Heroics Into Saint Devote

Back again at Donington Park, and this time, it’s race day. After yesterday’s track action for qualifying, we’re ready to go for the 2 hour race.

My viewing point for the race start is on the Inside of the first corner, Redgate. A 160-degree right-hand turn that sets you up for the run down the hill to the Old Hairpin, through the Crainer Curves. And what a track this is. A perfect blend of high-speed corners, technical corners and hairpins and fast straights where all the drivers can unleash there 550-odd horses.

The race start itself was a tidy one, all cars making it through the first turn unscathed. The Barwell Lamborghini that qualified third managed to throw it down the inside of the number 18 2Seas Motorsport Mercedes to break the front-row lockout. Alex Martin even managed to have a look down the inside of the 42, but nothing untoward happening there. Kevin Tse did his best to defend the position, but thought better of fighting it too hard. One cannot win the race on lap one. But this battling allowed the 42 car of Charles Dawson to stretch it’s legs and run away. Whilst one Lamborghini was making moves at the sharp end of the field, the sister car was also making moves from nearer the back of the grid. A neat send down the inside of the number 9 Mclaren at the hairpin around the back of the circuit secured 9th place for the number 1 Lamborghini. Jones in the 66 Porsche isn’t letting him get out of sight yet though! He passed the Mclaren a lap or two later to stay under the wing of the Lamborghini.

Down in GT4, the pace of the Lotus Emira is really coming to light. With the number 84 fighting it’s way to third in class. I do love a Lotus and this is awesome to see. The other two Mahiki Racing Lotus cars are tucked right under the wing of the Team Parker Racing GT4 Mercedes. Let’s see where this leads.

Some 20 minutes into the session and the Porsche has found its way infront of the Number 1 Lamborghini. I was busy moving from the inside of Turn 1 to the hillside to watch the cars fly down the hill. I missed that. So has the number 9 Mclaren. Is that Mclaren coming good? Or are the drivers just getting more comfortable on their race debut in the Woking-based chassis?

Sit-Rep: Right infront of me. I see the 66 Porsche have a small wiggle going through the old hairpin ashe tries to pin the throttle down. This causes the Number 1 Lamborghini to check-up mid-apex, sending the car into a slow, agonizing spin. Tragic for you Lamborghini fans out there. Myself included. And he comes back on the track right in the way of the Aston Martin and Honda NSX behind! That was close!

Oh no! The number 88 Lotus in GT4 has found the gravel at Coppice corner! That one hurts. Whilst watching the replay at home, I see what happened now. Morgan Tillbrook in the Mclaren gets past the Lotus on the inside, then the Aston of Giacomo Petrobelli goes for a wishful lunge to follow the Mclaren, and totally shunts off the Lotus. Thankfully, karma got him and sent the Aston into a spin in retribution. I also now understand why I was convinced I kept seeing the Aston’s bonnet all crumpled.

After the full-course yellow, the Lotus that had just been recovered from the kitty-litter at Coppice has now just driven into the gravel on pit-out. Curious. It looks to me, on replay, like there’s some sort of electrical issue. The lights seem to flicker between on and off as Duggan pulls off the pit-exit road and seems to just run out of grass.

On the restart, this is the closest we saw the Lamborghini in second to the Mercedes that lead the field, and fortunately for the Barwell Motorsport crew, the 24 Mclaren played a sort of rear-gunner role. As he was a lap down, Kevin Tse in the other Mercedes was not able to overtake until the timing line. This allowed the Lamborghini plenty of breathing space to think about a move. Unfortunately however, I fear this podium is just about locked in. The Mercedes with Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss just seems to have overwhelming pace on every other car in it’s class.

The GT4 restart was much more exciting however. We almost go 3-wide into Redgate between the 37 Jolt Racing Mclaren, who was lapped, the 90 Xpel Mclaren who leads, and the 84 Lotus. All the way down the hill, the Lotus is nose-to-tail with the Mclaren Artura, but he just can’t find a way past. Even with a minor mistake on the entry to the old hairpin from the Xpel car. We have 4 different manufacturers in the top 4, with BMW and Mercedes in 3rd and 4th respectively.

Another incident! This time it’s the 66 Porsche GT3 car going for a hopeful lunge down the inside of the 3, bright green Mclaren, into the Esses. He misjudges corner as the 3 car turns in, closing the door, and ricochets off the side of him, clouts the tire-stack on the inside of the first turn, and ends up perpendicular to the racetrack in a real scary part of the track. Thankfully however, quick reactions from the Lamborghini, Honda NSX and Aston Martin behind mean nobody collects him and it doesn’t get too dangerous. But the damage that Porsche sustained… Man I’d be surprised if he continues. He does!

56 minutes to go in this 2 hour race, and the pitlane has suddenly gotten VERY busy. While the Porsche is shedding bits of carbon fibre all around the track, the teams are now bringing their cars in for a driver-swap. And on the exit, everything has just got a whole lot tighter. 3rd through 6th on the track are now together as a group. This could get spicy. But again, that Mercedes has totally gapped everybody else and those German horses are singing a symphony of V8 noise around the circuit. Or is he?! The Lamborghini sets the fastest lap of the race in his pursuit of glory. Reeling that AMG in by about 6 tenths on that lap. Not even 5 minutes later, that gap is down from nearly 5 seconds to 1.4. This is game on. But now GT4 traffic is involved and that Lambo gets scarily close to the back of one of them on the exit of Turn 1. And now a backmarker at Mclean’s really screws over the Merc, forcing Jewiss to the outside whilst the Lambo of Sandy Mitchell can take a clean racing line, over the apex curb, then pass him much cleaner and faster through Coppice corner. Then Jewiss has a wobble through the Esses! My word this gap is crumbling corner by corner! Is it Kiern getting frustrated behind the wheel? Or is the car now struggling now it’s being pushed?

The 78 Lambo is no more than a car-length behind the leader through the Melbourne hairpin! Oh I’m getting goosebumps! Coming down the Crainer Curves and traffic is getting involved again! Only this time it’s to Jewiss’ benefit. Sandy Mitchell has to check up behind Rob Morris’ AMG GT4, letting that gap grow. I do love multi-class racing. But now we look at the clock. Half an hour left to run and that gap has grown again to 1.5 seconds between our leaders. Is it over for Barwell now?

Down again in GT4, the 41 of Burns is right up the gearbox of the 14 BMW coming out of Goddard’s. Weaving left, weaving right and trying to find a way through. The 14 squeezed the door closed on the straight, causing the Porsche to dart left, then right again as the BMW drifts across the track in response. That feels dirty to me. Chris Salkeld made about 3 moves in defence from the Porsche behind. Now a Mclaren has to pick it’s way through this fight. He passes the Porsche with ease, but finds himself a bit more stuck behind the BMW, though the BMW is just taking his lines as he’s entitled to do so.

25 minutes to go and I’m hearing that what’s left of the 66 Porsche is being rolled into the garage. A superb effort nonetheless to try and salvage something from that race from that crew though.

Now we’re really at the business end of the race. No more than 3 laps to go by my count and that Barwell Lamborghini has done so well to get back under the wing of the Mercedes. 5 tenths is the gap into Coppice corner. Down into the Melbourne hairpin and that Lambo was so close to the rear of the Mercedes, I can imagine Sandy Mitchell is pleading with anybody who will listen to slow his car down. The gap is pretty static at half a second. How’s the nails, racefans?

The FINAL lap of this race. They crossed the timing beam with a second to run, meaning we get anotehr minute-and-a-half of racing action. Both leaders throwing it down the inside of lapped traffic into the final turn, and then on the run down to the Old Hairpin, it all seems to come crashing down for Barwell. The 41 Porsche is parked right in the way of Sandy Mitchell, causing him to back off the throttle and wait for a chance to pass. This gives Kiern Jewiss just the breathing space he needs to finish this race and take the win. And that is all she wrote.

New kids on the block Kiern Jewiss and Charles Dawson take full British GT honors here at Donington Park. A spectacular weekend for both the drivers and the 2Seas Motorsport team and the sister car brings it home in 3rd. A moment on the drivers if I may. They’re both new to not only the discipline of racing, but also the car, the championship and the circuits. The race threw everything it could, other than weather, at them. They coped magnificently with not only full-course yellows, but safety cars too. Not to mention a raging bull half a second behind them and bearing down on their wing. Absolutely incredible stuff.

No doubt Sandy Mitchell did everything he could to get that win, but it just wasn’t enough. He was absolutely throwing the car through every corner he could. At one point he was just 0.002 seconds slower than the leader through the first sector. And this really does excite me for what the season has in store.

Down the order, Beechdean AMR pick up where they left off with Andrew Howard and Jessica Hawkins and record their first win in class in the first race of the year. The number 90 Optimum Motorsport Xpel Mclaren Artura records a win in class too, at the head of the GT4 field. And so does the Lotus 84 of Mahiki Racing.

Full Race Classification:

What a season opener that was! That’s all I’ve got to bring you from Donington Park for the British GT Championship. I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of Mercedes V Lamborghini.