British GTs Race of Champions this weekend from Brands Hatch
The only caveat to that statement will be that the #27 Grange Racing with FSR Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 pairing of Dan Lavery and Darren Turner have already secured their GT4 Pro-Am Drivers Championship following their race results last time out at Donington Park just a few weeks ago, but the rest remain fair game.
Starting in the numerical order of each AMR powered team sees the #007 Beechdean AMR Vantage GT3 powered crew of Andrew Howard and Ross Gunn still in the hunt for both the Overall Championship win as well as their specific GT3 Drivers Championship. Going into this round, the #007 stands 27.5 points behind the present overall class leaders whilst being 20.5 points behind the present GT3 Pro-Am leaders and with 37.5 points still on offer – anything is possible even if they may need a little luck coming their way to do so.
Moving into GT4 and it will be the #21 MK Racing AMR Vantage GT4 crew of Will Orton and Jessica Hawkins next as they have a much lower points deficit to overcome as far as both their available GT4 Drivers and GT4 Silver class championships go being just 6 points behind overall and just 1.5 points behind in silver.
Next up is the #27 Grange Racing crew who have already secured one significant class prize at their first time of asking but they do also remain in contention for the overall GT4 Drivers Championship as well, being just 10 points behind the leaders with also no pit stop compensation time to factor in thanks to their Pro-Am status.
Neither crew are sadly at the sharper end of their Pro-Am or Overall leaderboards as both have suffered from more than their fair share of on track misfortune or post-race penalty. So far, Hartshorne has had a habit so far this season of finding himself within a class podium finishing position in many of the seven races so far to presently lie fourth overall within Pro-Am but with the potential of moving up higher should those ahead and actively chasing the ultimate prize mess up along the way.
There will be plenty of Pro and Am based drivers fired up for this weekend’s finale and the final round has always had a tenancy in upsetting the apple cart somewhere along the way – we’re sure that the same will happen somewhere between testing this Friday and the end of the season at 15:30hrs on Sunday when everything will be realised.
Full Send Racing prepare for British GT finale with a little dapple (again) within GT Cup from Brands Hatch
This time around, it will be Steve Lloyd and Dan Lavery who will be racing the team’s slightly older 17A variant of the GT4 Vantage as they take on two solo driven sprint races and two pit stop races around the full Grand Prix circuit layout in what will be the penultimate round of the GT Cup Season.
Lavery of course, has already picked up the British GT GT4 Pro-Am Drivers Championship title alongside that of co-driver Darren Turner of the last round of that championship a couple of weeks ago. With one more round of that championship still to come next weekend – strangely from Brands Hatch, the #27 Grange Racing by FSR duo also lay in good stead for the overall GT4 title should results go in their favour.
Photo credits – Team
Podiums won and champions made in British Gas visit to Donington Park
With Qualifying having been ran yesterday, the #007 Beechdean Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 of Andrew Howard and Ross Gunn had had a challenging time against their peers to secure their P7 overall/ P5 in Pro-Am starting position but all four Vantage GT4 crews had benefitted from the disqualification of the three Ginetta cars for their ride height technical infringement.
Just before the start of this penultimate two-hour race, Mother Nature threw in her curved ball with a short but torrential downpour, particularly around the second half of the lap that forced many to opt for the full wet tyre over that of the slick as a choice of being between a rock and a hard place considering the track conditions.
Ten minutes in and the wet shod cars were already looking for the wetter sections of the track as a distinctive dry line was rapidly forming as the rain had now long since passed as the GT3 leaders were soon upon the heels of the GT4 class. The first significant incident on track came at the half hour mark when the delayed Ferrari founds itself in the way of the leading GT3 cars who were also lapping other GT4 cars which saw both the Ferrari and a Lamborghini spinning off into the gravel after the Lambo had hist the Ferrari into a spin. Again – both cars were able to recover themselves onto track without race interrupting intervention.
Just ahead of the start to the pit window, the first (and thankfully only significant) incident took place at the hairpin when the GT3 Pro-Am Championship leading McLaren lost the back end of his car going into the braking zone to then turn and knock into the pole setting BMW GT3 to take both cars out of the race. What followed was an equally scary moment for Howard who spun around at the same position to thankfully pass the #77 McLaren by through the gravel. No contact made and Howard was able to rejoin and complete his stint before handing over to Gunn whilst fifth overall – P3 in class.
After the GT4 stops, the race action on track kind of died down a bit as gaps became insurmountable on track but errors on track still came with a consequence as the #42 Pro-Am contending Ginetta was first given a DTP of their own for track limits before having to visit pit lane again with unknown issues – that all fell in favour of the #27 crew and their championship hopes.
Whilst the #27 crew would win the Pro-Am class and clinch the class championship win as a result of the issues with the #42 car, the #40 AMR of Townsend/Wheeler would finish P3 within GT4 Pro-Am but a post-race check would see the car disqualified from the results for a technical infringement where the #97 GBR Stratton car of Hartshorne and Collard would benefit.
Photo credits - Jacob Ebrey
Grid has been been set (and changed) ahead of the British GT two hour race from Donington Park
Having had a few hours of track time on Thursday to get in some early laps during private testing, the lower-than-normal grid of twenty-seven GT3 and GT4 cars were back in business this morning for the first of two one-hour sessions (Free Practice and Pre-Qualifying) before this afternoons all important individual qualifying runs.
The #97 GBR Stratton Motorsport were welcoming back their new young gun in Jordan Collard to join their full season entrant John Hartshorne for these remain two rounds of the season. He laps on Thursday were his first competitive laps within any race car for about four years he said over the circuit commentary.
The #40 Townsend Motorsport AMR of James Townsend and Joe Wheeler appeared to have an uneventful morning – although the pairing were slowest by the end of both sessions. That was a similar tail for the #007 Beechdean AMR Vantage GT3 of Andrew Howard and Ross Gunn who also finished their morning runs at the lower end of the GT3 class.
Then comes the announcement of problems with all three Ginetta’s. Whilst the #007 Beechdean GT3 is unaffected by this and will start from P7 on the grid, the four Vantage GT4 crews all move up three places with the #27 Grange Racing car now grabbing GT4 Pro-Am pole position again for another front row start in GT4 with the #21 MK Racing crew just behind in third. The #97 GBR Stratton pips their more established rivals within the #40 Townsend car with each starting P7 and P8 overall within GT4 respectively.
Heart of Racing snatch some quick mileage in at Barcelona ahead of next weekends trip to CoTA
Whilst the teams two Aston Martin Valkyries and two Aston Martin Racing Vantage LMGT3’s are presently still on their way out to Austin, Texas in time for next weekend’s Lone Star Le Mans fifth round of the season event from the Circuit of the America’s, the team have had to borrow an equally familiar steed (after a suitable conversion of course) in time for this two-day test.
They join a number of other LMGT3 and Hypercar runners at the test but once done, it will be another quick dash back to the UK to refettle their car back into its usual guise in time for its own penultimate round of the British GT Championship from Donington Park the weekend after.
Howard to start another chapter to his Beechdean AMR story at the end of the season
Racing this year with another of his and his Beechdean AMR’s many home-grown success stories in Aston Martin Racing factory driver Ross Gunn aboard his #007 AMR Vantage, this news seals a racing career for Howard that stretched back over twenty-seven years.
Indeed, only last weekend at the British GT’s round at Snetterton did we have a brief exchange across the paddock about the possibilities of him getting aboard some of his V12 powered AMR weaponry next year that he said, “but I’m having so much fun this year!!”
Photo credits – Team / Phil Hay
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Tables set for tomorrow two British GT sprint races from Snetterton
After what must have been the hottest conditions that the championship has tested in yesterday, track and trackside conditions were significantly cooler today with that persistent low cloud cover although humidity remained high.
Otherwise, it was a much-needed return to the racetrack for the twenty-four GT3 and GT4 powered crews after something near an eight week break since their last round of the season from Spa Francorchamps with only a single day test at the Norfolk circuit last week in-between.
Pre-Qualifying was next up just ahead of lunch were again, all five Astons featured lower down but this time with the #21 and #97 GBR Stratton cars getting lap times deleted for track limits. Then came individual qualifying with each driver per car setting a time for their respective starting position per race tomorrow.
GT4 next and that heralded the likes of Hartshorne (#97), Hawkins (#21), Daniel Lavery (#27 Grange Racing) and James Townsend (#40 Townsend Racing) to the track to put in their best efforts within the Pro-Am class for all except the #21 car who run within silver.
Their Pro’s were out next for their race two starting positions and it would be Will Orton who would come home best within the #21 car with his P4 overall/P2 in class result with then a battle between the AMR factory drivers next but with Adam pipping Darren Turner and his #27 car with a P6 overall/P4 in class over that of Turner within is #27 car and his P7 overall /P5 in class. Joe Wheeler concluded the quartet of AMR cars with his P11 overall/P6 in class result.
Photo credits – Jacob Ebrey
British GT back in business this weekend after their summer break with two sprint races from Snetterton
In reality, that last round at Spa Francorchamps back in June was still some eight weeks ago in late June where the British GT grid of twenty five cars shared the Belgian circuit with the cars from the French FFSA GT4 Series to create at best, a very interesting racing environment for many or at worst, a platform where the ‘lesser’ driver in the smallest of cars could not stand with the much faster GT3 cars thundering passed them leading to multiple yellow flag incidents on track.
The sole AMR Vantage GT3 entry from the Beechdean AMR squad for drivers Andrew Howard and Ross Gunn were looking well placed within that race to continue their healthy points haul in the championship so far but for some unforced errors on track that saw post-race time penalties ultimately drop them down the order to eventually finish fifth.
That left both the Pro-Am GT4 pairing of Joe Wheeler/James Townsend in their #40 Townsend Racing by Fox Motorsport entry plus the #97 GBR Stratton AMR Vantage GT4 Evo entry of John Hartshorne and Ronan Pearson to lament upon what might have been after numerous errors (of their own and others) left them slightly lower down the class order but with both crews still securing valuable class points.
Proving that consistency is the key within any championship, the #97 GBR Stratton crew presently sit fourth within their GT4 Pro-Am class, just ten and a half points behind the more race headline winning #27 crew with the #40 Townsend crew just a further eight points back behind them. The points availability this weekend will undoubtedly change all of the above at some point.
Private testing will again be available to the teams on Friday before the more formal track sessions beginning on Saturday.
Photo credits – Teams / Jacob Ebrey / social media
Another tough GT4 encounter for the three Aston Martins running at a sweltering Spa Francorchamps this weekend
Starting a day earlier than usual thanks to the series again supporting the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup Series and their Blue Ribband Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa, their first into the night race of the weekend on Friday gave the forty-four crews little solace from the extreme heat that has been affecting much of northern Europe of late.
Indeed, it was the guesting #23 Full Send Racing entry for Dan Lavery and Darren Turner who nearly stole the march on the two full season Racing Spirit of Leman AMR entries as the British crew used their British GT GT4 race winning experience of last weekend to good effect to eventually come home just off their Pro-Am podium in fourth but that luck would run out in race two on Saturday.
The #74 RSLM silver pairing of Pedro Garcia and Clement Seyler had looked to have put their misfortunes of Monza last time out behind them, but the pace within their car was simply not their compared to their class rivals – that and the fact that Gracia was racing at each European circuit for the first time this year!
Track limits would always be a ‘thing’ for all the runners in both races and the #72 RSLM Pro-Am entry of Florent Grizaud and Kevin Kullmann would soon attract the attention of Race Control and that would severely hinder their own race that would see them finish a lowly P11 in class.
Whilst race one had at times threatened heavy rain at the circuit as the humidity increased, race two on Saturday was again in the rapidly climbing heat of the morning as track temperatures exceeded fifty degrees as many drivers and teams again reported high temperature issues within their cars.
For Lavery, his race would end fairly quickly as a errant Ginetta attempting to pass on the inside at La Source only damaged the Aston Martin but his own car that saw both cars pit the next time around but for the #23 – it was the end of the line with steering/suspension issues.
The damage to the #74 cars hopes had also been shredded during Qualifying earlier in the weekend as the Brazilian could do no better than P36 overall, but after a determined fight back during that hour long race, the pairing one place higher than what they had done in race 1. It was to be a similar tail for the sister #72 car as although they had again qualified within the top half of the grid, they could again do no better than P11 in class.
The series now moves onto Misano, Italy in just three weeks’ time.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
UPDATED - Grange Racing take another GT4 race win after an eventful BGT/FFSA double act from Spa
In a novel way in saving track time between all the SRO governed series between this weekend and next, the idea of running the GT3 and GT4 classes of the British GT Championship with the GT4 and sub-classes of the French FFSA GT4 independently in governance but at the same time as on track with one another had all the hallmarks of something very interesting but reality sadly proved that idea needed further thought.
After yesterday’s Qualifying sessions, the #7 Beechdean Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 of Andrew Howard and Ross Gunn would be starting from the second row of the grid which would this time start along the downhill looking into Eau Rouge along the endurance pit lane. The four AMR Vantage GT4’s from the Townsend Racing, GBR Stratton Motorsport, MK Racing and Grange Racing teams mainly saw adjustments to the original qualifying position to end up starting from towards the rear of the class.
The rotten weekend for the #005 Mirage Racing AMR Vantage GT4 car of Jodie Sloss and new co-driver Nicolas Siebenschuh continued after the pit lane contact that halted their qualifying runs before they had even begun, as the young Scot only managed six laps before retiring the car before the first drama on track saw a fellow FFSA runner hard off and into the tyre wall.
The end of the third interruption left just over twenty minutes of racing to go for the (mainly) Pro drivers aboard as the #7 Beechdean with Gunn was still in fourth whilst the #27 Grange Racing GT4 of Darren Turner was now battling for the class lead despite Dan Lavery getting pinged for passing FFSA traffic before the green flag – getting them a further twenty seconds hold time in pit lane earlier in the race.
The #40 Townsend car of first James Townsend before Joe Wheeler took over was struggling in the heat, as was the #97 GBR Stratton car of John Hartshorne and Ronan Pearson as the #97 would later get five seconds added to tehir race time for track limits. The final two laps would create a perfect storm for the GT3 front runners as they would find themselves coming up upon the FFSA tail enders again just at the slowest sections of the track which gave the pole setting McLaren the opportunity it needed to pass Gunn again for position into the bus stop for the final time.
Eventually all British GT runners passed the line to take the checkered flag with the #7 Beechdean crew finishing fifth overall but with the #27 Grange Racing crew taking their second class win in succession after their achievements in race two from Oulton Park last time out.
The Championship now enters their six-week summer break before it returns to its two sprint race format next time out at Snetterton in mid-August.
Photo credits – J Ebrey / Teams / Phil Hay / Series / social media



