P4 Finish for Miller and Hopkins at Mixed-Weather British GT Opening Weekend

At the opening weekend of the 2023 Intelligent Money British GT Championship at Oulton Park, R Racing achieved a positive P4 in-class finish in the second race. The result was especially impressive after the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 of Miller and Hopkins was forced to retire in a wet first race, following contact with another car during the opening laps.

The 2023 season’s opening race weekend began on a bright, crisp Saturday morning, with two productive but disrupted Free Practice sessions. Despite multiple red flags the young pairing of Josh Miller and Seb Hopkins were able to achieve P2 in class in the first session, before using the second for preparation such as brake-bedding and driver change practice.

Heading into Qualifying, this was the first opportunity for the eighteen-strong GT4 grid to unleash their full capabilities. With a year’s experience at the team under his belt, JoshMiller took to the track first in the grey and blue Aston Martin Vantage. Starting with a solid opening lap of 1:43.580, Miller kept his foot on the pedal throughout the whole session, soon pushing into the 1:42s. Ultimately, he achieved a 1:42.178 which placed him 6th in the final classification.

After quick changeover it was Seb Hopkin’s turn to make his mark, and strategic decision making sent him onto track with clean air ahead. Immediately hitting the ground running with a 1:42.218, Hopkins looked to maximise the now lighter car and warmer tyres.Improving after every lap, the 17-year-old soon moved into the 1:41s, clipping the red and white curbs in an effort to gain every hundredth of a second. Despite lapping an impressive 1:41.768 at the chequered flag, an abnormally fast McLaren left the majority of the field behind, and Hopkins matched Miller in P6.

Contrary to the sunny skies on Saturday, Easter Monday – race day - brought with it heavy rain. As a result, the key talking point ahead of the first race was tyre choice and pit-stop strategy, with almost all cars expected to start on wets and switch to slicks as the track dried. Frustratingly, Miller was not able to take advantage of R Racing’s strong starting position of P6 in Race 1, when contact in the opening laps forced him to return to the pits.On review, there was damage to the oil cooler on the left front of their Aston MartinVantage GT4, and the decision was made to retire the car. Nonetheless, the opening lap pace had looked positive, and the team felt optimistic about their performance ahead of the afternoon’s Race 2.

Once again starting P6, the #23 car piloted this time by Hopkins looked to avoid incident in the season’s second race. The rain had continued to fall on-and-off throughout the day, and some sectors of the 2.692 mile circuit seemed to have their own micro-climate. Despite the weather, the race began after just one green flag lap and Hopkins was quick to make moves, gaining 2 places before the first circulation. During his stint he battled with the McLarens of Rawlings and Rowledge, dropping to 6th before pushing back into the top 4. With 31 minutes of the race remaining, the GT4 pit-window opened and the class leader took the opportunity right away. With 17 laps on the board, Hopkins entered pit-lane, where Miller was waiting to take over. After completing the minimum pitstop time, he re-joined the race11th in class, with many ahead still to box. After the full pitstop cycle was complete, Miller found himself in P4 and chasing down the podium positions – with green sectors on the timing board highlighting this ambition. Ultimately, he was not able to catch up to P3, and the #23 Aston Martin Vantage crossed the line in 4th, collecting 12 championship points for their efforts.

Discussing his debut race weekend with the team, Seb Hopkins said: “Overall I’m pretty pleased with our weekend at Oulton. It was a shame not to get a chance to drive in the first race, but I’m happy with our performance in Race 2. Ultimately, I want to win the championship so there is work to do, but it was a decent way to start.”

Teammate Josh Miller added: “It was obviously super disappointing for Race 1 to end the way it did – we really wanted to start the season on a high, but there was nothing I could do after the contact. However, the team did a great job fixing up the car and we were able head out in Race 2 and finish well.”

Team Director Nathan Read summarised the opening rounds: “It was certainly a challenging way to begin the season. Over the weekend it felt like we experienced all four seasons in weather conditions, which was particularly tricky as we hadn’t driven in the wet at all this year. A collision in the early stages of Race 1 also meant we had to take a disappointingDNC. Despite this, both drivers performed well when they had the opportunity to race and I think we can feel positive moving into Round 3.”

Miller and Hopkins return to the action in Round 3 of the Intelligent Money British GT Championship on 6-7 May at Silverstone.