4 Hours At Oulton Park

It's Thursday evening and I'd checked in a Ryanair flight to Manchester, bound for a family wedding just south of Chester. Knowing I'd have a day spare and a certain racetrack was local, there really was only one plan of action after that. Log out of the worlds most hated airline and load up Oulton Park's weekend timetable.

Having lazily followed the GT World Challenge endurance series, watching the major rounds like the Total 24hr of Spa, I've always been keen to see a modern GT3 car turn a wheel in anger. So I was delighted to find out British GT, the UK based series running the latest GT3 spec cars, was visiting Oulton Park that weekend.

They certainly didn't disappoint. The standout car for me was Team Parker Racings 911 GT3 R. The scream of the Porsche flat six could be heard above all other cars, blasting through the trees at the latter end of the Oulton Park lap.

Speaking of the circuit, I was impressed. We're used to the rough and ready of local Irish race-tracks, so it's refreshing to attend a modern circuit and MSV really has nailed the facilities and quality of the venue.

Back on track, the GT3 cars blasted through qualifying ahead of their races the following day. I'd love to see them rattle over the kerbs at Spa or the Nurburgring, while Oulton is a relatively fast circuit, it just seemed a tad small for these big, angry machines.

It was cool to see the lower tiers of the ladder to F1 too. The GB3 series uses F3 spec race cars and has paved the way for superstars Lando Norris and George Russell in recent years.

The prep and support these drivers have in the pits is mind blowing, even for a small feeder series.

Quali ends and its time for us to go. A lazy day killed in the best way possible and another event ticked off the list.

Venue: Oulton Park

Event: British GT