BRITISH GT & GINETTA THRILL AT DONINGTON PARK SEASON OPENER
2 Seas’ Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss converted pole position into their first British GT3 Championship wins in the season opener at Donington where Jack Brown began his GT4 title defence with class victory alongside new Optimum co-driver Marc Warren.
1.1s separated the #42 Mercedes-AMG from Sandy Mitchell’s charging Barwell Lamborghini, which threatened to derail an otherwise faultless performance in the final 10 minutes. 2 Seas’ second entry completed the overall podium courtesy of Kevin Tse and Maximilian Götz.
GT3 Silver-Am spoils went the way of Beechdean AMR’s Andrew Howard and Tom Wood.
Further back, Warren and Brown took GT4 top spot by 13s from Century duo Ravi Ramyead and Charlie Robertson whose five-second post-race penalty wasn’t enough to promote Endurance Cup winners Ed McDermott and Seb Morris (Team Parker) into the class’ overall runners-up spot.
But the result might have been very different had Mahiki’s erstwhile pole winning Lotus not been disqualified from qualifying. Aiden Neate starred in the opening stint en route from 10th to first, but the extra pitstop time incurred by Silver crews ultimately limited his and Josh Miller’s Emira to fifth overall.
GT3
2 Seas’ duo surprised many by their pace in qualifying, but any hopes Dawson and Jewiss had of disappearing into the distance were dashed by a Safety Car period that ended 10 minutes before GT3’s driver changes could begin.
Barwell’s Lamborghini initially driven by Alex Martin, who relieved Tse of second at turn one on the opening lap, also kept Dawson within sight throughout the opening stint. The gap between them ebbed and flowed but had settled at around four seconds when Giacomo Petrobelli’s contact with Mahiki’s #88 Lotus necessitated a long Full Course Yellow period and subsequent Safety Car.
Dawson had largely re-established his advantage before swapping with Jewiss, who rejoined ahead of Mitchell, Götz, Marvin Kirchhöfer, Marcus Clutton and Sam Neary.
Much of the top six remained unchanged thereafter. Nevertheless, the fight for victory wasn’t settled until the final lap.
Mitchell initially closed down Jewiss before dropping around two seconds back, confident that he would have the pace to go again towards the end of the race. And, sure enough, the Huracan – which had already set fastest lap – was back within a second 10 minutes from the finish.
That became a nose-to-tail 0.5s as the final lap approached. But if Jewiss felt any pressure it didn’t show on track, and his position was never seriously challenged before the chequered flag fell.
Götz took the final podium place another 10s back after circulating with Kirchhöfer and Optimum’s McLaren, which – in Morgan Tillbrook’s hands – had consolidated fourth place before the pitstops.
Petrobelli’s spin after the contact initially helped Simon Orange to move into fifth. But although his co-driver Clutton re-joined in the same position, a drive-through for exceeding the Full Course Yellow speed limit initially dropped the Orange/JMH McLaren to seventh. Worse was to come post-race, however, when the car was disqualified for a parc ferme infringement. The team has appealed the stewards’ decision.
Those issues helped Abba’s Mercedes-AMG shared by Richard and Sam Neary to complete the final top five, Matt Topham and Hugo Cook to finish sixth in Barwell’s second Lamborghini, and the Silver-Am winning Aston Martin – which enjoyed an entertaining scrap with Bridger’s Honda in the opening stint – to come home seventh.
Paddock’s 720S featuring Mark Smith and Martin Plowman took eighth despite a differential issue and damaged floor hindering their performance.
GT4
He may be racing in a different class this year, but reigning GT4 champion Jack Brown produced a familiar result as he and new co-driver Marc Warren put in a controlled performance to guide their Optimum McLaren to victory.
Despite switching across to Pro-Am for this season, Brown was still able to celebrate his ninth career GT4 win after issues befell the car’s Silver rivals and effectively handed the momentum to the Pro-Am crews.
First, the Mahiki Lotus of Aiden Neate and Josh Miller that was set to start from pole was demoted to the back of the grid for a parc ferme infringement. Then when Harry George and Luca Hopkinson’s Artura suffered gearbox trouble on the opening lap it left the way clear for Warren and Brown to take centre stage.
Warren found himself in an early lead and made the most of it, driving superbly to forge a gap of almost 10 seconds over his pursuers before a Full Course Yellow and resulting Safety Car wrecked his work.
While Warren was comfortable out front, all eyes were on Neate over the early stages as he toiled to bring the #84 Lotus back up the order. He was fifth by lap three, inside the top three by lap 15 and eventually snatched second with a brave move on the brakes into the chicane against Ravi Ramyead’s #71 Century BMW just before the yellow flags came out.
The Safety Car moved Neate right onto Warren’s tail when racing resumed, and he duly completed a back-to-front performance by snatching the lead into Redgate. However, it would be short lived as the car would still have to serve its additional 24 seconds of Silver time in the pits, which handed the initiative back to Optimum.
The leaders pitted together. But Brown rejoined comfortably ahead and eased clear – via fastest lap – to score his second Donington win in as many seasons. Ramyead, meanwhile, swapped with Charlie Robertson who maintained the pair’s comfortable second place despite picking up a five-second penalty for contact under Full Course Yellow.
Ed McDermott and Seb Morris drove a largely flawless race to complete the overall podium and secure British GT’s first-ever Endurance Cup victory in their Team Parker Racing Mercedes-AMG. Team-mates Jon Currie and Phil Keen were next up in the sister car.
Josh Miller took the Mahiki Lotus over from Neate and fought to fifth overall as well as Silver class victory. And Rob Boston Racing’s Porsche shared by Jamie Orton and Will Burns completed the top six despite losing time early on to a drive-through.
GINETTA GT CHAMPIONSHIP (written by Ginetta)
Archie Clark secured a sensational double victory as a new era for the Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT Championship got underway with the 2025 season opener at Donington Park (05/06 April).
The opening race of the season that afternoon saw Simpson get the jump over the line to lead into Redgate for the first time. Taylor and Clark ran side-by-side over the first half of the lap, with the latter emerging in front and setting his sights on the leader ahead.
The top two ran in close proximity for a number of laps before a dramatic moment saw Simpson slow on circuit. Ginetta Junior graduate Clark swept past into the lead as Simpson fell down the order, eventually able to get going again and slotting back into 13th place overall.
Clark took full advantage of the opportunity and led every remaining lap on his way to his maiden Ginetta race victory. Gamble climbed up to second place overall and the PRO-AM class win, having successfully fended off late pressure from pole-sitter Taylor.
Robert Cronin (Elite Motorsport) and Jack Collins (E3 Sport) completed the top five overall to secure PRO podium finishes alongside Clark. The AM honours went the way of Shaw, with a close battle for second in class seeing Dominic Paul (Triple M Motorsport) edge out Peter Mangion (Elite Motorsport) and Carl Garnett (Breakell Racing).
In front of those three was PRO runner Cameron Pratt-Thompson (SVG Motorsport) and Nick White. After being spun out of fourth place on the opening lap, White put in a supreme fightback drive to charge from 20th to eighth overall, securing third in PRO-AM in the process.
Alex Duncan (Xentek Motorsport) finished 12th overall in his first ever car race ahead of Ali Juffali (Elite Motorsport). Simpson ended up classified 14th and fifth in the PRO class after recovering from his issue, classified ahead of AM pair Colin White (CWS Engineering) and James Townsend (SVG Motorsport).
A format change for the 2025 season sees the second and final GT Championship race of the weekend become a 40-minute endurance race featuring a mandatory pitstop. Taylor started from pole position again for this milestone race, with Simpson alongside him.
The front-row starters were leapfrogged on the run to Redgate for the first time though, with Nick White squeezing down the inside to take the race lead. Cronin followed him through for second, with a tough opening lap for Taylor seeing him slip back to sixth place.
Collins enjoyed a strong opening lap to climb from seventh to fourth behind Simpson, while Paul briefly grabbed the AM class lead in the pack behind before a wide moment at the Esses opened the door for Shaw and Emma Tomlinson to move into the top two places in class.
A driver on the move in the early stages was race one victor Clark, who passed Collins for fourth and then set the fastest lap of the race as he hunted down those ahead. Simpson and Cronin were his next victims, with slick moves down the Craner Curves on consecutive laps earning him second place.
Clark set his sights on Nick White at the front of the field next and when the pitstop window opened, he was the first to dive in and serve his mandatory stop. Rapid laps when he returned to the action ensured he moved into the race lead when his rivals completed their stops.
It was Simpson who emerged in second place overall, having passed Cronin on the road before jumping White in the pitlane. That came due to a pitstop that was timed shorter than the minimum 75-second regulation though, earning him a 33 second penalty to be added to his race time.
As Clark comfortably completed his double victory for the weekend, Simpson crossed the finish line in second but was demoted back to eighth with his penalty applied. PRO-AM class winner Nick White was therefore classified second overall, with Cronin and Collins completing the PRO top three behind.
Taylor and Gamble picked up PRO-AM trophies as they rounded out the top six overall, while Shaw secured a dominant AM victory in seventh. In that class, an exciting battle in the closing laps saw Emma Tomlinson (DTO Motorsport) make a move stick on Juffali into Goddards for second position.
Paul came home 11th overall ahead of Duncan, those two finishing fourth in AM and PRO-AM respectively, while Ginetta veteran Colin White finished fifth in AM. Amy Tomlinson (Raceway Motorsport) was sixth in that class ahead of Townsend.
Mangion and Garnett fought back to eighth and ninth in AM respectively, having been caught up in a first corner incident with Pratt-Thompson that led to his retirement, while Fox Motorsport duo James Rolling and Oliver Fordham completed the race finishers to sign off their debut Ginetta weekend.
GINETTA GT ACADEMY (written by Ginetta)
Charlie Digby and Jamie Caudle secured their maiden Ginetta GT Academy victories during an entertaining 2025 season opener at Donington Park (05/06 April).
Digby converted pole into his first-ever Ginetta victory in an action-packed opening race. After the original start was red-flagged due to an unfortunate incident for Louis Darling (MDD Racing) at the chicane, the race restarted with Digby fending off Deighton into Redgate.
A spin for Sapra into the gravel behind led to a short safety car period. When the action resumed, Caudle was immediately on the offensive and passed Deighton for second at Melbourne. Digby was two seconds clear at that stage, leaving Caudle to settle for second.
Deighton fended off late pressure from Nicholas to secure a podium on his Ginetta debut, while one of the drives of the race came from Sam Shrimpton (W2R). From 11th at the full race restart, the PalmerSport Ginetta scholarship winner charged forward to sixth in just a single lap.
A move on Mike West (E3 Sport) after the safety car secured him an eventual finish of fifth and with it the rookie class victory, with West completing the top six. Joe Edge (W2R) was on course for seventh on his debut until an unfortunate incident with Peter Thompson (W2R) on the last lap.
Paul Livesey (MDD Racing) and Phil McGarty (Xentek Motorsport) took advantage to move up to seventh and eighth respectively. Nick Ponting (W2R) impressed on his return to Ginetta racing to finish ninth ahead of E3 Sport pair Robin Grimwood and reigning GTA champion Julian Wantling.
Allan Wright (W2R) benefitted from the late drama to move up to second in the rookies, with Edge recovering to third in class behind. Lucie Hodgson was in the group battling for the top six early on before an unfortunate moment lost her ground, leaving her 14th at the finish ahead of her W2R team-mate Damien Duffy.
Caudle started the second race of the weekend from pole position courtesy of posting the best second-fastest time in qualifying. He fended off a challenge from Digby into the first corner to maintain his advantage, while Livesey moved ahead of Sapra for third on the opening lap.
Deighton and Nicholas made early progress into the top six from eighth and tenth on the grid respectively, before both working their way past Sapra at Redgate on lap three. Next time round, a spin for Livesey from third left him stranded at the Old Hairpin and he was collected by the unfortunate West.
After a short safety car period, the action resumed with Caudle leading from Digby, Deighton, Nicholas and Sapra. Darling took the restart in sixth, but a moment into Redgate sadly ended his race in the gravel trap, promoting Ponting into the top six ahead of Wantling.
At the front, Digby made a challenge for the lead down the inside into Mcleans but ran wide on the exit, allowing Caudle back through. That gave the leader a gap at the front and he held it to the chequered flag for his maiden GT Academy win, with Digby coming home second.
Nicholas worked his way past Deighton late on to complete the GTA top three, with Sapra holding the rookie advantage throughout for his maiden class win in fifth. Wantling put in a charging drive from 14th on the grid to finish sixth, having enjoyed a close tussle with Shrimpton in the closing laps.
Thompson bounced back from late race one drama to put in a brilliant drive from 19th on the grid to ninth overall behind Ponting, while Grimwood made late progress to grab the final spot in the top ten. Edge finished third of the rookies on the road, however he was disqualified post-race for a safety car infringement, promoting Wright to the class podium.
With the race two result setting the grid for the final encounter, Caudle and Digby lined up on the front row on Sunday afternoon. The pole-sitter maintained the lead through Redgate for the first time, with Nicholas slotting into third as Ponting shot from eighth to fourth in the opening few corners.
Caudle’s advantage was short-lived however as Digby dived down the inside into Melbourne on lap two and secured the lead. Nicholas followed him through for second, but Caudle hit back at Redgate next time round to regain the position.
As those two continued to battle behind, Digby enjoyed a comfortable run to his second win of the weekend. After almost making a move stick into Melbourne on lap five, Nicholas successfully picked off Caudle at Mcleans on the next lap to secure second place at the chequered flag.
Ponting signed off his impressive return to Ginetta racing with a fourth-place finish ahead of Deighton, while Shrimpton secured his second rookie class win of the weekend in sixth overall. Wantling was next up ahead of Sapra, who doubled his rookie podium tally for the day.
Thompson and Livesey were the two big movers of the race, climbing up from 14th and 17th on the grid respectively to complete the top ten. McGarty was in the thick of the action on his way to 11th, while Darling signed off a tricky debut weekend with a hard-fought 12th place finish and rookie podium.
Ben Cooke (W2R) was another driver to have ended a mixed weekend on a high note in 13th ahead of E3 Sport pair West and Grimwood. Edge finished fourth of the rookies in 16th overall, with his W2R stablemates Hodgson, Wright and Duffy completing the race finishers.
In the Chairmans Cup, a class for drivers over the age of 45, Deighton took a clean sweep of class victories across the three races. Wantling and Thompson celebrated double podium finishes, with West and Livesey also taking home class trophies.
GINETTA JUNIORS (written by Ginetta)
Rocco Coronel and Alfie Slater shared the wins as the 20th anniversary season of the Ginetta Junior Championship got underway with three thrilling races at Donington Park (05/06 April).
The opening race that afternoon laid down a marker for the season ahead, with an enthralling encounter featuring close-fought action throughout the grid. At the front of the field, a brilliant three-way battle for victory played out between Green, Lindblom and Slater.
The fight began straight from the off, with Lindblom grabbing the lead from Green on the run to Mcleans, before Slater moved ahead exiting the Esses to finish off lap one in front. Slater would go on to lead from Lindblom and Green through an early safety car period.
Soon after the action restarted, Green grabbed second from Lindblom heading out of Coppice. He stuck to the rear bumper of Slater out front and got a run exiting the Old Hairpin on the penultimate lap, but the leader was able to hold on and went on to secure his maiden race victory.
That result saw him follow in his older brother Freddie’s footsteps as a Junior race-winner, making them only the fourth set of siblings ever to enjoy wins in the championship. Behind, Lindblom put in a good challenge for second place on the final lap, but Green held him off to take the rookie class win.
Fantastic early action came in the battle for fourth place, with Coronel, Byrne and then Cronin holding the position prior to the safety car. Cronin maintained control of that group after the restart, with battling between Coronel and Byrne allowing Joseph Smith (Elite Motorsport) to slip past both.
Cronin, Smith and Coronel went on to complete the top six at the chequered flag, while Byrne dropped back to tenth by the finish. Max Cuthbert (R Racing) came home seventh ahead of Felix Livesey (MDD Racing), however the latter was disqualified post-race due to a technical infringement.
Ethan Lennon (Pace Performance) completed an impressive debut in eighth place, while a stunning opening race performance from Freddie Lloyd (Fox Motorsport) saw him charge through the field from 27th on the grid to ninth in the final result.
Jarrett Clark (R Racing) emerged from a close-fought battle in 11th ahead of George Proudford-Nalder (MDD Racing) and Harry Bartle (MKH Racing), though Proudford-Nalder was another to be disqualified post-race. Emmilio Del Grosso (Elite Motorsport) finished up 13th on the final result therefore ahead of Felipe Reijs (R Racing).
Henry Cameron (Fox Motorsport) moved up five places from his grid position to finish 15th ahead of Noah Young, Raul Zunzarren and Mahlori Mabunda – drivers representing three new teams on the grid for 2025; Performance One, MKH Racing and RAB Sport respectively.
The teenage talents kicked off the racing on Sunday and served up another entertaining encounter. Slater started on pole and led the field through Redgate for the first time ahead of Coronel, Cronin, Lindblom, Green and Byrne.
The top six broke away in the early laps, leaving behind a close battle for seventh. Smith held the place in the early laps before being picked off by Cuthbert and Livesey, the latter having risen from 12th on the grid to eighth inside the opening three laps.
An incident towards the bottom of the top 20 resulted in the safety car being introduced on lap four. When racing resumed soon after, the lead group were bunched together again and Coronel took full advantage to dive down the inside of Slater into Melbourne for the race lead.
Fellow Red Bull ace Lindblom attempted to follow him through, but contact with Slater spun them both around. As Coronel led, the order shuffled behind with Green emerging in second ahead of Byrne, Smith, Cronin, Livesey and Cuthbert with three laps to go.
Coronel comfortably stayed out front to the chequered flag for his maiden car-racing victory ahead of Green. Smith grabbed third at Mcleans on the final lap, but Byrne hit back into Melbourne to secure both his and Pace Performance’s maiden podium finish in the championship.
Lennon impressively picked off both Cronin and Cuthbert on the final lap to finish fifth overall, with Livesey having unfortunately dropped out of that pack on the penultimate lap. Lloyd completed another phenomenal drive through the field behind, going from 27th to eighth on this occasion.
Having dropped back to 15th after his incident, Slater was able to make some quick progress back to ninth in the closing laps. Young was another driver on a charge through the race, going from 23rd on the grid to a top ten finish ahead of Del Grosso, Reijs and Clark.
Ethan Carney (Elite Motorsport), Bartle and Proudford-Nalder were in the battle for the top ten before a late incident dropped them to 18th, 19th and 24th respectively. Ntiyiso Mabunda (RAB Sport) made good progress through the race from 21st to 14th ahead of Zunzarren, Revie Lake (Elite Motorsport) and a recovering Lindblom.
The race two result set the grid for the final race of the weekend, meaning Coronel lined up on pole position. The Dutch ace converted that into the early lead ahead of Green and Byrne, while a brilliant opening lap from Slater saw him climb through from ninth on the grid to fourth.
A technical issue for Green dropped him out of second place soon after, meaning that it was Byrne and Slater aiming to close down a one-second gap to Coronel out front when the safety car came out. The action would resume with a final two-lap shootout to the chequered flag.
Slater shot past Byrne heading out of Coppice on the penultimate lap but was unable to mount a challenge on Coronel, who completed his double win for the day. Last lap fighting for third saw Cuthbert dive down the inside of Byrne into Melbourne, sending both wide.
Lloyd tried to take advantage and nip past both of them, but Cuthbert fought back at the final corner to complete an R Racing lockout of the overall podium. Lloyd completed a stunning debut weekend in fourth, with Byrne eventually slipping back to sixth behind Cronin.
Clark and Del Grosso made good progress in the race to secure their best results of the weekend in seventh and eighth respectively, while Lennon recovered from an early off-track moment to finish ninth. One of the drives of the race came from Bartle, who fought forward from 19th to his maiden top ten finish.
After pitting with bonnet damage in the early laps, Smith benefitted from the safety car period to rejoin the back of the field and sensationally moved up 11 places in just two laps to finish 11th. Another big mover was Josh Watts (Tim Gray Motorsport), charging forward from 26th to 12th through the race.
Proudford-Nalder and Livesey had climbed from 24th and 25th on the grid respectively to the fringes of the top ten, however a late incident with Lindblom led to an early conclusion for both MDD Racing drivers and a 20th place finish for Lindblom.
Tim Gray Motorsport duo Joshua Henry and Matthew Chiwara ended their debut weekends with breakthrough points finishes in 17th and 18th respectively, while their team-mate Katrina Ee just missed out on points of her own with a best result of 21st in the opening encounter.
In the Freshmans Cup, a class for car-racing rookies with no previous national-level karting experience, Cameron picked up a pair of victories. Young secured a win of his own too, while Lake and Proudford-Nalder also took home class trophies across the weekend.
