For the second year running, Donington Park proved to be the perfect venue for the final race of the British GT season; the fast flowing circuit – and the ever challenging Grand Prix loop – again producing two hours of action, drama and controversy.
Matt Bell and Mark Patterson took a hard-fought and fully deserved win in the #25 United Autosport Audi R8 LMS ultra, and were looking like Champions-elect against all the odds with half an hour remaining.
However, late race penalties for the #8 888Optimum BMW and the #9 Von Ryan McLaren dropped them behind the Beechdean Aston Martin Vantage of Jonny Adam, leaving the Scot in fourth place at the end; a position good enough to produce a very popular Champion in the form of Adam’s teammate Andrew Howard.
Olly Bryant and Marco Attard needed to finish ahead of the #007 Aston to take the title, but the #79 Ecurie Ecosse BMW could only finish fifth after a race-long battle.
Gary Eastwood and Rob Barff finished a fine second in the #18 FF Corse Ferrari – their third successive podium finish – while Gregor Fisken’s season ended on a positive note as Richard Westbrook brought the #32 Trackspeed Porsche home in third.
The GT4 race win went to the Century Motorsport Ginetta pairing of Declan Jones and Nathan Freke, with the Silverstone Auctions Aston Martin of Harry Whale and Richie Stanaway in second.
However, third place was enough to give the Optimum Motorsport pairing of Rick Parfitt Jr and Ryan Ratcliffe the GT4 title.
There were many notable individual performances – Lee Mowle, Gary Eastwood and John Dhillon being just three who produced their best races of the season – which augers well for next season.
Full report to follow.
