Blake Angliss Narrowly Misses Out On Snetterton British GT Podium

Blake Angliss saw his charge for a first podium finish of the 2025 British GT Championship season cruelly dashed by a late penalty after a hugely encouraging performance at Snetterton this past weekend (12/13 July).

Three weeks on from a promising return to the championship at Spa-Francorchamps with leading team Mahiki Racing, the Coventry-based rising star headed to Norfolk hoping to challenge for GT4 class silverware across a pair of one-hour ‘sprint’ races.

Angliss and his team-mate Steven Lake enjoyed some positive progress behind the wheel of their Ginetta G56 GT4 Evo during official testing on Friday, with a step forward in pace compared to Spa putting them in an optimistic mood heading into the race weekend.

Battling not only an ultra-competitive GT4 entry but also soaring temperatures in the summer heatwave, Angliss got more crucial laps under his belt through free practice and pre-qualifying on Saturday as the hard work continued to fine-tune the setup on the #69 Ginetta.

Angliss aimed to maximise the car beneath him during his ten-minute qualifying segment that afternoon, however an unfortunate red flag stoppage would rule out his potential fastest lap. A solid time before though, plus the efforts of Lake in his session, secured them top six starts for Sunday’s races.

The opening race began in nightmare fashion, as a last-minute issue with a wheel forced them to start from the pitlane. This was compounded by a malfunction with the light at the end of the pitlane, which meant Lake was left sitting there for longer than required.

Eventually taking to the track over 20 seconds behind the back of the pack, they needed a safety car intervention to bunch the field back together and salvage their race. It didn’t materialise though, meaning that despite their best efforts on track, they had to settle for a fifth place finish in the Pro-Am class.

Angliss was determined to bounce back and impress in race two though. The 22-year-old talent, who races with the crucial support of YorPower, Transend UK and TOPDON UK, did exactly that as he charged forward from fifth overall and fourth in class on the grid.

Holding position in the early stages, Angliss began to pile pressure on the sister Ginetta of Joe Wheeler and looked to create an overtaking opportunity. Whilst continuing to target a move up the order, he also had to keep an eye on the mirrors as GT3 cars came through.

An incident ahead promoted Angliss up to third in class and his raw speed was on show as he started to close the gap to the championship-leading McLaren ahead. An impressive stint came to an end at the 35-minute mark, as he handed over control to his team-mate.

Lake emerged from the pitstop cycle in a brilliant second place overall in the GT4 ranks. With a comfortable gap to the pack behind, they were on course for a first podium finish of the season before an unfortunate drive-through penalty for track limits infringements dropped them to a fourth place class finish.

Blake Angliss: “We’ve been chasing our tail a bit throughout the weekend unfortunately, looking to make progress on the car setup and fixing some small issues along the way. We made some good steps forward though and the pace we showed in the final race was hugely encouraging.

“I was really pleased with my stint in the final race, as it was my first chance to show my true pace. The car was feeling racy and I was quicker than the two cars ahead of me, including the championship leaders. It was just a shame we picked up that penalty, as we were on course for second in GT4.

“That first podium finish of the season will come soon though. Mahiki Racing and Ginetta have been working very hard with the car and we’re starting to see the reward for that, so I’m excited to see what we can do next time out. Thank you to Mahiki and my partners for giving me this opportunity.”

Angliss now has his sights set on the penultimate round of the 2025 British GT Championship season, which takes place next month (23/24 August) on the world-famous Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit in Kent.

Images from Jakob Ebrey Photography.