Four-time British GT title winner Jonny Adam is back in the championship in 2025 for a second season with Blackthorn and eager to add to his trophy cabinet.
The 2025 campaign marks 10 years since the Scotsman claimed the first of his impressive quartet of championship titles, with Beechdean’s Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3.
All but two seasons – with 2 Seas Motorsport in 2022 and 2023 – have been in Aston Martin machinery as part of his hugely successful stint as a factory driver for the brand, which has included a pair of Le Mans 24 Hours class victories.
Blackthorn is the sixth British GT team Adam has competed with, and he returns in year two with the Claude Bovet-owned outfit keen to build on their challenging 2024 campaign together with the updated Vantage GT3.
The results last term with his teammate Giacomo Petrobelli were unable to match his strong 2023 season, where he finished third in the Drivers’ standings.
“This year is more of a championship year,” Adam explained to DSC. “Last year, we found out quite early that we didn’t have the performance.
“We were very much on the back foot in general throughout the [last] year. The championship took a few more rounds to understand where the car’s performance was and we, as well as the team, understood what was needed with the evolution car.
“And for Giacomo [Petrobelli], a lot of these circuits last year he hadn’t been to for a long, long time. Snetterton, for example, he hadn’t been to for 12 years.
“We’ve got a good base from last year, the team has improved, we know the car inside out now and we’ve done a bit of racing already this year so I’m looking forward to the season.
“It’s actually a different chassis to the one that we raced last year and the team has really done a great job.
“We’ve done Asian Le Mans, myself and Giacomo together, so we’ve actually got a bit of seat time before the season started.”
At the 2025 season-opener at Donington Park, Petrobelli and Adam fought for the top six from the moment the green flag fell until Petrobelli made contact with Ian Duggan’s #88 Mahiki Lotus Emira GT4.
Petrobelli approached the Emira on the inside line into Coppice and tapped its rear-right end, sending both cars into a spin.
Duggan ended up stuck in the gravel trap while Petrobelli continued with minor bodywork damage before later serving a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for his part in the incident. It dropped Blackthorn to 11th in the overall classification by the end.
Regardless, Adam and Petrobelli are looking forward to the second round at Silverstone later this month for the annual 500-mile race, keen to put the result at Donington behind them.
Adam knows well that the title isn’t won or lost in the opening round. The key is consistency throughout the year.
The Scotsman felt that Donington did not suit the Aston Martin package anyway, explaining that the Lamborghini and McLaren were more suited to the demands of the East Midlands-based venue – as proven by Barwell’s fight for the win with 2 Seas Motorsport.
Silverstone, he expects, will be a different story.
“The car normally goes quite well at Silverstone and it’s a nice three-hour race,” said Adam. “There’s a lot of different strategies. Everyone’s on a different fuel strategy, so it can throw up a whole different end result. But it’s good because it gets fought out for the last half hour, so it’s all good fun.
“I’ve always wanted to try and win that race because it’s the ‘blue riband’ race which the British GT has.
“I think to win any championship you have to have consistency. Getting the best from your package in terms of the car performance and in terms of the teammate, and Giacomo is a good one.
“I feel I’ve got the right guy to get the job done. And the team around you have to be very much part of that. I feel we’ve got that at Blackthorn this year. That’s why we’re here.
“We’re back here to do one thing and that’s to really step up from where we were last year. Last year, a lot of the bits of the puzzle were missing really and this now feels connected.”
DSC’s coverage of the 2025 British GT Championship is powered by Birch – world-class automotive asset management at Gatwick.
Images courtesy of Paul Foster & SRO/JEP
