A teary Marcus Clutton has revealed that he missed the decisive moment which gave him and co-driver Simon Orange a shock British GT title victory at Brands Hatch.
On Sunday the Orange Racing McLaren pair clinched their maiden crown with victory in the two-hour finale, which was also the first and only race win they took in the 2026 season.
It came after the duo headed to Kent as one of five mathematical title contenders, but 21.5 points behind erstwhile leaders Rob Collard and Hugo Cook with 37.5 left available.
So a near-miracle was needed and initially it looked as though that wouldn’t happen, as Collard took the lead on lap one before he and Orange soon streaked clear of the rest of the field.
Due to the Barwell Lamborghini driver being over 20 seconds ahead of fourth downwards, he had mitigated the 20s pitstop penalty he was set to serve for winning the penultimate round at Donington Park.
That was enough to give him and Cook the crown, until the two-time champion made a rare mistake by spinning off at Sheene Curve after 54 minutes – instantly ending title hopes.
It allowed Orange to hand Clutton with a 21.5s advantage for the final hour, something that left the Oldham-native in disbelief having missed the title-deciding moment.
“I’d gone for a wee, because obviously it was like 10 minutes before the stint,” said Clutton, who added to his GT4 championship from 2011.
“So I had my radio on, nothing was said on the radio. I walked to the toilet, did my nervous wee, came back, walked to the garage… ‘why’s there a full-course yellow?’
“‘Rob’s in the gravel.’ ‘Huh?’ Couldn’t believe it! Then, a bit of panic because you’re like, ‘we could do this’.
“Just did my best to keep it calm. For me, Rob had done the job and he should have come out of the pits in second.
“So for me it was like, ‘okay we can still get our first win, what a season’ and yeah, for whatever reason mistakes happen, we’ve made plenty, and today Rob made one.”
Simon Orange/Marcus Clutton
Photo by: JEP
The crowning moment has been a long time coming for Clutton, who in 2026 started his seventh season of GT3 with third in 2022 alongside Morgan Tillbrook being his previous best finish.
It is quite the underdog story because Clutton is not at the level of fellow Pros Ben Barnicoat and Ross Gunn, but in British GT the bronze-graded driver is who makes the biggest difference.
So the 37-year-old worked hard on coaching his co-driver, their second season as team-mates, and it paid off in 2026 with five podiums, capped off by Orange’s mega stint at Brands Hatch.
“I’m not a factory driver, I’m not your fastest Pro, but I’ve always focused on what I can bring to the table with the Amateur,” added Clutton.
“And that’s been a key part of my career, I’m a driver coach. I’m very proud to have brought Morgan on as far as I did, three British GT wins together and he nearly won the title in ‘22.
“So as a coach, love it, and that’s my way in. Nobody’s going to ring me because I’m going to put it on pole but everybody understands that British GT, a lot of it is won in the Amateurs.
“That was key today, Simon won that race and I just had to bring it home. So a huge amount of credit needs to go to him, it’s the best stint of his life that I’ve ever seen!”
The victory was also Orange’s first of his British GT career since joining in 2022 and meant they took the title despite having never led the 2026 standings until the chequered flag on Sunday.
“I am one of those that when it counts, I seem to focus and get better,” said 59-year-old Orange.
“So yeah, it was good, I wanted to give Marcus a big lead because [second-placed] Ben Barnicoat, he’s one of the world’s best, isn’t he?
“He’s so good. But in the end, he might have caught him by like two seconds so not a lot. But it was much easier driving than watching, that’s for sure.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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