Harry Gamble and William Antrobus shared the spoils across an action-packed pair of races to kick off the 2026 Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT Championship season at Silverstone this past weekend (25-26 April).
Qualifying
The first pole positions of the GT Championship season went the way of Cameron Pratt-Thompson (SVG Motorsport). He topped the timesheets for the first time in the championship by just over a tenth of a second from Orion SPR pair Felix Livesey and Antrobus.
2025 PRO AM champion Gamble (Elite Motorsport) was fourth fastest ahead of the leading AM class driver, James Nicholas (E3 Sport). His team-mate Jamie Caudle was second quickest of the AM runners in seventh overall, with Alex Duncan (Xentek Motorsport) completing the class top three.
Race One
From the first rolling start of the season, Livesey hung it around the outside at Copse and grabbed the lead from Pratt-Thompson into Maggots. Behind, a fast-starting Louis Darling (Orion SPR) shot up from sixth on the grid to third ahead of Antrobus and Gamble.
After a short safety car period, caused by an incident in the GT Academy ranks, the action resumed with Antrobus attempting a move on Darling for third. Contact at Village spun Darling round though and eventually led to his retirement from the race.
As the laps ticked on, Livesey started coming under pressure from Pratt Thompson and Antrobus when the leader had to pull off circuit on the penultimate lap. Pratt Thompson moved to the front, however he had picked up a five-second penalty for track limits infringements.
While Pratt Thompson took the chequered flag first on the road, Antrobus was on course for victory on revised times when his car slowed exiting the last corner. Gamble took full advantage to charge past and ultimately secured the overall victory to start the season.
Antrobus was classified second initially, however he was disqualified post-race for not having enough fuel remaining in his car for scrutineering, meaning Pratt Thompson finished up second with his penalty applied. Duncan ended up third overall as the winner in the AM class, having shot from third into the lead on lap one and held it throughout.
Nicholas and Caudle followed him home to complete the AM podium, as Elliot Foster (MDD Motorsport) completed the finishers. Lucie Hodgson (Orion SPR) was set to finish, however she also had to pull off circuit on the penultimate lap with an issue.
Race Two
The grid for race two was set by the second fastest times in qualifying, with Pratt Thompson joined on the front row by Antrobus. It was the latter who emerged from lap one with the lead, after slipping past heading into Maggots for the first time.
Pratt Thompson looked to regain the advantage as the race developed and loomed large in the leader’s mirrors for many laps. His challenge came to a halt in the closing stages though after an incident while lapping GT Academy cars caused him to spin down the order.
Antrobus therefore had to contend with Gamble and Livesey for the remainder of the race, those two having swapped places on the opening lap. Their battle intensified in the closing laps, with Livesey pulling off an opportunistic move in traffic to grab second.
He followed home Antrobus to make it a one-two finish for Orion SPR, with both team and driver securing their maiden Ginetta victories. Gamble completed the podium, with Pratt Thompson eventually having to settle for fourth in class and eighth overall.
Reigning GT Academy champion Nicholas was fourth overall as he enjoyed a lights-to-flag success in the AM class. An exciting duel for second behind ended in a photo-finish, with Caudle just edging out Duncan as they both doubled their podium tallies for the weekend.
Foster and Hodgson completed the finishers in the race, sandwiching Pratt Thompson in the result. A rollercoaster race for Darling saw him drop back to ninth on the opening lap before fighting back to the top six battle, when an incident with Duncan led to an unfortunate retirement.
Full race results can be found at www.tsl-timing.com/event/261705
Both races can be watched back now at www.youtube.com/gtworld
