Donington Park hosted the fourth round of the competitive British GT Championship. Set in the Derbyshire countryside the inclement British weather promised the racing was going to be an exciting prospect. We were not disappointed!
Three GT3 entries, one from Beechdean and two from Blackthorn, along with the two GT4 Forsetti entries meant that five Astons competed. Beechdean struggled in practice and qualifying, starting in seventh place. Sunday’s race, with rain falling hard on the warmup lap, resulted in the original start being abandoned. The race resumed in the dry and the Aston made up three places to fourth position.
After successfully pitting, a heavy downpour sent seven cars aquaplaning off the track and the race was red-flagged for 45 minutes for the race conditions to improve. Clever team strategy had reduced Beechdean’s pitstop requirements which placed them in a strong position. The Aston worked its way up to second place with some great driving but ultimately lost one place leading to a third position in the Silver-Am class. Congratulations to drivers Andrew Howard and Jessica Hawkins in her career best third place. The leading Blackthorn car of Petrobelli/Adam finished ninth overall.
The #78 Barwell Lamborghini took the chequered flag 0.6 s ahead of the Optimum McLaren.
Hampered with a Balance of Performance restriction, Forsetti were set a tough challenge for the weekend. Qualifying resulted in an impressive second place in class and ninth position in GT4. Six manufacturers in the top ten meant that a competitive GT4 race was to come. With the same weather conditions affecting everyone, an incredible battle ensued with pitstop strategy, penalties and slick tyre change timings all playing their part.
The race concluded with the #47 car taking Pro-Am win and the second position overall in GT4. The #7 car finished fifth in the Silver class and seventh in GT4. Forsetti retain their overall championship lead with the Aston proving to be a very competitive package.
Nearing the halfway point the next round will be held at Spa on the weekend of 21–23 June.
The IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge always provides very exciting and competitive GT4 racing. Congratulations to the #88 Archangel Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage for an overall win. In fact, Vantages made it a 1-2-4-5 finish. A competitive car, great driving, and a clever fuel strategy made the difference.
In Japan the Vantage GT3 Evo recorded its first major international win in the GT300 class in the highly rated Super GT series at Suzuka on 2 June. Credit to the D’Station team on this achievement.
The FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) saw Porsche take a 1–2 finish in the LMGT3 class. The Astons of the Heart of Racing Team and D’Station Racing finished eleventh and seventh in class respectively. They will be hoping for better results in this highly competitive class as they next head to the Circuit de La Sarthe for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.