British GT Championship - Round 6 - Donington Park Park Weekend Report

The penultimate round of the British GT Championship at Donington Park proved to be an exceptional show of dominance from the Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini crews, taking victory, and extending their points lead significantly into the finale.

With the British GT Championship heading to the end of the 2024 season, there were multiple additional entries, a few unfortunate missing entries, as well as some highly anticipated changes…​

In the GT3 class, #14 Century Motorsport duo of Dan Harper and Michael Johnston were missing, they have not competed in the championship since the Donington Park round in May. Multiple McLaren GT3’s were absent, including the #2 of Team RJN, the #24 from Race Lab, as well as the #67 of Orange Racing powered by JMH, the latter due to driver Simon Orange deciding to focus on recovery and rehabilitation from a serious incident at the Spa-Francorchamps round earlier in the year. They also missed the previous Snetterton round in July.

Unfortunately, Mercedes-AMG turned BMW factory driver Raffaele Marciello took the decision to withdraw from the remaining two rounds of the championship, citing reasons of the working conditions not being suitable for the Swiss-Italian star. Instead, Max Hesse has taken the incumbent seat in the #15 RAM Racing BMW M4 GT3 alongside John Ferguson. Porsche returned to the British GT Championship for the first time since the 2023 Silverstone 500 round as a one-off by Team Parker Racing, however the last time a Porsche ran in the series full-time was in 2022, where it was the previous generation 991 GT3. 2 Seas Motorsport operated the car, which was driven by Ian Loggie and Phil Keen.

​Meanwhile, in GT4 there were additional entries from Xentek Motorsport, Breakell Racing and Team Parker Racing, running a Porsche Cayman GT4 and two Mercedes-AMG GT4’s. The Toyota Supra GT4 from Toyota Gazoo Racing UK was withdrawn before the weekend due to an accident during mid-week testing.

Photo: SRO/JEP

QUALIFYING

Qualifying took place on Saturday, just after a rain shower, so there were a lot of tentative decisions from teams whether to go on wet or slick tyres for qualifying one. In the first GT3 qualifying session, Kevin Tse excelled in the #18 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo setting a time of 1:27.318, who was closely followed by the two Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini’s of Rob Collard and Alex Martin in second and third respectively. Matt Topham in the #10 Blackthorn Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo took the Silver-Am pole, in fifth position overall. ​When the professional’s stepped into the cars for qualifying two, Max Hesse set the fastest time of a 1:25.645, which vaulted the #15 RAM Racing BMW M4 GT3 to P5 overall on aggregate times. Even though Hesse had the fastest lap time, the fastest aggregate time was snatched by the #63 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 of father-and-son duo Ricky and Rob Collard. Josh Rowledge and Matt Topham scored a pole position in the Silver-Am class.

In GT4 qualifying one, championship hopeful Jack Brown in the #90 Optimum Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4 set the fastest lap with a 1:34.265, with Aston Millar second, and Mikey Porter third. Brown was under investigation for cutting the pit entry at the end of the session, and was later penalised with a two place grid penalty. American power of the #62 Academy Motorsport Ford Mustang GT4 took the fastest time in qualifying two in the hands of Matt Nicoll-Jones, which on aggregate times placed the car in P5. GT4 pole was taken by Jamie Day and Mikey Porter in the #7 Forsetti Motorsport Aston Martin, while the sister car took Pro-Am honours with Will Orton and Marc Warren in #47.

Photo: SRO/JEP

RACE

The race started with sixteen GT3 cars, and eighteen GT4 cars to blast around the legendary Donington Park, where a good start from the #63 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini of Rob Collard, meanwhile just behind the #15 RAM Racing BMW M4 GT3, #18 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG, and #78 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini went three wide into Redgate, and unfortunate contact between the #15 and #18 resulted in the Mercedes-AMG of Kevin Tse beaching himself in the gravel. Mark Smith in the #9 Paddock Motorsport McLaren 720s GT3 Evo went off track into the gravel while taking avoiding action of the stuck Mercedes, however rejoined the track at the back of the GT3 field. Fortunately there was no safety car, just localised yellow flags at turn one, which meant that the  field could continue racing without any interruption.

At the Old Hairpin, the championship contenders of #90 Optimum Motorsport and #47 Forsetti Motorsport made contact, forcing the Aston Martin #47 with Marc Warren off track and to glide across the gravel, making his return to the track close to the back. Marc Warren shortly came into the pits with some rear end damage. Just a couple laps later, Mike Price, Giacomo Petrobelli, Morgan Tillbrook and Mark Radcliffe started battling for P4 overall, meanwhile the #15 RAM Racing BMW of John Ferguson unfortunately slowed after McLean’s, and came to a stop off track on Starkey’s Straight, retiring the car due to a drive-shaft failure.

Fifteen minutes into the two hour race, the #27 Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720s GT3 Evo of Mark Radcliffe dived on the inside of Matt Topham in the #10 Blackthorn Aston Martin GT3 at the Goddards Hairpin. Both cars sustained some damage, but the #27 was forced to pit just a few laps later, and did not go back out on track. Stewards investigated the incident, and if the Optimum Motorsport McLaren was to return to the track, they would have to serve a stop and go penalty.

The GT4 lead battle was constant from the green lights, until around forty minutes in, when Aston Millar in the #56 DTO Motorsport Ginetta G56 GT4 Evo took the lead from Mikey Porter in the #7 Forsetti Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT4 Evo at the Melbourne Hairpin, unfortunately the Aston Martin dropped further and further as the race went on.

Photo: SRO/JEP

With an hour and sixteen minutes remaining, Alex Martin suffered a front left puncture, and had to pit to replace the tyre. Martin rejoined the race in sixth position, behind Ian Loggie in the 2 Seas Motorsport Porsche. When the GT4 pit window opened, Mark Smith in the #9 Paddock Motorsport McLaren GT3 was hit and spun at the exit of the Goddards Hairpin by Morgan Tillbrook in the #77 Garage 59 McLaren GT3. Multiple other cars were forced to take avoiding action, since the car was stopped in the middle of the track, and Morgan Tillbrook was given a 10 second stop and go penalty by the race stewards for causing the incident.

After the GT4 pit stops had been completed, Charlie Robertson in the #71 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 led the way, with the #56 DTO Motorsport Ginetta of Freddie Tomlinson behind by seventeen seconds. Ravi Ramyead had a very clean and good first stint, and due to not having any compensation time to serve during the pitstops, handed the car to Roberston in the perfect position. - Penalties for multiple GT4 cars had to be served due to pit speed violations, or pit stop times, notably the #61 Academy Motorsport Ford Mustang GT4 of Erik Evans.

A full course yellow was called with around twenty-five minutes remaining, Tomlinson went into the tyre wall at the Melbourne Hairpin, due to a brake failure. A large repair effort was required for the tyre wall, and this caused a lengthy full course yellow, then safety car period. Ricky Collard was leading the race at the time, with Jonny Adam only a few seconds behind, but with a GT4 between them. As the clock counted down, with just less than two minutes remaining, the safety car came into the pits, letting Collard get a sizable advantage over Adam, who could not overtake the GT4 car until they both crossed the timing line.

On the penultimate lap of the race, Sam Neary in the #8 Team Abba Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, which was leading in the Silver-Am class, as well as third overall went into the tyre wall at McLean’s, due to a tyre blowout. Fortunately, the race remained green, with localised yellows, resulting in Barwell Motorsport and the Collard’s taking their second win of the 2024 season.

Photo: SRO/JEP

BARWELL EXTENDS THEIR LEAD

Ricky and Rob Collard lead the overall GT3 championship by 24.5 points over their sister car of Alex Martin and Sandy Mitchell, who took a fourth position finish at Donington Park. With a maximum of 37.5 points available in the final round, mathematically there are only three championship contenders heading to Brands Hatch.

With a third position finish, Shaun Balfe and Adam Smalley in the #59 Garage 59 McLaren 720s GT3 Evo are just thirty-six points behind the #63 of the Collard’s, meaning they would have to win at Brands Hatch, while both Barwell Motorsport cars would have to retire or not score points, this is unlikely after a pretty dominant season for the Lamborghini’s.

On the other hand, the overall GT4 championship is a lot closer, with just 3.5 points from first to second, and just 7.5 points from first to third. Jamie Day and Mikey Porter lead from Jack Brown and Zac Meakin, then Charles Dawson and Seb Morris, the latter aiming to win the GT4 championship, and would be the second driver to score a championship in both GT3 and GT4 after Rick Parfitt Jr.

The GT3 Silver-Am championship has already been decided, with Balfe and Smalley being crowned earlier after the Snetterton races, as well as the GT4 Teams’ Championship going to the debuting Forsetti Motorsport team.

A TITLE DECIDER

The final round of the 2024 British GT Championship will see a two hour decider at Brands Hatch on the 28th - 29th September.