British GT & British F3 Championship Media Day

Donington Park hosted a media day and testing session for the British GT Championship and BRDC British F3 Championship last Thursday (8th March).

26 GT cars and 16 Formula 3 cars arrived at the Leicestershire circuit keen to get some track time with the start of the season just three weeks away. The day started cold and wet, but the weather improved to bright sunshine and bone dry tarmac in the afternoon, allowing the drivers to go for some fast times at the end of the day.

The British GT Championship organisers announced a fantastic 36-car full season entry, including 13 cars in the headline GT3 class. The grid features a total of 10 different manufacturers and represents the championship’s largest full season entry for 4 years.

On track, the #7 Team Parker Racing Bently ended the day with the fastest time, ahead of the #69 and #2 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini’s . The #2 car’s day was cut short following a sizeable accident at the Old Hairpin the second session of the day, the car spinning on the exit of the corner and hitting the barriers hard on the inside of the circuit.

In GT4, Century Motorsport ended the day with their cars taking first and second on the timing sheet, ahead of the Tolman Motorsport Mclarens and HHC Motorsport Ginetta G55.

In the BRDC British F3 Championship test, Lanan Racing’s Kush Mani ended up at the top of the time sheets, the young Indian driver lapping six tenths of a second quicker than any of his rivals. Tom Gamble was second for Fortec Motorsport, with Double R Racing’s Linus Lundqvist in third spot. Billy Monger finished the day sixth quickest and less than a second off the fastest time, an impressive performance as the young British driver continues to get used to driving with hand controls following his horrific accident at Donington last year.

The Britsh GT Championship and BRDC British F3 Championship seasons start at Oulton Park over the Easter weekend, and Paddock 42 will be trackside throughout the meeting to bring you all the action.

Words and Photography by Richard Crawford.

Full timing results here.