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Joe Osborne Won First British GT of 2018 With McLaren

The McLaren 570S GT4 scores win and podiums at Snetterton Circuit

As the first British GT of 2018 happened last day in Snetterton, Joe Osborne claimed the first victory with his McLaren 570S GT4. This is the first victory for Osborne as a McLaren Automotive Factory Driver scoring both class wins and podiums at Snetterton. David Pattison was the co-pilot along with Osborne led the home a one-two finish for customer Tolman Motorsport and McLaren 570S GT4.

Osborne started the race as 16th but quickly climbed the order to reach 10th before the safety car was called into action. After that, the car got an opportunity to pitstop under the safety car, almost the entire field came in including Pattison, who handed over to Osborne. When the green flags came out to get the second half of the race underway, Osborne found himself up to second thanks to quick pit work from the team. That allowed him to put immediate pressure on the car ahead, before diving up the inside at the Agostini hairpin with 22 minutes remaining to take the class lead. From there, he drove away from the field and managed the gap, finishing the race 6.4 seconds ahead of the chasing pack.

Behind Osborne, Charlie Fagg, McLaren Driver Development Programme (DDP) driver climbed from fourth place to finish second in the #4 Tolman winning the GT4 silver class. Further back, McLaren factory driver, Ben Barnicoat also finished high up the order in customer team Track-Club’s 570S GT4, ending up fifth. Making it five 570S GT4s in the top 10.

After Joe Osborne stole the show in race one driving Tolman Motorsport’s #56 570S GT4 to victory, it was the sister #5 Tolman car of DDP drivers Lewis Proctor and Jordan Albert who shone in the second encounter. The duo started the race ninth on the grid, and with Albert at the wheel, were in contention for a podium spot after the frantic opening laps, climbing to sixth before the round of stops at the halfway mark.

Next up is the ‘Blue Riband’ 500-mile event at Silverstone on June 9-10.
Dan Walmsley, Head of Motorsport at McLaren Automotive Ltd:, said: “We’re delighted with the performances from Tolman Motorsport and Balfe Motorsport at Snetterton, especially to take both Pro-Am victories which underline the usability of the 570S GT4 for the amateur racers. “Joe Osborne did an excellent job and reinforced our decision to bring him on as a McLaren Factory Driver. His first win as part of the McLaren family sets himself up for a championship challenge.

“The focus for us all is now on the Silverstone 500, which will be a stern test for the cars entered but we’re confident that the 570S GT4 will once again be a frontrunner. It’s vital that we keep our customer teams and drivers in the hunt for title wins in the second half of the season.”

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