The Intelligent Money British GT Championship heads to Donington Park on August 15 – 16 for the first of two visits in 2020. The premier domestic GT series will contest a unique double-header format at the Leicestershire circuit which will see the 21-car grid compete in both a two-hour endurance format and a one-hour sprint race.
13 cars have been entered in the GT3 category and eight in the GT4 class.
Changes in the GT3 field sees the loss of the #55 JMH Auto Lamborghini Huracan GT3 in which John Seale and Marcus Clutton drove to 13th place overall and seventh in the GT3 Pro-Am class in the first race at the opening round at Oulton Park. Race Two saw the Holmes Chapel, Cheshire-based team improve to seventh overall and second in the Pro-Am class.
At the start of the delayed 2020 season, Seale and Clutton declared that they would be considering further races after reviewing the results from Oulton Park. Given the team’s performance in the opening rounds, it must be hoped that we will see the #55 Lamborghini back on the grid before the season finale at Silverstone in November/
In the #18 WPI Motorsport Lamborghini, Andrea Caldarelli replaces Dennis Lind. Caldarelli enjoyed a spectaculars season in the 2019 Blancpain GT World Challenge, winning a clean sweep of drivers titles. Caldarelli has not raced in the British GT Championship previously but has huge experience in one- and two-hour two-driver contests. The pairing of Caldarelli and Michael Igoe, now in his second season of racing in the championship, will be one to watch as the weekend unfolds.
Also joining the grid at Donington will be the #36 Balfe Motorsport 720S GT3, driven by Stewart Proctor and, taking a break from commentary duties, Joe Osborne.
The GT4 grid remains the same as Oulton Park except for the absence of the #33 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT4, driven in the opening rounds by Luke Sedzikowski and David Whitmore. The Team Tegiwa entry had entered the 2020 season on a race-by-race basis and, after two finishes on the opening weekend, must be feeling confident about further outings this season.
Oulton Park saw a class victory for Jenson Team Rocket RJN’s McLaren 720S GT3 piloted by McLaren professional driver Michael O’Brien and ‘World’s Fastest Gamer’ James Baldwin. The duo brought the #2 car home ahead of tough competition from Lewis Proctor and Ollie Wilkinson’s #96 Optimum Motorsport McLaren and Angus Fender and Dean Macdonald in the #9 car 2 Seas Motorsport entry.
After the win and a sixth place on the opening weekend, Baldwin and O’Brien have a two-point lead in the GT3 drivers standings, ahead of Barwell Motorsport’s Adam Balon and Phil Keen. In third place and just one point behind the #72 Barwell pairing, is the sister #78 duo of Sandy Mitchell and ex-BTCC ace Rob Collard.
The GT4 class saw a well-deserved win in Race Two for the sole Pro-Am entry in the category; the #21 Balfe Motorsport McLaren 570S GT4 driven by Mia Flewitt and Euan Hankey. Mia Flewitt is making her British GT debut in 2020, having graduated from the Pure McLaren GT Series after winning the championship in 2018 and 2019.
Currently a four-way tie exists at the head of the GT4 drivers standings with HHC Motorsport’s Patrick Matthiesen and Jordan Collard on 33 points alongside the TF Sport pairing of Daniel Vaughan and Jamie Caroline.
Track action at Donington gets underway at with the first practice session at 09:45 on Saturday August 15. The four ten-minute qualifying sessions, used to establish the grid for the two-hour Race One, begin at 16:00.
The lights go out for the first race at 11:05 on Sunday August 16 with Race Two, a one-hour sprint contest, starting at 16:30.
Tickets for the weekend can be purchased here.
