Orange Racing by JMH go into the 2026 GT Winter Series finale as championship leaders after the McLaren squad picked up another crucial win from pole position at Motorland Aragon last weekend (7/8 March).

Simon Orange and Marcus Clutton continued to push the #67 McLaren 720S GT3 – backed by Sale Sharks, William Hare, CorpAcq, BOL Foods, Parkway England, Smith Bros. and Shoppertainment – towards the crew’s overall goal of clinching the five-event GT Winter Series crown. They entered the Aragon event just 12 points from the series lead, after a fine victory for Clutton at Valencia most recently.

The latest Spanish trip was again plagued by winter conditions as rain hit the circuit in testing and parts of Saturday afternoon, but it did not deter the British GT squad as they showed strong pace that signaled a challenge for pole position in Qualifying.

Come the two important timed sessions to decide the grids for the first two of the weekend’s three races, Qualifying brought the result they craved. While Orange put the McLaren seventh in his session, Clutton charged to pole position in Q2 to ensure an optimistic start for the Orange Racing by JMH team.

Orange looked to make progress in a wet opening race later that Saturday afternoon, and instantly went on the attack on the opening lap. Attempting to squeeze by the #27 PTT Racing Team entry under braking, slight contact tipped both cars into a spin, leaving Orange with work to do but thankfully no damage picked up. Recover is what he certainly did. Orange climbed his way through the pack, overtaking three class rivals to clinch a fourth place finish by the chequered flag.

Race two was held in drier conditions the following morning, and it would be a nail-biting contest that went the way of the the Orange Racing by JMH team.

Starting from pole position for the second 30-minute sprint, Clutton burst away at GT3 lap record pace initially, hunting a second win of the campaign for the #67 team. He fended off mid-race pressure from title rival Jay Mo Härtling, but the latter’s machine soon expired to ease the heat on the race leader. Despite an intense finish, a fuel-saving Clutton brilliantly clinched that second victory of the term ahead of Felix Hirsiger to gift the team the title lead heading into the final – longer – 50-minute endurance.

Simon started the McLaren from its front row position alongside the Kenneth Heyer/Härtling entry, and was relegated to third spot on lap one ahead of a frenetic early handful of laps. He was held up by a struggling Heyer which allowed others to sneak by, putting Simon back to sixth overall but still in battle with the Mercedes driver.

He made a decisive move stick on the outside of Heyer after braving the pass at Turn 1 to climb into fifth, handing over to Clutton who gave chase in his stint. The latter emerged from the mandatory stop in fourth place, and proceeded to chase down and overtake both Guy Albag and Arunas Geciauskas to grab second place, the second with a tighter exit after the Audi driver ran wide.

Hanging on ahead of Härtling, Clutton and Orange confirmed an excellent second place to take their seventh podium finish of the season, increasing their newly-acquired championship lead heading to the Barcelona finale.

Jason Hughes, Team Manager: “It turned out to be a pretty fantastic weekend for us. It started with us playing catch-up in terms of thinking about the title fight, but after Qualifying and then the outcomes on Sunday, we can start to think about really achieving what we set out to do. We can be proud of ourselves, and both Simon and Marcus stepped up when it mattered.”

Simon Orange: “It’s been a really solid weekend for the team which was what we needed to push for the Winter Series title. Race one didn’t start the way I would have wanted, but we put it behind us and then Sunday went just how we wanted. We’ve got a chance, so let’s see what happens in the final round.”

Marcus Clutton: “It was quite tough actually that race! Jay Mo is a mega racer; I’ve not actually seen him race before but from what I’ve seen of him in this Winter Series, he’s been fantastic, and that kept me honest before he dropped back. It’s never nice celebrating a win from someone else’s misfortune, but that’s racing. It’s a massive result for us. It’s a huge change in the championship. We were on the back foot, but now it’s nice to know we’re taking the fight to the end and we’ll go for it.”

Next up for the Orange Racing by JMH is the GT Winter Series finale at Barcelona this weekend (14/15 March), where Orange and Clutton will be aiming to snatch the overall and GT3 championship titles.