Masters Historic Festival 2025: Masters GT Trophy

Now teamed with Aaron Scott, Craig Wilkins got off to the best possible start of his Masters GT Trophy title defense as the pair’s Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 completed a strong race to win at Brands Hatch. At the chequered flag, Scott was 15 seconds clear of the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo shared by Darren Howell and Sean Doyle.

“I’m not sure about a title defense, I don’t know how many races we got scheduled this year”, said Wilkins. “But yeah, it’s a really good start. Nice start to the weekend. It’s nice to be back with Masters.”

“It was straightforward because I guess with the safety car I kind of didn’t have to push too much”, said Scott. “We were on a pretty old tyre so I just really made sure I had tyres left at the end, and it was all fine.”

Howell and Doyle won the Corse class in the process, while in a stunning third overall Dan Morris and Carlito Miracco grabbed a strong GT class win in their Ginetta G55. Having lost ground due to having to reattach a loose fire extinguisher, Neil Glover and Luke Reade fought back to fourth on the road in their Gallardo GT3, passing Colin Sowter’s Ferrari 488 Challenge and William Ashmore’s Ferrari 430 Challenge towards the end.

“Very hot, but I enjoyed it!”, said Howell.

“Darren did all the hard work at the start, then the safety car came, so I jumped in. I just tipped around and got the job done”, said Doyle.

“Really chuffed”, said Morris. “I was battling faster cars on the straight but slower in the corners, so it was a really difficult race. We got lucky a little bit with the safety car at the pit stop window, but yeah, loved it. Good fun!”

“We were second overall before the safety car”, said Sowter. “Actually with the pace we were on, we were actually on for a second overall, I would say. But I’d just passed the pit lane as the pit window opened, so I had to do a lap behind the safety car, and that just buggered my race. So we had to fight through as many places as we could from about 30 seconds behind the wheel. It was a good race to get there in the end.”

“I don’t know what happened”, said Glover. “But we got called into the box, so I came, and that spoiled our race a little bit. When the safety car came out I thought it was good, but it didn’t work in our favour. But great race, Luke is driving like a demon!”

“The car felt mega”, said Reade. “The guys at Scott Sport had set it up well. A big learning weekend for myself and Neil. So we’re just getting a grip through it and hopefully the best is yet to come.”

Darren Turner and Dan Lavery took second in the GT4 class, with Turner holding a brief third in their Ginetta G55 in the opening stages, while Cup class victory went to David Harrison and Nathan Luckey in their Porsche 991.1 Cup.

“Yeah, we probably briefly ran third”, said Turner. “It wasquite difficult at the start because you’ve got fast cars on the straight that a bit slower through the corners and sort of tripping over, but it was one of those fun races. We boxed probably a lap late under the safety car. It meant that when Dan got in the car, he couldn’t catch up with the safety car. But hey, let’s see what we can do till tomorrow.”

The final day of May was a hot spring day, at least in the green hills surrounding Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit, so circumstances were nigh perfect for a good first race of the 2025 Masters GT Trophy season. Two Lambos lined up on the front row, followed by two Ferrari 488s and two Ginetta G55s. Another Ferrari broke the two-by-two rhythm that was continued by two Porsche Cup cars.

Neil Glover accelerated into the lead of the race but Craig Wilkins was trying to find a way through from Druids on. Behind them, a fast-starting Darren Turner jumped ahead of the Ferraris, but the Italian cars powered back past on the straight – which is where Wilkins pushed past Glover to snatch first place. With Glover having lost first place, he was into the pits on the second lap, responding to the ‘meatball’ flag waved at him. It didn’t take long to address the issue of an unsecured fire extinguisher, as the Lambo was back out again soon.

Meanwhile, Wilkins put the power down at the front, leading by ten seconds over Colin Sowter’s Ferrari after three laps, with Howell and Turner fighting over third. The Porsches of David Harrison and Matthew Holme had pushed ahead of William Ashmore’s Ferrari 430 and Dan Morris in the second Ginetta G55.

With Wilkins easing away at the front, now 15 seconds up the road after five laps, Sowter himself had created a gap of seven seconds to a gaggle of cars led by Howell, Harrison (now in fourth), Turner and Holme, with Ashmore and Morris hanging on in seventh and eighth. Glover now trailed that group by 16 seconds.

On lap 7, Wilkins set a new fastest lap of the race, while Holme now also powered past the less powerful Ginetta of Darren Turner. On the next lap, however, Holme was gone, having found the gravel trap at Stirlings. This required the arrival of the safety car, some ninety seconds shy of the pit window. Some seconds ahead of it opening, however, Glover’s Lambo was back in, not for a driver change, because the car seemed to be in trouble, but then it did go back out again with Luke Reade at the wheel. Meanwhile, Sowter and Turner carried on, while the others all stopped. Wilkins was replaced by Aaron Scott, David Harrison gave the Porsche to Nathan Luckey, Dan Morris handed the Ginetta to Carlito Miracco while Darren Howell swapped places with Sean Doyle.

Sowter and Turner came in for the next opportunity, the latter handing the Ginetta to Dan Lavery.

Staying out seemed to have lost them quite an amount of time, since when the safety car came in, Scott assumed the lead while Doyle made up two places with the Ferrari, passing Luckey and Miracco. Ashmore was fifth ahead of Sowter and Lavery, while Reade set fastest laps of the race in eighth – showing us the race that could have been. Next time round, however, Luckey lost some twenty seconds with a mistake in the first part of the circuit, dropping him down to sixth.

With ten minutes still remaining, Scott was lapping marginally quicker than Doyle, who now trailed by eight seconds, and had half a minute in hand over Miracco in the GT4-class-leading Ginetta. Sowter, who was closing on Miracco, suddenly lost time with an error in the final sector to hand fourth to Ashmore. Four seconds then separated Sowter from Luckey, and Luckey from Lavery, while Reade had cut his deficit to Lavery and made up a place on lap 20. Meanwhile, a recovering Sowter repassed Ashmore for fourth. On the same lap, Reade took sixth from Luckey. Then into lap 21, Ashmore was his next victim – and then on lap 22, Reade was fourth ahead of Sowter.

As the clock wound down, Scott’s lead over Doyle mushroomed to 15 seconds at the chequered flag, as the Ferrari bagged the Corse class win. In third, a minute and 17 seconds down, Dan Morris and Carlito Miracco won the GT4 class in their Ginetta G55. The Glover/Reade Lambo took fourth ahead of Sowter, Ashmore, Turner/Lavery and Cup class winners Harrison/Luckey, but were set to be penalised for stopping shy of the pit window.

Both having demonstrated relentless pace all race, the Craig Wilkins/Aaron Scott combo absolutely dominated the second Masters Trophy GT race at Brands Hatch, winning by well over a minute from a close finish between the other Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 of Neil Glover and Luke Reade and the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo shared by Darren Howell and Sean Doyle.

“I got up this morning feeling a little bit more like my old self”, said Wilkins. “And I’m a little bit comfier in the car. I think there’s still time to come. So, yeah, I’m very happy with that. Good day’s work!”

“He didn’t make life hard for me, did he?”, said Scott. “I can’t complain, the car was good today, the team’s done a good job all weekend. Happy days.”

In the second half of the race, Reade fought his way past a strong Colin Sowter in the Ferrari 488 Challenge, but then saw Doyle – who soon also passed Sowter – approach ever nearer. In the end, Reade kept six tenths in hand over the Ferrari that took the Corse class win from Sowter’s similar 488.

“The Ferrari was hunting me down lap by lap at the end”, said Reade. “I was just counting down the laps, holding on to the thing. It was brilliant fun, loved every second of it.”

“I had a great start, got past a couple of Ferraris”, said Glover. “Then hung on and the rest was history. Really pleased. The pace of the car is great. It’s new to us, but we’re getting to learn it, so I think we have a good season.”

“It was a very good race”, said Howell. “I really enjoyed it, really enjoyed it. Great track.”

“I was probably a little bit too nice in the middle of the race”, said Doyle. “I didn’t think I was going to get anywhere near the Lambo. And then I just revved up a little bit, saw him and nearly had him. But it was great fun. Darren did a great job in the opening stint, and I think he’s got a little bit quicker from yesterday. And that’s the whole point of being here, just trying to practice and practice and mileage for him. So it’s a really good weekend.”

“It was a much better race than yesterday because we didn’t lose out on the safety car like yesterday”, said Sowter. “So we were able to push on throughout most of the race. And obviously position was good, we were in second second but when they had the driver changes and the pros – so difficult to try and keep up with the pros, but at least I try and be quickest of the amateurs.So that’s what we managed, very happy with that.”

In fifth and sixth overall, the Ginetta G55s of Dan Lavery/Darren Turner and Carlito Miracco/Dan Morris contested the GT4 class win, with Miracco doing the early running before victory went Turner’s way. Nathan Luckey and David Harrison took seventh on their way to the Cup class win in their Porsche 991.1 Cup.

“It was obviously different from yesterday – no safety car intervention”, said Turner. “Dan started the race, so he had a really nice scrap with the other G55. I think the other car must have had a slow stop because it didn’t make sense why we were so close. In 5-6 laps I got on his tail and then took a lap to work out where I could make a move and then just got my head down to the flag. Those last three or four laps, I was driving around appreciating Brands Hatch Grand Prix track. I hadn’t really had a moment up until that last couple of laps to realise what an old school classic it is and you know, a beautiful day like this with the sun out, lots of people on the side on the banks. So yeah, really enjoyable weekend.”

Straight after the first 3-litre Formula One race, the Masters GT Trophy cars came out for their second race of the weekend, the cars starting in their finishing order of the day before. So Craig Wilkins led away from Darren Howell, with Neil Glover moving up into third ahead of Colin Sowter, the two Ginetta G55s of Carlito Miracco and Dan Lavery, with William Ashmore’s Ferrari 430 Challenge and Nathan Luckey in the Porsche 991.1 Cup up next.

Five laps into the race, Wilkins had built a massive lead of 25 seconds over Glover in the other Gallardo GT3. Glover had passed Howell in the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo while Sowter’s 488 was the next one to pass. Going into lap 6, Howell was under increased pressure from the Ginettas who led Ashmore by six seconds and Luckey by a further five ticks.

After 15 minutes, Wilkins had completed eight laps to amass a lead of 38 seconds over Glover and Sowter who fiercely fought over second place, with Howell, Miracco and Lavery now trailing the pair by nine seconds. Wilkins’ relentless pace improved even more with a fastest lap of the race on lap 9 that increased his impressive margin to 44 seconds – this time over Colin Sowter who outbraked the second Gallardo into Paddock Hill Bend going into lap 10.

As the pit window opened, Glover came in to hand the Lambo to Luke Reade, while Wilkins further improved on his best lap twice to open up a lead of almost a minute before Sowter headed into the pits, as did Howell who handed the 488 Challenge Evo to Sean Doyle. Almost simultaneously, Darren Turner took over from Lavery while Nathan Luckey handed the Porsche to David Harrison. Next time around, Wilkins gave the Gallardo to Aaron Scott while Dan Morris took over from Miracco, with Ashmore the last one to stop on lap 14.

After the stops, Scott held a massive lead of 56 seconds over Reade who passed Sowter for second place going into lap 15. 11 seconds further back, Doyle was also flying, improving on Wilkins’ earlier fastest lap of the race, the Irishman fast approaching the rival Ferrari of Sowter. Even though Scott then bested Doyle’s lap time, the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo’s pace was still impressive.

On lap 18, Scott found even more pace to lob another second off the race’s best laptime to now lead by over a minute. At the same time, Doyle had caught and passed Sowter to take third, nine seconds away from Reade in second and lapping around a second quicker with ten minutes still to go. 38 seconds further back, Morris and Turner fought over the GT4 class lead, with Turner taking over the lead on lap 19. Harrison still led the Cup class in seventh, chased by Ashmore in eighth.

Approaching the finish line, Scott was homefree in the lead, now well over a minute ahead, but Reade was still fighting to keep Doyle behind, holding a 4.5-second margin with three minutes left on the clock. At the chequered flag, Reade had done just enough to stay ahead of Doyle by six tenths. Sowter finished a lonely fourth, with some 20 seconds in hand over the Ginettas of Turner and Morris, the former having created a gap of .. seconds over the latter. Harrison won the Cup class in seventh overall, while Ashmore took third in the Corse class in eighth overall.