The unresolved issue that overshadowed British GT's latest race

British GT was stuck between a rock and a hard place at Silverstone last weekend. With the National Court hearing into RAM Racing’s appeal of Oulton Park race two unable to be held before the weekend, and the classification of that race still to be finalised, it did the only thing it could and opted not to have in-race success penalties at Silverstone.

They will be retrospectively added once the Oulton result is determined and only then will championship points for Silverstone be distributed.

“It’s not a true penalty,” reasoned Enduro Motorsport’s Marcus Clutton, who cited the benefit to be had from not losing track position and dropping into traffic as a result. “But,” he added, “I also believe it’s the best they can do.” His was a widely held view.

A statement provided to Autosport by British GT said: “The decision to suspend Silverstone success penalties until after Oulton’s race two result is finalised was taken following extensive consultation with Motorsport UK’s legal department.

“This was the fairest and simplest way of determining provisional GT3 and GT4 winners at Silverstone, and also ensures that results and championship points are ultimately correct.”

Unfortunately, though, it cast a shadow of uncertainty over proceedings in the build-up at Silverstone. Even before a wheel was turned in practice, it was clear the result would be provisional.

“It’s a big mess,” was Barwell Motorsport commercial director Chris Needell’s apt summary. “We won’t have a penalty anyway, but the people that could do or might do, then won’t actually know where they finish today. Everyone is a loser, and this is going to be ongoing for all the races until the result of Oulton is determined.”

In the end, the three-hour race came down