British GT Championship Donington Park

Derek Johnston and Matt Bell lead home a TF Sport one-two in an action packed championship decider at Donington Park last weekend (12th & 13th September). Beechdean AMR’s Andrew Howard and Jonny Adam emerged as the 2015 British GT3 champions after two hours of racing.

Four driver pairings went into the race with a chance of claiming the crown, but within 30 minutes two had been eliminated. First to hit trouble was championship leader Marco Attard in the Barwell Motorsport BMW Z4. Light contact with eventual race winner Derek Johnston on the opening lap tipped the BMW into a spin. Twenty five minutes later, the BMW’s race was run after further contact with the GT4 Beechdean Aston Martin, firing Attard off into the barrier at Goddards with suspension failure.

Liam Griffin, another championship contender, was also eliminated in the first quarter of the race. A charging opening stint had moved the Oman Racing Team Aston Martin up from eighth to fourth, but contact with the 888 Racing BMW of Lee Mowle at the Melbourne Loop ended Griffin’s participation in the event.

Out at the front, the two TF Sport Aston Martin’s were involved in a see-saw battle for the overall lead of the race. Andrew Jarman had converted his pole position into a commanding early race lead in the #27 car, only for his advantage to be wiped out by a safety car to recover Marco Attard’s broken BMW. Jarman was unable to re-establish his lead over team mate Johnston before the pit window opened. The #17 Vantage pitted from second place, but emerged in the lead of the race, now with Matt Bell on board. A series of quick laps established an unassailable lead over Jody Fannin in the #27 entry, and they remained in first and second until the flag.

Phil Keen and Jon Minshaw completed the podium in the Team Russia by Barwell BMW Z4, after a last lap spin by Lee Mowle in the 888 Racing BMW gifted them third place.

In GT4, Daniel Lloyd and Chris Webster scored Academy Motorsport’s first win in British GT, after a titanic late race scrap with team mates Will Moore and Dennis Strandberg, who eventually finished third. Nathan Freke fought back from a stop/go penalty earlier in the race to claim second in class with Ian Stinton for Century Motorsport.

Full results can be found here.