Ecurie Ecosse came within 10 minutes of sealing this year’s British GT title at Donington Park last Sunday only for a late penalty to dash their hopes of glory.

Following a two-month injury lay-off, the Scottish outfit welcomed Oliver Bryant back to their Barwell Motorsport-run BMW Z4 GT3 for the winner-takes-all season finale. Bryant rejoined Alasdair McCaig in the #79 machine as the Scot looked to seal the fiercely contested championship crown at his first attempt.

Taking the start in P6, McCaig quickly gained a spot as the field ran down to the Melbourne hairpin, but contact from behind while making an attempt for fifth pushed him wide and dropped the Z4 back three places.

McCaig wasted no time climbing back to seventh but then spent five laps behind the Trackspeed Porsche of David Ashburn, allowing title rivals Alex Buncombe and Jann Mardenborough in their RJN Nissan and the Motorbase Porsche of Daniele Perfetti and Michael Caine to escape out front.

After overhauling the Trackspeed machine for P6, McCaig was able to lap quickly and consistently for the remainder of his 55-minute spell aboard the Z4, following which the Barwell crew delivered a typically swift pit-stop. Bryant then climbed aboard for the crucial final stint in P9.

Ecosse received a boost as the leading RJN Nissan suffered suspension failure, eliminating one of their chief title rivals and promoting Bryant to eighth. This became seventh on the same lap as he surged past the Trackspeed car.

The championship battle had now become a three-way tussle between McCaig, the Perfetti/Caine Porsche which ran second and the MTECH Ferrari of Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin in fourth.

A safety car period further aided the Ecosse cause, allowing Bryant to take the restart right on Griffin’s tail. Caine P2 Bryant’s mission was clear: if he could overhaul the Ferrari and the race finished in that order, McCaig would be tied on points with the Porsche crew and win the championship by virtue of scoring more race wins during the season.

With 20 minutes remaining Griffin and Bryant found themselves behind the Preci-Spark Mercedes, but before the Ecosse man could use this to his advantage, Griffin dived down the inside at Melbourne. With the Mercedes slow on the exit, Bryant got a good run down towards the next hairpin. Aware that passing Griffin was vital, Bryant successfully out-braked the Preci-Spark car.

Unfortunately the MTECH Ferrari ran deep into the corner and appeared unusually slow on the apex meaning the Z4 just clipped the Ferrari’s rear, spinning it around and dropping Griffin down the order.

Bryant was able to continue and now had the Ecosse car in a title-winning position. However, it was quickly apparent that the team could be in line for a penalty following the incident, making for a tense atmosphere in the Ecosse pits.

Unfortunately the #79 was awarded a one-minute time penalty in order to drop him back behind the Griffin/Cameron car, ending the team’s valiant championship charge.