Sunday 20th April 2025

BRSCC PBS Brakes SuperSport Endurance Cup  Report and image by Peter Baker. Click to view Gallery.

Barton Racing at Round 2 of the British Racing & Sports Car Club’s 2025 PBS Brakes SuperSport Endurance Cup, held at Oulton Park on Saturday 19 April.

If ever there was a point at which Harry Barton would have been fully justified in throwing his helmet and race gloves in the nearest waste bin, and taking the next bus home, it was here at Oulton Park. After all, had he not blitzed the opposition during qualifying, put in fastest lap, and led the two-hour race unopposed for half its distance? That the car then unceremoniously snapped its prop-shaft had nothing to do with his driving. Or for that matter, the level of preparation. It was, sadly, just one of those things. Metal fatigue.

After a week of sunshine, black cloud and heavy drizzle above Oulton Park announced the arrival of another typical British Easter Bank Holiday. Regardless, Barton Racing was committed to a full day of pre-event testing, so got on with the job in hand. Harry, circulating the 2.69-mile parkland in miserable conditions, was on the pace from the word go, returning lap times assuredly competitive. At the close of play everybody was in positive mood.

Race day, weather-wise, showed a slight improvement. Twenty-seven cars completed the half-hour morning qualifying with Harry easily quickest, putting in a 1:47.59 on a dry track, between showers. That’s an average speed of 90.13mph. Not bad for an aging BMW M3 E46.

The two-hour, SuperSport Endurance epic got underway at exactly 16:00, with the red, white and blue BMW of Barton Racing leading the pack off the line, through Old Hall corner, down the short Avenue straight, and out into the country. After three laps Harry was away and running. The gap? Over 20 seconds. The inevitable, prolonged and somewhat confusing Safety Car interval, struck at one-quarter distance trapping Harry among the back markers but this made little difference. If anything, it provided a welcome, overtaking challenge. Then, just before the first pit stop, and without a care in the world, bang, no drive to the rear axle. Race over.

Disappointment, of course, but remember folks, positive thinking. Everything on offer during the weekend had been won, except the actual race. That’s not so bad.

Next week, the team returns to Germany and Round 2 of the ADAC Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie - NLS Championship, with Harry racing his red, white and blue Toyota Supra around the challenging Nordschleife track for four hours against the best sports car drivers in the business.