British GT 2017 – Parfitt and Morris Claim British GT3 Title

Seb Morris and Rick Parfitt claim the British GT3 title whilst HHC Motorsport’s Will Tregurtha and Stuart Middleton take the GT4 title.

Once again British GT descends on Leicestershires Donington Park for the deciding round for both GT4 and GT3 championships. Donington Park is loved by most for its undulating tarmac with swooping bends and long straights. Of course this circuit lends its self to certain chassis and it seems the old boys are showing their pace. Both GT3 and GT4 pole positions were taken by Aston Martins, the now ever older GT3 Aston Martin Vantage is pretty much at the end of its racing life but still one of the most popular machines and obviously still has the pace in the hands of the TF sport outfit. Academy Motorsport fresh from success in the European GT4 championship also came back to put their Vantage at the head of the class for this 2 hour finale.

The real contest though was back on the 2nd row of the grid, both title contenders sit side by side. #33 Barwell Lamborghini Huracan GT3 with its long low slung body or the #31 Parker Racing Bentley Continental GT3 with its brutish power and torque accompanied by its huge robust bodywork. Two polar opposites on car design but so closely matched all season and two hours left to decide the drivers title.

Mark Farmer took a clean start putting him neck and neck with his team mate Derek Johnston. A soft touch just twitched the #1 TF sport car off line leaving space for the #33 Jon Minshaw Lamborghini to come through into second place.

JRM returned to British GT this weekend with promising pace, a great start around the clear outside line put him up into 5th position gaining three places in one corner. Not such a good start for Parfitt Jnr in the #31 Bentley as he slipped down to 6th from 4th but still within the leading pack so reason to panic for a cool headed Rick Parfitt.
One Lap later and Parfitt’s Rival Jon Minshaw loses the backend through the esses and spins putting Barwell Lamborghini down to 9th in class and leaves the Parker Bentley team relieved as some pressure is taken off their shoulders.

Minshaw began pushing instantly picking off places and climbing back up through the field but news of the spin had reached Parfitt and he had now mounted an attack on the #6 Barwell Machine sitting in third position. A strong move from Parfitt put him past Liam Griffins #6 Lamborghini and up into third place and pulling away to extend the gap no doubt thinking about the 20 extra seconds he has to spend in the pits for success.

Academy Motorsport in GT4 retained their pole position from the start but was only all too short lived for them. A surprising spin early on for Will Moore down at the old hairpin which was soon retired due to a seizing transmission let the car go no further in the race.

The initial incident came to seal the fate of a title contender in GT4. Will Moore’s Aston Martin was having problems as the #51 Lanan Racing Ginetta came across it, the Aston’s transmission began to fail pulling it into another spin and further putting the Lanan Racing Ginetta deep in the gravel at coppice missing a front left wheel thus writing them out of title contention.

As HHC Motorsports main contender was now out of the race it made them champions by default. Last Years GT4 Champions were out in the lead of the GT4 class and showed no sign of falling away from the lead.

The pit window opened and Mark Farmer pulled straight in but with 10 seconds success penalty, Jonny Adam returned to the circuit ahead and utilised his advantage to pull a lead. #33 Lamborghini of Barwell returned to the circuit with Phil Keen behind the wheel, soon putting in fastest lap after fastest lap trading them with Jon Barnes. Morris now behind the wheel of the #31 Bentley and the 20 second success penalty taken, he came out of the pits in fifth position on track but crucially fourth in class putting them still ahead on points for the title over the Barwell machine.

GT4 was still being led by last years champions, Track Club Mclaren was second in class and HHC Motorsports Ginetta not far behind. Track Club and HHC battling away and now a gaining Joe Osbourne was joining that fight, a diving move into Redgate saw him take that third position away and leaving the new GT4 machine of choice in the top 3 places of of the class. This was short lived as Joe Osbourne put the car off up at Coppice whilst pushing hard, but beached deep in there, the car was retired.

TF sport ran away with the final round of the British GT championship with Le Mans Class winner Jonny Adam ending his successful year with another win to add to this season for him. Second came for Jon barnes to make it a TF sport 1-2, a fantastic way to round out the season. #33 Barwell Lamborghini pushed until the end but with that early mistake, it left a little too much for Phil Keen to acheive. This left the #31 Bentley in the Hands of Seb Morris to be brought home safely, and crown himself and Rick Parfitt the 2017 GT3 champions. Barwell Motorsport claimed the teams championship but Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen still after that elusive GT3 Drivers championship.

GT4 race win was claimed by Mike Robinson in the PMW Expo Mclaren, HHC drove a safe clean race and brought the car home clean to claim the 2017 GT4 title.

Rick Parfitt becomes the first ever driver to win both British GT4 and British GT3 titles.

Rick Parfitt: “ I honestly never thought I’d be in GT3 let alone a GT3 Champion. Team Parker has worked in perfect harmony and it’s been a great experience I shall always cherish. To be double champion is ridiculous and I hope that might take some beating. To have delivered Bentley its first-ever domestic championship is amazing.”

Seb Morris: “Rick has driven so well and has come on tremendously – he’s possibly even quicker than me in places now! Team Parker has delivered an unbelievable car, with great support from Bentley.”