hairpin, but the late safety car cancelled out much of pro driver Tom Canning's stint time in the car. He could therefore not usurp Simpson with the race instantly red-flagged for a Riches incident on the restart, allowing the #30 Innovation crew to celebrate a hard-fought win.
Jamie Caudle and Charlie Digby added another impressive win to their debut weekend's GTA collection, bringing the Ginetta home ahead of SVG Motorsport.
Sprint Race
The final event of the season would be one last 25-minute Sprint for silverware. Smith again started from the front, and he was once more untroubled after a strong start from the rolling getaway.
Peter Erceg was the man giving chase, but he could not prevent the rampant Smith from completing the clean sweep by a winning gap of 27s - his eighth successive race win - to cap off a momentous maiden GT Cup introductory season in which he concluded as Group GT3 champion.
Erceg - who claimed four second-place finishes at Snetterton - and the McLaren of Darren Kell (Track Focused) rounded out the final GT3 podium, but behind them, second place in their Group was enough for Gilbert and Fenwick to be crowned Overall and GTC champions for '25, the team and Charlotte herself successfully defending their outright title.
They would finish second in the race classification on this occasion in GTC however, as the sister Lamborghini of Jack Gadd brilliantly clinched the win in car #81 with a controlled drive.
GTH was another sweep across the board, as Innovation Racing's #30 Ginetta G56 took the flag first on a remarkable weekend for young chargers Simpson and Luke Bennett. It would not be enough to deny Feathers Motorsport the GTH title however, as Clark brought the Aston Martin home second.
SVG Motorsport meanwhile were victorious in their Group GTA BMW, Wallace ensuring that category title also went their way after an almighty season.
#23 Charlotte Gilbert
"I told myself last year that I’d retired! I won GT Cup in 2024 and I was just going to take on a managerial role in the team and I had done that until Silverstone. But then we were minus driver, so I jumped back in and here we are again - not thinking that I’d be back in the car again! Strangely, I’m thinking about next year again because those highs do it to you! In GT Cup, you get so much racing time and the format is really good value for money. The grid has been good this year, on the back of the success we had last year I think people have realised that it is a good event to be in and I think a lot of people thought ‘this would be a good championship to be in’."
#10 Mark Smith
“I've been in the car a lot more this year, so I'm feeling very confident in the car and the way it moves. On top of that we've just found a setup on the car that really works. For sure, every minute in the car you're learning, and that's what we're trying to do this season. Trying to just eliminate mistakes, find a better way to get through each corner, and I've had Martin Plowman in the car to compare - we're gaining pace all the time."
#82 Archie Clark
“It was a really good start today and we were able to make up positions in my class which was really nice. Obviously we had a longer pitstop which cost us some time, but then despite being fortunate with the safety car, the race was red-flagged after that which was a shame in our battle with Innovation Racing. I'm happy with it, we did all we could and it felt good. I was sitting waiting for Hadley to make a mistake, and it ultimately happened and I was able to make use of the opportunity."
#24 Neil Wallace
“It’s been a better season than expected, we came in with relatively low expectations to be honest. But we got off to a great start and we’ve just been consistent for the full season. That was the key - getting consistent points. First meeting, the engine went before Donington and it was rebuilt overnight and ran perfectly. We then had a DNF at Brands but apart from that we finished every race and managed to get top three at every race. The team have been awesome."
