The British GT Championship moves into the final stretch of the season this weekend as the field heads to a Donington Park event that’s not a #DoningtonDecider, but could well determine who heads into the Brands Hatch finale with the title within their reach.
There’s no titles that can be wrapped up this weekend in either GT3 or GT4, but there’s action aplenty so to make sure you don’t miss a thing make sure you read our preview.
GT3
Pre-Snetterton, it was Barwell Motorsport’s Alex Martin and Jarrod Waberski who were in the prime position, but a weekend to forget in Norfolk has allowed Optimum Motorsport’s Morgan Tillbrook and Ben Barnicoat to capitalise. Nabbing two wins, and an additional podium, in the last four races has catapulted them above the 100-point mark on 105.5.
That puts the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo racers 13.5 points ahead of Martin and Waberski, but with 75 points still to play for it’s only the slenderest of margins. Especially when you consider there’s plenty of crews also within mathematical contention and well up for the fight.
None more so than Orange Racing with JMH’s Simon Orange and Marcus Clutton. A string of two seconds and a third in the last three races has put them on 89 points, just three behind the Barwell crew. And with a decisive title run-in in store, who better to have in your corner than Clutton? A man never known for giving anything less than 100% every time he gets behind the wheel of the team’s McLaren.
Although, just four points behind is the second Barwell pair of Rob Collard and Hugo Cook. They’re four points further back in fourth, and Rob is the only previous British GT champion among the crews above them; if anyone can use that experience to make the difference it’s the man behind the wheel of the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2.
But if it’s previous champions you want, then that’s what you’ll get. Beechdean AMR’s Andrew Howard and Ross Gunn have won various British GT titles: Howard a GT3 crown, Gunn GT4, and what could be better than Andrew to start his retirement with another crown to add his trophy cabinet? Third at Snetterton shows they still know how to sniff out the silverware, but they’ve got a decent points deficit to overhaul.
The same applies to Jonathan Beeson and Charles Clark in their Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 Evo. Their second at Silverstone, banking full points because of the non-points scoring status of Garnet Patterson and Yasser Shahin, has been the brightest spark of the season so far and they’ll need to recapture that form if they’re going to drag themselves back into title contention.
Away from the championship fight, British GT is a few cars short this weekend. Paddock Motorsport’s McLaren driven by Martin Plowman and Mark Smith has elected to skip this round “following the events of the last round at Snetterton” according to an Instagram post.
Also missing is the second Orange Racing with JMH McLaren that Steven Lake used to race with Mahiki as well as Ben Green, who’s place at 2 Seas Motorsport alongside Kevin Tse will be filled by Chris Lulham at both Donington and the Brands Hatch finale.
GT4
If you thought things were tight in GT3, you couldn’t get a cigarette paper between the top four in GT4 after a double-header at Snetterton which has caused all sorts of changes in the standings.
After a win, but a mechanically-enforced retirement, Innovation Racing’s Thomas Holland and Hadley Simpson have slipped from the lead to second as a fourth podium of the season for MK Racing’s Jessica Hawkins and Will Orton has put them up to the top by just 1.5 points.
They are on 106 in their Aston Martin, whilst Innovation’s Ginetta racers are on 104.5. In theory, a title could be awarded if Simpson/Holland have a repeat of their Snetterton nightmare and other results go against the competition but if anything, things could become even tighter.
Go back 4.5 points, and you’ll find Century Motorsport’s Jack Collins and Branden Templeton. The BMW pair have taken a win and a third in a season where they’ve consistently banked points without ever being outright spectacular. Sometimes though, that’s all it takes to write your names into the history books.
History makes would be the title applied to Darren Turner and Daniel Lavery. The first of the Pro-Am crews, it’s the latter’s first season of racing in British GT and after a Silverstone DNF, the Grange Racing by FSR pair have bounced back in fine style with two wins and a second in the last four races to put them on 98.5 points. They’re in a stronger position in the Pro-Am competition, 20 points ahead of Jack Mitchell and Luke Shaw, and could well clinch that honour in the East Midlands.
On 84.5 points is the last of our contenders with a decent position in the title chasers. A victory alongside new co-driver George Gamble at Snetterton, has put Josh Stanton into the championship battle. With Gamble remaining in the Optimum Motorsport McLaren Artura for the rest of the season, the pair could well make it a double celebration for the squad if they can show the sort of pace Tillbrook and Barnicoat are displaying in GT3.
There’s changes in this category too, albeit a more positive one as Innovation Racing enters another Ginetta for Sam Branston and James Wareing, who have been setting the GT Cup’s GTH category alight in the same Ginetta G56 GT4 Evo they’ll be racing this weekend.
There’ll be a driver change too. Ronan Pearson’s illness that ruled him out of Snetterton, and saw him replaced by Jonny Adam, is seemingly still lingering. We wish him well and hopefully he’s back in the car soon. But this weekend, with Adam racing for Heart of Racing Team in the FIA WEC at the Circuit of the Americas, the second seat alongside John Hartshorne is yet to be confirmed.
This weekend’s two-hour test around the Donington Park Grand Prix circuit gets underway at 1.30pm UK time.
BRITISH GT DONINGTON | LATEST NEWS | ENTRY LIST | PREVIEW
