Donington Park Sunday 11th September 2016
Autumn is the best time of the year in my opinion for watching motor racing in the UK. Usually it means slightly cooler (and more comfortable!) weather to spectate in plus championships reach their conclusion and there is always an "edge" to most races as vital points are on offer. End of season scores, feuds and grudges can be settled at times too....!
Therefore it was off to Donington for the season finale of the British GT Championship with support from BRDC Formula 3, Ginetta GT5 Challenge, Volkswagen Cup, Ginetta Racing Drivers Club and a pair of Saloon & Sportscar Trophy races with entries compiled by weekend organiser the BRSCC.
This was my first meeting for 4 weeks...I should have gone to Donington on August 28th for a very good looking BRSCC meeting but alas my car suffered a terminal engine problem the day before and it was an AA Sunday instead. I felt like going to Alcoholics Anonymous rather than the Automobile Association to be honest but thanks to my friend John who gave me a lift , I was able to get to Donington on this particular day....
The British GT Championship final round saw 3 crews in with a shout of claiming the title. Leading the points table at the start of the 2 hour race were Jon Minshaw/Phil Keen in their Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan with the TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage of Derek Johnston/Jonny Adam sufficiently close enough to keep things interesting. Come the start of the race it was Johnston who held the advantage with the McLaren 650S of Alasdair McCaig in second and Minshaw in 3rd. Just after the half hour mark though, Minshaw threw away the title as, in attempting to pass McCaig in the Craner Curves, the McLaren was simultaneously lapping the GT4 Aston Martin of British Bake Off host Paul Hollywood. 3 into 1 didn't go and Minshaw ran wide onto the grass and speared off into the vast expanse of the Old Hairpin gravel trap. Light contact was made with the barrier but surprisingly Minshaw elected to park up instead of trying to salvage some points in the hope of retirements ahead of him. After the round of pitstops and driver changes the MClaren (now driven by Rob Bell) emerged in the lead and a somewhat static last half of the race ensued with Jonny Adam content to finish 2nd and clinch the title.
Slightly worrying that there were only 11 GT3 cars on the grid at Donington with the GT4 class providing the bulk of the entry with 18. GT racing does get too expensive from time to time and with GT1 and GT2 a distant memory, is it time to make the GT4 class the premier category in British GT? Competition from the massed ranks of Blancpain GT plus national series like GT Cup and Britcar have diluted the field somewhat in recent years, but hopefully any transition won't happen just yet.
First there was Formula 3....then there was Formula 4. Formula 4 is now Formula 3 (but only in the UK...!) and what was once Formula Ford is now Formula 4. Formula 3 still exists in Europe but different to the UK (Brexit!!) and Formula 2 doesn't exist but GP2 which is essentially Formula 2 doesn't want to be known as Formula 2. I haven't even mentioned GP3 which is like Formula 3 (not the UK one though...pay attention please!)
Anyway the final rounds of the BRDC Formula 3 Championship saw 2 very processional races on Sunday both won by Toby Sowery. Brazilian Matheus Leist taking advantage of championship rival Ricky Collard's bad weekend and emerging as the inaugural BRDC F3 Champion.
A huge 40 car grid of Ginetta GT5's entertained in their pair of races and with 2 races also for the Ginetta Racing Drivers Club (far less entertaining) the Leeds based manufacturer saw their goods raced in almost every race on Sunday bar the VW Cup and F3 races.
The VW Cup races saw an 18 car grid cause the days most mayhem as Race 1 saw a safety car appearnce following Toby Davis planting his Golf into the barriers on the exit of the Old Hairpin then in Race 2 the Scirocco of Mason Lennick ended up on its side at the Esses on the GP circuit meaning a red flag and an early finish with 5 minutes left on the clock.
The BRSCC did well to organise 33 entries for the 2 Saloon & Sportscar Trophy races at fairly short notice. Attracting a field of cars to perform outside of their regular championships mid-season is a tricky task but obviously the lure of supporting a prestigious meeting paid off. The Caterham R400 of Gary Bate winning both, helped by the TVR Sagaris of Dean Cook spinning off at Redgate on the first lap of the 2nd race, having finished second in the days first race. Interesting to note the presence of 8 Global Lights cars from Ireland. The class is still popular over there despite being long gone from the British scene.
I enjoyed this meeting a lot and a relatively early finish for Donington at 5.50pm! Good weather to report along with a decent sized crowd which is good to see. Admission was £17 as I somehow got £3 discount with my DPRAC card instead of £2. No programme purchased and I'm beginning not to break out into sweat any more when I don't, so my programme fixation is well and truly in the past!
Therefore it was off to Donington for the season finale of the British GT Championship with support from BRDC Formula 3, Ginetta GT5 Challenge, Volkswagen Cup, Ginetta Racing Drivers Club and a pair of Saloon & Sportscar Trophy races with entries compiled by weekend organiser the BRSCC.
This was my first meeting for 4 weeks...I should have gone to Donington on August 28th for a very good looking BRSCC meeting but alas my car suffered a terminal engine problem the day before and it was an AA Sunday instead. I felt like going to Alcoholics Anonymous rather than the Automobile Association to be honest but thanks to my friend John who gave me a lift , I was able to get to Donington on this particular day....
The British GT Championship final round saw 3 crews in with a shout of claiming the title. Leading the points table at the start of the 2 hour race were Jon Minshaw/Phil Keen in their Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan with the TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage of Derek Johnston/Jonny Adam sufficiently close enough to keep things interesting. Come the start of the race it was Johnston who held the advantage with the McLaren 650S of Alasdair McCaig in second and Minshaw in 3rd. Just after the half hour mark though, Minshaw threw away the title as, in attempting to pass McCaig in the Craner Curves, the McLaren was simultaneously lapping the GT4 Aston Martin of British Bake Off host Paul Hollywood. 3 into 1 didn't go and Minshaw ran wide onto the grass and speared off into the vast expanse of the Old Hairpin gravel trap. Light contact was made with the barrier but surprisingly Minshaw elected to park up instead of trying to salvage some points in the hope of retirements ahead of him. After the round of pitstops and driver changes the MClaren (now driven by Rob Bell) emerged in the lead and a somewhat static last half of the race ensued with Jonny Adam content to finish 2nd and clinch the title.
Slightly worrying that there were only 11 GT3 cars on the grid at Donington with the GT4 class providing the bulk of the entry with 18. GT racing does get too expensive from time to time and with GT1 and GT2 a distant memory, is it time to make the GT4 class the premier category in British GT? Competition from the massed ranks of Blancpain GT plus national series like GT Cup and Britcar have diluted the field somewhat in recent years, but hopefully any transition won't happen just yet.
First there was Formula 3....then there was Formula 4. Formula 4 is now Formula 3 (but only in the UK...!) and what was once Formula Ford is now Formula 4. Formula 3 still exists in Europe but different to the UK (Brexit!!) and Formula 2 doesn't exist but GP2 which is essentially Formula 2 doesn't want to be known as Formula 2. I haven't even mentioned GP3 which is like Formula 3 (not the UK one though...pay attention please!)
Anyway the final rounds of the BRDC Formula 3 Championship saw 2 very processional races on Sunday both won by Toby Sowery. Brazilian Matheus Leist taking advantage of championship rival Ricky Collard's bad weekend and emerging as the inaugural BRDC F3 Champion.
A huge 40 car grid of Ginetta GT5's entertained in their pair of races and with 2 races also for the Ginetta Racing Drivers Club (far less entertaining) the Leeds based manufacturer saw their goods raced in almost every race on Sunday bar the VW Cup and F3 races.
The VW Cup races saw an 18 car grid cause the days most mayhem as Race 1 saw a safety car appearnce following Toby Davis planting his Golf into the barriers on the exit of the Old Hairpin then in Race 2 the Scirocco of Mason Lennick ended up on its side at the Esses on the GP circuit meaning a red flag and an early finish with 5 minutes left on the clock.
The BRSCC did well to organise 33 entries for the 2 Saloon & Sportscar Trophy races at fairly short notice. Attracting a field of cars to perform outside of their regular championships mid-season is a tricky task but obviously the lure of supporting a prestigious meeting paid off. The Caterham R400 of Gary Bate winning both, helped by the TVR Sagaris of Dean Cook spinning off at Redgate on the first lap of the 2nd race, having finished second in the days first race. Interesting to note the presence of 8 Global Lights cars from Ireland. The class is still popular over there despite being long gone from the British scene.
I enjoyed this meeting a lot and a relatively early finish for Donington at 5.50pm! Good weather to report along with a decent sized crowd which is good to see. Admission was £17 as I somehow got £3 discount with my DPRAC card instead of £2. No programme purchased and I'm beginning not to break out into sweat any more when I don't, so my programme fixation is well and truly in the past!
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