Stratford ace Darren Turner takes lead of British GT4 Championship

STRATFORD’S sportscar star Darren Turner leads the British GT Championship after two victories in his class at Snetterton, writes Will Rogers.

Turner, alongside team-mate Matt Topham, now have an eight-point lead in the standings with three rounds to go, as they remain undefeated in the Pro-Am class this year.

After a tough day on Friday, Turner qualified 11th but worked his way through the field to finish in third place in the GT4 class, but first out of the GT4 Pro-Am cars.

In fine conditions in Norfolk, Turner qualified in sixth place for race two, knowing that a victory would give him a great chance of pushing for the championship in the final few rounds of the season.

Turner began the race well, eventually pitting his Aston Martin Vantage in fourth place before handing over to Topham who drove exceptionally well to hang on for another third place and first in his class.

Turner was quick to praise Topham as ‘Matt was always going to find it a challenge to maintain that lead and he did an excellent job to hang on for another third place and the Pro-Am class win’.

The camaraderie between the drivers is evident and following a penalty for Stellar Motorsport, Turner and Topham’s lead in the standings stands at eight points with just three rounds left.

“We’ve worked hard as a team this season,” said Turner.

“Newbridge is still a new and young team so they are learning all the time.

“Now we’re coming into the critical phase of the season, it’s important that we make the most of the opportunities that come our way, use the experience gained over the past season and a half, and execute to the best of our ability.

“If we do that, I think we have a great chance in the last three races of the season.”

The next round of the championship sees the teams head to Belgium, to the infamous Spa-Francorchamps circuit on 23rd-24th July.

Victory in Belgium would put Turner and Topham in a strong position to win the championship, yet he will face stiff competition from Stellar Motorsport and the defending champions, the Century Motorsport team.