Dawson credits consistency en route to championship charge
2 Seas Motorsport drivers Charles Dawson, reigning GT4 Pro-Am champion, and his teammate Kiern Jewiss have led the GT3 standings since taking victory at the Donington opener.
Their #42 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo incurred a 25kg ballast from Round 2, the Silverstone 500, and onwards, thus carrying it for most of the season.
Nevertheless, the pairing claimed three victories this season, including last time out at Brands Hatch.
While they lost out on the coveted Silverstone 500 win after Jewiss served a penalty for overtaking under full-course-yellow conditions, they have undoubtedly carried a flawless campaign with a 28.5 point lead over the nearest two teams in the GT3 standings.
“It’s the same approach as when I got out of the car at Brands, really,” Dawson told DSC.
“We by no means take anything for granted.
“We try not to think too much about the championship, of course, it’s in the back of your mind, but we just have to go session by session, corner by corner, keep our heads down, and hope for a clean race.
“Ideally, no safety cars near the pit stop [window], just a straightforward race and a good qualifying today.
“That’s been the approach all season, focus on execution and consistency.”
The #42 starts the race in fourth position in the hands of Dawson, with the nearest title contender being Blackthorn’s #7 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo of Giacomo Petrobelli, and four-time champion Jonny Adam, in sixth position.
Optimum Motorsport’s #77 McLaren GT3 Evo duo of Morgan Tillbrook and Marvin Kirchhöfer shares second place in the GT3 standings with the #7 Blackthorn Aston Martin on identically 127 points.
The #42 2 Seas Mercedes-AMG appears on the final stretch toward title glory, though any misfortune could yet swing the advantage to Petrobelli and Adam.
Müller seeks redemption after Brands Hatch incident
Porsche factory driver Sven Müller encountered a difficult outing last time out at Brands Hatch in the #66 Team Parker Racing Porsche 911 GT3.R.
The German chased down Martin Plowman, former FIA WEC LMP2 champion and Le Mans winner, in his #9 Paddock Motorsport McLaren.
Müller was unsuccessful with a move at Surtees Corner after making contact and suffering suspension failure as a result.
He and his teammate Nick Jones qualified ninth for the Donington decider, which became 12th after his subsequent three-place grid penalty. However, he believes track limits will be a major concern for drivers.
“For sure, our goal was to be on the podium,” he told DSC.
“Unfortunately, at the last round in Brands Hatch, we had contact, so we have a three-place grid penalty for this race.
“But I think Donington, the first round, was quite good, so it’s down to the Porsche and how strong the package is.
“We’re feeling good, and for sure, the goal this weekend is to be on the podium. But first, we need a clean race.
“Track limits will be a big topic; it’s only four strikes allowed over two hours, so it’ll be tough for everyone.
“Maybe we can take advantage if others struggle with that.”
The Donington decider marks the final race before Porsche introduces the evo kit for the 992 model of the 911 GT3.R.
Yelloly makes British GT debut with Blackthorn
Nick Yelloly, having added a Le Mans 24 Hours LMP2 win to his Spa 24 Hours and Nürburgring 24 Hours victories, is making his British GT debut this weekend in the #22 Blackthorn Aston Martin.
He is partnered with Darren Leung, the winner of this year’s Silverstone 500 and 2023 GT3 Drivers’ champion, having not visited Donington for 15 years since participating in the 2009 Formula Renault UK series.
Dressed in his Aston Martin F1 suit from his role as their simulator driver, Yelloly is keen to make the most of his British GT debut before competing in next week’s IMSA Petit Le Mans event with the Acura Meyer Shank Racing GTP team.
“A podium or even a win would be great,” he said. It’s very different to what I’ve driven before, but I’m starting to get the hang of it.
“We’ve got the longer pit stop compensation, which will put us a bit on the back foot, but you never know what can happen with yellow flags or safety cars.
“We’re certainly not here to run at the back, we’ll try to be as far forward as we can while continuing to learn the car.”
Leung’s victory at Silverstone means that the #22 Aston Martin will serve a 20-second pit stop success penalty, similar to the #42 2 Seas Mercedes-AMG, which won last time at Brands.
They start the race in ninth position, adding a challenge to their pursuit of the podium. Still, with others fighting for championship honours, the #22 driver’s quick reactions could be crucial amid the surrounding drama.
Topham thrilled on fourth season appearance
Matt Topham first hit the headlines this season when reigning drivers’ champion Rob Collard was forced to miss the Silverstone media day and Donington opener due to a medical procedure.
Topham, as a result, took his place alongside Hugo Cook in the #1 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2.
At the Silverstone 500, Topham drove Stellar Motorsport’s #27 Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO2 with Darren Burke to victory in the GT3 Silver-Am sub-category.
At the championship’s other three-hour enduro, at Spa-Francorchamps, he returned in Optimum Motorsport’s #3 McLaren, and this time, he’s in place of Simon Orange in the #67 Orange Racing by JMH McLaren.
Topham will start the #67 McLaren from an impressive third place on the grid after his and Marcus Clutton’s efforts in qualifying.
“It’s great to be working with JMH and Orange Racing,” Topham told DSC, “and great to share the car again with Marcus (since 2023 Snetterton).
“It’s always good fun being back in the championship. We’re here to enjoy ourselves and see what we can get out of it.
“When you’re out there, you’re there to race. Of course, you’re respectful of the guys fighting for the championship, but once the helmet’s on, everyone’s in the same race. If we’re up there fighting for position, I’ll give it everything.
“I’m always a fair racer, I won’t do anything stupid, but accidents can happen when you’re racing close in this kind of championship.”
Robertson on outqualifying key GT4 championship rival
The main story in GT4 is the Pro-Am championship title fight between the #71 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 Evo and the #90 Optimum Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4.
Century retook the championship lead by a narrow 3.5-point margin, after the #90 McLaren retired with tyre-barrier impact at Brands Hatch.
Ravi Ramyead and former Ginetta LMP1 and factory driver Charlie Robertson share the #71 BMW and qualified second on the grid, three places ahead of the #90 McLaren.
“Qualifying’s obviously important, and being three spots ahead of the #90 car gives us good track position,” Robertson told DSC.
“We do have the (15-second pit stop) success penalty at halfway, which makes it a bit more difficult, but here at Donington it’s always unpredictable — safety cars, full course yellows — anything can happen.
“If that comes into play after the pit stop, it could close things back up, so it’s all to play for. I think it’s going to be a really interesting final hour.
“[The feeling of the car] was good, though at times there was more understeer than I expected, especially with some of the gusts we had, going from zero wind to 35mph gusts.
“You’d go into the hairpin one lap and have good front-end grip, then the next lap a gust would hit and suddenly there’s loads of understeer.
“It made it hard to predict [during qualifying], plus a few track-limit warnings didn’t help. On the flip side, the headwind into Turn 1 actually helped braking, you could brake a bit later.
“So the conditions really changed the perception of the circuit compared to the Thursday test day.”
Clutton fastest for Orange McLaren in morning warm-up
Marcus Clutton was the fastest driver in the 15-minute race day warm-up session at the wheel of the #67 Orange Racing by JMH McLaren GT3 Evo (1:26.812).
Team Parker Racing’s Nick Jones held the top spot until Clutton beat him in the end, resulting in the #66 Porsche 911 GT3.R’s time of 1:26.850 for second place.
Jones momentarily lost control of his Porsche to the gravel trap at Hollywood corner, but drove out and continued on his way without any notable damage.
Sam Neary of the #8 Team Abba Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo was third-quickest with a time of 1:26.941 ahead of the #77 Optimum Motorsport McLaren of Marvin Kirchhöfer (1:26.973).
The pole-sitting #1 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 rounded out the top-five after Hugo Cook drove a 1:27.049 lap time.
In the GT4 category, reigning champion Jack Brown was the quickest driver, having set a 1:35.128 in his #90 Optimum Motorsport McLaren Artura.
Charlie Robertson put the #71 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 Evo in second after he completed a lap time of 1:35.247.
The #17 Silver Cup-entered McLaren of Luca Hopkinson was third-quickest after his 1:35.279 lap time, followed by Branden Templeton’s #14 Century BMW and his 1:35.510 lap time.
Blake Angliss rounded out the top five in the #69 Mahiki Racing Ginetta G56 GT4 Evo, which starts on pole position in the race later on, with his 1:35.919 lap time.
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Hear from Tom Hornsby, who explores some of the key talking points for this final round of the 2025 British GT season.
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The two-hour race commences at 13:15 local time with live coverage via YouTube.
Images courtesy of SRO/JEP
