After finishing as runner-up in 2025, Hugo Cook and the #63 Barwell Motorsport team are hoping to go ‘one more’ step further this year in a bid to reclaim the British GT crown.
The #63 Barwell Motorsport entry, which took the title in 2024, narrowly missed out last season in what was Cook’s first year with the team. He and the experienced Rob Collard, who was part of the team in their 2024 title-winning season alongside his son Ricky, missed out to the #42 2 Seas Motorsport car in a season that saw Cook and the team take one win at Oulton Park and five podiums.
This season, however, the pair are hoping to go one better. When discussing his expectations at the British GT media day with GT REPORT and BMM, he made it clear that the team want to go ‘one more’ step this year.
He said, “Obviously it is to win the championship. We were second last year and hopefully we can go one more this year. We are just working hard to get the car in a nice window today.”
The pair will be happy with the pace shown on media day at Silverstone, having topped the opening two sessions. They showed particularly strong pace in the first session, coming out the blocks quickly and finishing seven tenths clear of their nearest competitor.
“It’s nice. Generally quite low grip,” Cook said after the first session. “It’s quite difficult out there to drive because there’s a bit of oversteer, so we are just trying to dial it in. I’m surprised that we are quite far up the road after the first session, I’m sure the others will close the gap but it’s looking good so far,” he continued.
Collard’s experience is undoubtedly a key asset for the team. The former BTCC driver and double British GT champion remains with Barwell Motorsport this season, continuing alongside Cook for a second full campaign.
Cook said, “Rob has been there and done it so it’s really easy to work with him and he’s got really good speed in the car and he knows exactly what he wants from the car.”
The 2025 British GT vice-champion and Lamborghini junior driver also has a strong level of experience despite being just 21 years old. With proven European experience and several years of GT racing under his belt, the team and driver have what it takes to challenge their rivals this year.
Looking at the media day timings, it appears their immediate rivals could be Orange Racing powered by JMH, the #78 Barwell Motorsport car of Jarrod Waberski and the #77 Optimum Motorsport entry. However, it is still very early days and it is all to play for at the season opener at the Silverstone 500 on April 25th-26th.
