MKH Racing return to the British GT Championship with two different but familiar faces
Last season we welcomed the MKH Racing for their part-entry within the new for 2025 GT4 Endurance Cup element within the overall championship that saw former AMR factory Stuart Hall race alongside Peter Montague.
Previously with Mark Warren and the Forsetti Motorsport team a couple of years ago before moving into the GT4 European Series last season with the Racing Spirit of Leman team, we welcome back Will Orton to the championship as he will race alongside Aston Martin F1 Brand Ambassador and former Beechdean AMR GT3 BGT entrant Jessica Hawkins.
“I can’t wait to get started in British GT, it’s going to be great to be back in the paddock,” she said. “I’m very excited to be teaming up with MKH Racing and Will Orton
Photo credits – Team / AMR
Tuesday, February 24, 2026 |
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New faces and stepping up places for some within AMR this season
Krognes, 34, whose pedigree includes the overall Nordschleife-based Nürburgring Langstrecken Series (NLS) title in 2012, is the official GT3 lap record holder on the fearsome circuit’s NLS layout since 2022. A long-serving driver for Walkenhorst Motorsport, he will also participate in the team’s SP9 Pro class assault on the Nürburgring 24 Hours in June.
“Christian’s performances over the years at the Nürburgring have ensured he has long been someone we’ve kept an eye on, and when the opportunity arose for us to bring him into the AMR family officially, it seemed like an obvious decision to make,” said Aston Martin Racing Director of Performance Gus Beteli. “He is super-fast, gives precise and consistent feedback, works well in a team environment and is a safe pair of hands behind the wheel; all key attributes when competing in the highest levels of endurance racing.”
Krognes, who since switching from karts to car racing has built his career mainly around Nürburgring-based endurance events, described becoming part of the AMR works driver line-up as the “realisation of dream”.
“Joining Aston Martin was always a childhood dream for me,” said Krognes. “Now I’m looking forward to taking on the challenges ahead with my great teammates at Walkenhorst Motorsport behind the wheel of the spectacular Aston Martin Vantage GT3. I’ve always admired the brand’s heritage and I’m very proud to represent such an iconic manufacturer. I also want to take this opportunity to thank AMR for putting its faith in me as well as all the people who have supported me so far on this journey. I can’t wait for the season to start.”
Krognes joins arguably the strongest ever AMR works line-up, one full to the brim with stellar talent. Former FIA World Endurance Championship GT champions Marco Sørensen and Thiim both return with multiple programmes, while Spa 24 Hours winner Mattia Drudi will compete in WEC, GTWC Europe and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Aston Martin Formula One® Team Driver Ambassador Jessica Hawkins will step back into an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for a second consecutive season as she joins Comtoyou Racing in the GTWC Europe Endurance Cup. Her team-mates in the #11 car will be confirmed at a later date.
Hawkins, who recorded two Silver-Am class podium finishes at Donington Park in her maiden British GT Championship season, said: “I’m thrilled to make my debut in GT World Challenge Europe with Comtoyou Racing this year. Having previous experience with the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 from my time in British GT and working with an established team like Comtoyou, I hope will help heading into the season.
“I’d like to thank Arm and Valvoline for their support in helping me to progress to GTWC Europe, it’s an excellent next step in my racing career and will ultimately give me the opportunity to work towards my ultimate dream of competing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. I’m looking forward to getting started and racing at some new and familiar circuits.”
The Briton will be surrounded by a wealth of talent in the Belgian partner team – a GTWC Europe Endurance Cup Pro class title contender in 2024 thanks in no small part to Spa 24 Hour winners Drudi, Sørensen and Thiim, who return for another season in the #007 for another crack at championship glory.
The newest AMR Driver Academy winner Jamie Day also steps up to the GTWC Europe Endurance Cup with Comtoyou Racing in 2025 in an Aston Martin Vantage GT3. The 2024 British GT GT4 Silver class champion will run in the GTWC Silver division alongside Belgian duo Kobe Pauwels and Matisse Lismont.
Walkenhorst Motorsport’s Pro line-up of Chaves, Krognes and Pittard will be joined by an equally impressive Silver class crew in the #35 Vantage GT3 that features yet another AMR Academy winner – Romain Leroux, alongside Mateo Villagomez and Oliver Söderström.
The AMR partner team will dovetail its Endurance Cup assault with a Pro class campaign in the Sprint Cup for Chaves and Villagomez.
Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport Adam Carter added: “The strength in depth brought to bear by our partners in the GTWC Europe is a testament to the competitive level and driveability of the Vantage GT3 platform. The car came close to winning the Pro class title in 2024, and I’m confident that the driver line-ups in place across all the divisions are capable of fighting for championship glory in 2025. I would like to extend a warm welcome to Christian, who is an excellent addition to the works roster and we are excited to see what he can achieve with Vantage, and also to congratulate Jessica on her graduation to European GT competition. It’s going to be a fascinating GT season, and at Aston Martin we look forward to this with eager anticipation.”
The GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Official Prologue takes place 10-11 March at Paul Ricard in France, with the opening round of the series taking place at the same venue on 11-13 April.
Source material – AMR
Photo credits – GTWCE (Jacob Ebrey) / social media
Monday, March 10, 2025 |
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GT4 Championship honours still to be won for two AMR crews as British GT 2024 concludes this weekend at Brands
Whilst all the championship aspirations still lie within the GT4 class with the two Forsetti Motorsport entries, todays provisional list confirms the omission of both Blackthorn AMR Vantage GT3 entries as they will be busy down in Mugello at the latest round of the ACO rules Michelin Le Mans Cup Series and that there has been a driver change within the now sole AMR Vantage GT3 from the Beechdean team.
After their Silver-Am class podium last time out, Jessica Hawkins is apparently unavailable for this final round of the season so her place has been given to former Vantage GT4 British GT and ADAC GT4 Germany racer Tom Wood for his GT3 racing debut.
Only recently did Wood conduct his first shakedown test of the new Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 with the Walkenhorst Motorsport team prior to their GT Masters event at Spa Francorchamps where he was obviously impressionable enough to get this opportunity with the multiple British GT Champions this weekend.
Only recently did Wood conduct his first shakedown test of the new Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 with the Walkenhorst Motorsport team prior to their GT Masters event at Spa Francorchamps where he was obviously impressionable enough to get this opportunity with the multiple British GT Champions this weekend.
That being said, all eyes will be upon the #7 and #47 Forsetti AMR Vantage GT4 cars of Mikey Porter/Jamie Day and Marc Warren/Will Orton respectively as both crews remain competitively placed at the head of both Silver and Pro-Am classes as well as the overall GT4 Drivers Championship table going into this final race this weekend.
Already having secured the GT4 Team’s Championship at the first time of asking, Sunday’s two-hour finale around the full Grand Prix loop will become a literal ‘winner takes all’ for the victors in class such as the close points margins going into this round after Donington Park last time out.
In fact, Donington was a total disaster for the #47 crew after repeated contact for them in the opening stages saw them eventually finish laps down to their peers whilst the #7 crew was at least able to secure an eventual P3 in class for their efforts.
Within the Silver class battle the #7 car retains a fifteen-point lead and the #47 crew retain slender six and a half point lead in Pro-Am whilst within the overall GT4 Drivers Championship, Porter/Day are just three and a half points in front with Warren/Orton just thirteen points behind them in fourth.
So there is literally everything to race for in GT4 this weekend.
Photo credits - Jacob Ebrey
Monday, September 23, 2024 |
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Tom Wood joins Beechdean AMR for BGT finale
Wood, 22, stands in for regular driver and Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team Ambassador Jessica Hawkins, who is unavailable due to a clashing commitment, in the GT3 Silver-Am entry.
The Castle Donington driver will race the #97 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 alongside Howard, who won the 2013 and 2015 British GT crowns, in the two-hour race on the Grand Prix layout of the legendary Kent track.
While the race will mark the Aston Martin Lagonda Pro driver’s debut in a GT3 car, he has extensive experience of racing in a variety of single-make, GT and sportscar categories.
A race winner in the UK’s Ginetta Junior Championship in 2017, he moved into GT4 racing in the UK and Germany and was a multiple podium finisher in ADAC GT4 aboard an Aston Martin in both 2022 and ’23.
He supplemented this with the runner-up spot in last year’s Radical SR1 Cup with eight race victories and has tested numerous Aston Martin track cars and road vehicles as part of his role with the Manufacturer.
Source material / photo credits - Beechdean AMR / Tom Wood
Monday, September 23, 2024 |
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Challenging conditions at Donington as Forsetti chase the GT4 drivers titles too in British GT
Having tested at the circuit on Thursday under blue skies and sunshine, that was something that never materialised today with the first of the official timed Free Practice sessions before culminating in this afternoon aggregated Qualifying times ahead of Sunday’s two-hour race.
Already having received their GT4 Team’s Championship winning silverware ahead of today, the Norfolk based Forsetti Motorsport hold all the aces as far as further Aston Martin Racing powered championship win is concerned with their #7 Vantage GT4 crew of Mikey Porter and Jamie Day heading the overall and GT4 Silver classes whilst their #47 Vantage GT4 crew of Marc Warren and Will Orton do within their own GT4 Pro-Am class.
With testing and Free Practice results always hard to judge pace wise, it were the two Blackthorn AMR Vantage GT3 crews that pushed the pace during their two Qualifying sessions as first Giacomo Petrobelli and then Matt Topham pushed the GT3 Am leaders all the way to finish their ten-minute qualifying time P6 and P5 respectively. The #97 Beechdean AMR Vantage GT3 of Andrew Howard seemed never to get going within the greasy offline conditions to eventually finish P16 overall.
Next up were the higher graded GT3 drivers with Jonny Adam taking over the #87 Blackthorn car with both Josh Rowledge within the #10 car and Jessica Hawkins within the #97 Beechdean AMR car as their silver graded drivers.
Again, the Blackthorn cars performed well with their best lap times coming at the fourth time of asking, presenting the #10 with a cracking P6 overall and P1 in Silver-Am starting position with the #87 Pro-Am car of Petrobelli/Adam just behind in P7 overall (P6 in class) and with the #97 Beechdean car P16 overall and P6 in class.
Just ahead of the rains returning to the circuit, the GT4 class were able to run their two allotted ten-minute sessions with first Mikey Porter and Marc Warren out within their #7 Silver and #47 Pro-Am classed entries. Whilst Porter was only able to improve upon his previous lap times the once, Warren saw a succession of laps improve for time (time wise) for them to finish third and eighth respectively.
Then out came Jamie Day and with his first lap time secured the provisional pole position for the #7 car (bettered it again with his next lap) before saving their tyres ready for the race happy with his days work at the front of the GT4 queue. Orton was only marginally off Day’s times, but this time ran a four-lap session before timing out with an aggregated starting position of P4 overall but P1 in Pro-Am.
Sunday’s weather looks like there could be a lot more rainfall at the circuit before the race tomorrow but dryer from midday onwards for the race itself.
Wet or dry – it may not quite be the #DoningtonDecider that we all know but it might confirm who can control their nerves and who can’t!!
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Saturday, September 07, 2024 |
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Titles still need to be determined within the British GTs final two rounds starting this weekend from Donington
The decisive end of the British GT Championship reaches its near conclusion this weekend as the national series moves back to Donington Park for their penultimate round of the season.
Not quite (maybe) the #Doningtondecider that we have almost come to expect over previous years but two Aston Martin Racing powered crews are again in the thick of the action this time around as both Forsetti Motorsport Vantage GT4 crews battle it out for both class and overall honours.
Starting with them, the first year of operations of the Snetterton based Forsetti team has been something of a deserved minor miracle as drivers Mikey Porter and Jamie Day joined forces again (having raced together within the earlier GT4 Winter Series) within the #7 Silver class entry whilst Marc Warren and Will Orton changed chassis and series to pair up within their #47 Pro-Am entry.
Since that point, their combined results have been nothing short of remarkable considering two of those were racing within the GT4 level for the first time and rightly take the top slot within their respective class championship table going into this weekend’s two-hour penultimate race although the points margins to the chasing pack make things far from certain.
In addition to the usual event and championship aspirational pressures, both Forsetti crews will also have the additional issue of an extended pit stop minimum time to contend with in addition to their already stated minimums having finished on the podium last time out at Snetterton in mid-July.
Within the GT3 classes, however, there are unfortunately no such championship potential for any of the three Vantage GT3 entries from either the Blackthorn AMR or Beechdean AMR teams.
Swapping over to the new 2024 variant at the start of the season, the #97 Beechdean AMR team took a change in tack as Andrew Howard decided upon a Silver-Am entry alongside GT3 debutant Jessica Hawkins but then had to miss out the two available races at Snetterton to put paid to anything more than event success, just like they did last time out at Donington Park with a class third in race two.
That leaves the two Blackthorn AMR crews of the #10 Silver-Am car of Matt Topham and Josh Rowledge alongside the #87 Pro-Am entry of Giacomo Petrobelli and Jonny Adam.
Things started badly for the #10 crew after off’s at both the media day at Donington Park and then at the first day from Oulton Park saw them with little mileage under their belts (with car parts in short supply) and two DNS for the opening round. Things have thankfully improved for the crew with a steady stream of championship points that now sees them P4 in class albeit over a hundred points behind the already declared Silver-Am winners.
Finally, there is the #87 Vantage GT3 car of Petrobelli and Adam who have been struck down with a mixture of car underperformance and misfortune on track to never really threaten the GT3 podium (except for at Spa before a technical issue sidelined the car just before the end) to languish down in P8 in just a third of the points value of the present championship leader.
Will all pressures now removed from the GT3 crews; things will hopefully be a little more relaxed ahead of Sunday’s two-hour race.
Photo credits – Teams / Jacob Ebrey / social media
Wednesday, September 04, 2024 |
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More new faces than expected with GT Cups visit to Silverstone
The obvious news for this weekend is the inclusion of the Beechdean AMR Vantage GT3 team as team boss Andrew Howard looks for some quick, competitive track time to get him back on the GT3 straight and narrow before the next round of the British GT Championship from Donington Park in six weeks’ time.
Having missed the last two sprint races of the Championship around the Snetterton 300 circuit in Norfolk through ‘prior commitment’, the #97 crew of Howard and Jessica Hawkins also had a very brief racing experience of the Spa Francorchamps round having been taken out of the proceedings at the first corner.
For this weekend, Howard will again be under the dutiful tutelage of Darren Turner for the two sprint - two pit stop punctuated races.
The other news comes from within the Forsetti Motorsport camp and the #9 AMR Vantage GT4 car of Mikey Porter and Matthew Higgins reunite again having missed the previous round after their decision to compete within the GT4 European Series at Spa instead, the weekend after their British GT round.
The teams #10 car, however, is again not populated by either Jody Sloss or Rianna O’Meara-Hunt - we know that Sloss would be tied up again with her F1 duties over in Belgium, but we’re not sure about O’Meara-Hunt.
Their places will be taken by one of their #47 British GT racers in Will Orton (this time) who will share the car with team debutant and Fiesta racer Sam Nesser.
The race format to the weekend will see a return to their usual two sprint – two pit stop punctuated rounds per day preceded by Qualifying each day. Having missed the last round, the #9 crew have now lost their overall points lead but do still retain the GTH Class lead from their #10 car stablemates.
Photo credits – Teams / series / social media
Tuesday, July 23, 2024 |
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Another decent weekend for the Vantage GT3 and GT4 platform in British GT (updated)
With the Beechdean AMR team sitting this one out, the AMR mantel was being carried by the two Vantage GT3 cars of the Blackthorn AMR team whilst the locally based Forsetti Motorsport team did likewise within GT4.
Thankfully, the rain of Friday night and Saturday morning had long since passed the Norfolk track as both of Sunday’s races took place under ideal conditions although the day did remain overcast and breezy.
Qualifying would see each driver set their respective starting positions and parity was established for race one as both the #10 and #87 Blackthorn cars would start P4 within each of their Silver-Am and Pro-Am classes respectively as would both Forsetti GT4’s would start P2 within their Silver and Pro-Am classes.
As relatively clean start would see good pace within the GT4 class whilst the #87 of Giacomo Petrobelli would move up to P4 on track whilst the #10 car of Matt Topham would drop to P10 overall just ahead of the pit stop window.
Missing their time marker by just a second was enough to destroy the chances of the #10 car as Jonny Adam would be forced to serve a drive through penalty whilst the sister #10 car moved up to P7 once the #87 pitted to serve that penalty.
The two Forsetti cars meanwhile were again running strongly, not strong enough to contend with the race leading Ginetta but with silver additional time for the #7 car of Jamie Day and Mikey Porter and success time penalties for the #47 Pro-Am car of Marc Warren and Will Orton – the running order would change by the time the pit window closed.
How it all panned out was for the #10 Vantage GT3 of Matt Topham and Josh Rowledge to win their second visit to the podium with a Silver-Am P3 finish (the #87 car would finish P12 overall (P8 in class) whilst the two Vantage GT4 runners would scope more championship points by finishing P4 overall for the #7 car (P2 in Silver Cup) with the #47 finishing P5 overall in GT4 (P3 in Pro-Am).
Just a couple of hours later, it was time to do it all again with the second driver per car this time taking the start.
Again, it was an orderly queue through the opening sequence of corners as the #10, #7 and #47 Aston Martins all started from similar grid positions of race one with the #87 car of Adam uncharacteristically down the order in P10 overall having also lost laps in Qualifying due to track limits.
There was opening drama for the Race 1 winning Ginetta and chasing BMW effectively took each other out of the race at only the end of the opening lap and that allowed each Forsetti GT4 crew to otherwise concentrate their efforts on chasing the pacey #90 McLaren Altura from their 3rd and 4th in class as both Rowledge and Adam struggled up front towards the rear of the GT3 pack.
At the start of the pit window, the #87 car of Adam was P11 overall and the #10 car of Rowledge was still P14 but the two Forsetti cars were still P3 and P4 albeit with the ‘lesser’ Pro-Am pairing within the #47 car ahead of the silver classed #7 car.
With just over a quarter of an hour remaining, a Safety Car was called to retrieve a second car stranded just off track on the infield and whilst that counted off for a lot of race time remaining it also closed the pack up again for the final five minutes.
Whilst good for the two AMR GT3 crews ahead looking to pass for position, it wasn’t so good for the two AMR GT4 crews looking to defend as there was the inevitable contact between cars at the restart.
Fortunately, not affecting the four Aston Martin Racing powered runners, the quick run to the flag saw the #87 car eventually finish P7 overall (P6 in class) with their sister #10 car finishing P12 overall (P4 in class).
It was better however in GT4 as the #78 car scooped another P2 overall (P2 in class) with the #47 crew improving to take another P3 overall finish to win their Pro-Am class again.
Fortunately, not affecting the four Aston Martin Racing powered runners, the quick run to the flag saw the #87 car eventually finish P7 overall (P6 in class) with their sister #10 car finishing P12 overall (P4 in class).
It was better however in GT4 as the #78 car scooped another P2 overall (P2 in class) with the #47 crew improving to take another P3 overall finish to win their Pro-Am class again.
The next round of the Championship takes the teams back to Donington Park at the start of September.
UPDATED
The application of several post race penalties and event disqualifications have improved the finishing positions with the #10 car moving up to P6 overall / P3 in class till in race one with the #87 car now being listed as finishing P11 overall - P7 in class. The #7 Forsetti car is now listed as P3 overall - P2 in class with the #47 now listed as finishing P5 overall - P3 in class.
Race 2 sees the #10 car now P9/P4 and the #87 now P5/P4. In GT4, the results stay the same for both the Forsetti GT4 crews.
Forsetti Motorsport were also later confirmed as 2024 GT4 Teams Champions.
Photo credits - Jacob Ebrey (podium shots)
Photo credits - Jacob Ebrey (podium shots)
Sunday, July 14, 2024 |
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British GT return to to their two sprint race format for this weekends visit to Snetterton
Having opened the season with the same format at Oulton Park way back over Easter, subsequent rounds at Silverstone, Donington Park and most recently at Spa Francorchamps have seen the GT3/GT4 grid race the longer format of races with great success for the five Aston Martin Racing powered crews – particularly within the GT4 class.
This weekend, however, sees just four Aston Martin’s make their way up the A11 as the #97 Beechdean AMR of Silver-Am pairing Andrew Howard and Jessica Hawkins miss the event due to prior commitments (and not this time on Hawkin’s F1 side of the equation!)
This weekend’s entry list sees just thirty-three cars make the trip (compared to the thirty-six at the season opener) but with the usual full season protagonists still there including the two Vantage GT3 cars from the Blackthorn AMR and two Vantage GT4 cars from the Forsetti Motorsport teams.
Last month’s visit to Belgium was very much a bittersweet experience for the collective AMR runners as the #97 car of Howard was eliminated with damage at the opening corner whilst the #87 Blackthorn AMR GT3 of Jonny Adam and Giacomo Petrobelli suffered a late engine/transmission issue that robbed them of an otherwise podium pending position.
Whilst that was that the #10 Blackthorn AMR of Matt Topham and Josh Rowledge did secure their first Silver-Am pole position of the year which transferred into a P2 finish in class at the end.
The best results were however reserved for the GT4 class as the Snetterton based Forsetti team enjoyed another podium double for their #47 Pro-Am and #7 Silver Cup entries of Marc Warren/Will Orton and Mikey Porter/Jamie Day respectively.
Those results have seen the #10 car move up to P4 within the GT3 Silver-Am title chase, the #87 GT3 drop to P9 within the GT3 Pro-Am class whilst both Forsetti crews lead their respective drivers championships as well as the GT4 Teams Championship by nearly double the points to their nearest competitor.
Those results have seen the #10 car move up to P4 within the GT3 Silver-Am title chase, the #87 GT3 drop to P9 within the GT3 Pro-Am class whilst both Forsetti crews lead their respective drivers championships as well as the GT4 Teams Championship by nearly double the points to their nearest competitor.
Weather forecasts for the weekend presently show both Saturday and Sunday as being dry and possibly pushing up to 20 degrees on race day – so in other words, absolutely anything can happen and usually will!!
Photo credits – Jacob Ebrey / teams / social media
Tuesday, July 09, 2024 |
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Destination Spa Francorchamps for the British GT Championship Aston Martin powered crews this weekend
This weekend sees the start of the SRO’s Speedweek from the iconic circuit of Spa Francorchamps where both the British GT Championship as well as the French FFSA Series open the proceedings ahead of next weekend’s Spa 24hr for the headlining GT World Challenge Europe Series.
Three weeks since the last round of the mixed class British GT Championship from Donington Park where this weekend sees itself as the midway point to the season where we can again expect the Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 powered teams of both Beechdean AMR and Blackthorn AMR alongside the two strong Vantage GT4 powered team of Forsetti Motorsport.
“Fresh” from their racing endeavours at Le Mans within the Michelin Le Mans Cup sees both Blackthorn cars return with their usual crew of Giacomo Petrobelli and Jonny Adam within their #87 Pro-Am car alongside their #10 Silver-Am GT3 of Matt Topham and Josh Rowledge.
They are again joined within the GT3 class by the #97 Beechdean AMR of Andrew Howard and Jessica Hawkins – a pairing that secured their first Silver-Am podium finish together at Donington Park.
Further back down the grid, but only marginally considering their combined speeds and efficiencies this season so far, are the two Forsetti Vantage GT4 cars of both Mikey Porter and Jamie Day within the Silver ranked #7 car alongside the #47 Pro-Am GT4 of Marc Warren and Will Orton.
These guys have been having something of a magical GT4 season together with both cars competing for overall GT4 class wins where the #47 car finished second overall last time out despite their Pro-Am status.
Based upon race results so far, the #87 Pro-Am GT3 entry sits just outside the top five in P6 whilst in GT3 Silver-Am, the Donington result for the #97 car thrusts them into the top five in class where Donington also saw the best result so far from the #10 Blackthorn crew in P7.
Then in GT4, the #7 Forsetti crew presently stand second in the Silver Class and first within the GT4 Pro-Am class as well as a commanding lead within the GT4 Teams Championship.
This weekend’s event in Belgium sees the Championship resort back to a single two-hour race format with the race beginning at 13:00hrs local but with just the #47 Forsetti car receiving a 15 second success penalty during one of their mandated stops in lieu of finishing second overall last time out.
Spa Francorchamps is great as we know – it’s usually eventful too!
Spa Francorchamps is great as we know – it’s usually eventful too!
Wednesday, June 19, 2024 |
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A dramatically weather affected British GT race brings home the results for two Aston Martin crews
That was absolutely the case on Sunday as the British GT Championship prepared to get their third round underway from Donington Park.
Definitely forecasted ahead of the race, the rains arrived just as the thirty-eight strong grid were halfway around the lap, forcing Race Control to abandon that starting procedure to allow all to fit wet tyres ahead of its resumption.
For the three Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 powered teams from both Blackthorn AMR and Beechdean AMR, the rain mattered not to them considering their lowly Qualifying position from the Saturday’s dry sessions as the race eventually started from behind the Safety Car.
The two Forsetti Motorsport AMR Vantage GT4 cars were however, quickly on a charge with Jamie Day quickly pushing the leading McLaren and Ginetta’s for the class lead as the rains again stopped and the track appear to dry rather quickly too.
Having eventually taken the lead within GT4, the rains again returned – this time with a vengeance as Day’s efforts proved to be in vain as chaos at the opening corner involving at least eight cars saw the race being red flagged. That was bad news for the three Vantage GT3 cars of Giacomo Petrobelli / Jonny Adam, Matt Topham / Josh Rowledge and Andrew Howard / Jessica Hawkins as all had improved upon their respective Qualifying position positions. The two Forsetti GT4’s were holding P1 overall. For tehir #7 car and P1 in Pro-Am for their #47 car of Marc Warren and Will Orton.
All of this had happened with just one hour of the scheduled three-hour race having elapsed upon the race clock.
Eventually getting back to green after another length delay, the #7 car of Mikey Porter and Jamie Day had come to the attention of the stewards for an irregular pit stop requirement that would cost them both a sixty-four second stop and hold penalty and a shoot at the class win as a result.
Whilst Petrobelli’s #87 car got shoved around at the hairpin (through no fault of his own) and dropped down the order as a result, the #97 Beechdean Vantage GT3 had been slowly climbed the order still further to attain a top ten position overall with still an hour left to go.
The race then hit a period where lots of track action saw lots of Full Course Yellow and Safety Car restarts as others became stranded around the circuit. These of course help to close the gaps so that the #87 car was P9 overall (P8 in GT3 Pro-Am), the #97 P10 overall (P2 in Silver-Am) and the #10 car P15 overall (P6 in Silver-Am). The #47 GT4 was holding the lead of the overall class but had at least three rapid all silver crews bearing quickly down upon them with Porter recovering their position on track up to P8 overall.
With the extremities of the circuit still damp, there was little excitement that could be consumed by the viewer/spectator as the three-hour race was eventually concluded under bright and warming Spring sunshine.
Needing to dig deep after their Qualifying results on Saturday, that is precisely what the three Vantage GT3 crews did with the #87 finally finishing at the head of the trio for a deserved P9 overall finish (P8 in Pro-Am), the #97 Beechdean crew earning their first visit to the podium this season with a P11 overall (P3 in Silver-Am) finish with the #10 car eventually coming home P16 overall (P6 in Silver-AM).
The #47 Forsetti GT4 eventually came home P2 overall and P1 within their own Pro-Am class for a double podium celebration whilst their sister #7 car finished P7 overall (P5 in Silver) for yet more valuable Championship points.
A totally brilliant round, full of incident and sometimes accident but national GT racing at its best as the Championship now looks to its annual jaunt abroad to Spa Francorchamps towards the end of June.
Photo credits – AMR / Jacob Ebrey
Monday, May 27, 2024 |
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