Orange Racing By JMH scored a precious victory in the third GT Winter Series event of their campaign at Valencia last Sunday (15 February), strengthening their overall title chances with two rounds remaining.

A brilliant second-race display from Marcus Clutton – sharing with Simon Orange – ensured a first win of the Winter Series for the #67 McLaren 720S GT3, backed by Sale Sharks, William Hare, CorpAcq, BOL Foods, Parkway England, Smith Bros. and Shoppertainment.

The weekend’s all-important action on track was crammed into just one day, after severe storm warnings forced the cancellation of all circuit activity on Saturday at the Spanish venue. It meant Qualifying and all three races would be run on Sunday, meaning a shortened opening two Sprint encounters for drivers Orange and Clutton.

Qualifying was the first call of action for the McLaren crew, and it was Orange who opened their account with a lap time good enough for seventh on the rolling start for the opening race, Clutton following up with fourth position in his subsequent timed session.

With title rival Kenneth Heyer alongside him for the first of two 20-minute Sprint contests, Orange chased a train of three GT3 rivals all the way to the chequered flag. He would gain crucial points on a penalised Heyer, Simon coming home in sixth place and within touching distance of third.

Clutton took the wheel for the second Sprint, and was given an unexpected gift in the opening corners as he looked to take advantage on the inside heading into the Turn 2 hairpin. A kamikaze lunge from Attempto Racing’s Carrie Schreiner resulted in the Audidriver clattering into the leading Ford Mustang of Massimiliano Cuccarese, parting the waves perfectly for Clutton to nip by into the race lead. It would prove one he would never surrender, keeping Niklas Kalus at arm’s length up to the chequered flag.

With a first victory under their belts, the Orange Racing By JMH squad set their sights on repeating the feat in the 50-minute endurance race later that afternoon. Unlike previous rounds, it was Clutton who took the start of the race, slotting instantly a place better off as he dived inside Heyer at the first bend for second spot, hunting down the lead Mustang of Kalus.

Clutton was not allowed to fully utilise his pace in the McLaren 720S GT3 unfortunately, with several safety car interventions bunching the pack back together prior to taking the mandatory pitstop to hand over to Orange in the latter stage of the race. Against some more experienced competitors, Simon gave it his all to remain inside the top five, sitting in fourth position before one late final safety car narrowed the gaps behind. He would be lunged in an abrupt move at the hairpin by the Mercedes-AMG of Moritz Wiskirchen, before finishing a strong sixth behind Cuccarese.

It means that the Orange Racing By JMH squad sits in a great position to contend for the GTWS championship over the final two rounds.

Jason Hughes, Team Manager: “It’s great to get our first win of the year on the board. We were unlucky at Estoril in the main race, and we’ve been consistent in terms of pace all series with the podiums we’ve managed already, so to tick that win off and keep the title charge going means it’s been another solid and important weekend for us. Hats off to the whole team, as we’ve had to fit a whole weekend of action and prep into just one day. We can be proud of that effort.”

Simon Orange: “We’ve had a busy day today. To basically cram a full weekend of racing into one day is a really tough ask, but we rose to the challenge and came away with a win which was a fantastic result for the whole team.”

Marcus Clutton: “It was a really difficult race at times, just trying to improve the pace over the weekend. In race two I think we maybe got a bit lucky at the beginning with a bit of battling and bit of door banging around us – which I liked – and it thankfully paid to my favour. The first lap was mega, then after the safety car I had cars following me round and it was all about getting the corner exits spot on. A really good win for us and hopefully more to come.”

Next up for the Orange Racing By JMH team is a trip to Aragon across the week of 5-8 March.