It’s time for the final round of the 2022 Intelligent Money British GT Championship season. The field heads to Donington Park for the final 2 hour race of the championship where titles will be decided in all categories. Follow all the action live here and on our social media streams, whilst Sky subscribers can watch the Qualifying and Race sessions live on SkySports F1.
Key Stories
Team ABBA Work Magic to Claim Final Pole of the Year
Team ABBA Racing have pulled off a near miracle to claim Pole Position ahead of the final race of the 2022 Intelligent Money British GT Championship season at Donington Park. In a hectic session where rain complicated the strategic situation, the black and green Mercedes-AMG went from the grass to the top thanks to father and son duo Richard and Sam Neary.
In GT4 it was a well deserved and hard fought pole position for Toyota Gazoo Racing UK’s Toyota GR Supra GT4 of Tom Edgar and Jordan Collard.
In GT3 it was a game of two halves. Those that got out early and got a clean lap in on the slick tyres were sitting pretty when the rains came and caused a red flag early in Q1. 8 of the runners got a fast lap in before the conditions rapidly changed including Richard Neary, who braved it out on a wet track with slicks.
Soon after Richard was caught out by the rain and ended up on the grass down the Crainer Curves while the #24 Greystone GT McLaren of Andrey Borodin found the gravel trap at Redgate.
With cars off across the parkland circuit, the race director had no choice but to red flag the session.
It gave all teams the chance to switch to wet tyres; the kiss of death for 7 of the 15 GT3 runners who had not got in a fast time on slicks.
Among the unfortunates were the championship protagonists in the #6 and #4 Mercedes-AMGs, #72 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 and the #77 McLaren 720S GT3.
It meant that hail Mary plays were the order of the day for those with a long shot at the title. In Q2, Sandy Mitchell and Lewis Williamson both pitted early for slick tyres. The Lamborghini Huracan and Mercedes-AMG drivers respectively couldn’t make progress but Mitchell told us in our From The Racetrack episode that they felt they had to take the chance to steal a march on their rivals.
Come the end of the session the #8 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of the family Neary took the top spot from single round entry Orange Racing powered by JMH. Simon Orange and Michael O’Brien are no doubt delighted with their performance just a week after claiming the GT Cup title. Fox Motorsport’s Nick Halstead and Jamie Stanley took third place in their McLaren ahead of Mark Smith and Martin Plowman in the Paddock Motorsport 720S.
In an related note, Mark Smith has been given a deferred grid penalty for not putting in two timed laps in qualifying which will be applied at a later race meeting.
Century Motorsport impressed in Q1 but Alexander Simms was unable to make progress in the pro session. The BMW M4 GT3 starts fifth for the race tomorrow. That’s ahead of the Stewart Proctor and Warren Hughes driven Greystone GT McLaren in 6th.
In GT4 it was a battle of strategy and those who braved the slick tyres early made positional ‘Bank’. Chiefly among these was Richard Williams who described to our From The Racetrack episode a brave early session as the tyres slowly came to the boil and finally produced a top time.
Several others took a gamble mid session including both the Academy Motorsport Ford Mustang GT4s. You can hear this in progress in the Saturday show above.
The second session saw a nail biting battle between the Toyota Gazoo Racing machine and Steller Motorsport’s Audi. The Supra came out on top in the last minutes of the session and claimed pole but a fired up Richard Williams is gunning for title glory and their rivals are in 4th and 10th respectively.
Tom Rawlings did exceptional work in the first session, which matched to Chris Salkeld’s pace in Q2 gives the #9 Century Motorsport BMW third place ahead of R Racing’s Aston Martin for championship hopefuls Day and Miller.
Outgoing champion Will Burns managed fifth place with his team mate Jack Brown ahead of the Team Parker Racing Porsche of Orton and Hopkins, the sole Ginetta took 7th for Joe Wheeler and Freddie Tomlinson.
No Maths Needed – The Settled Championships
Two of the available championships have already been claimed by victorious outfits. It’s to be expected with 8 different titles on offer.
This section celebrates the already crowned Champions for 2022.
GT3 Teams Champions.
RAM RACING
GT3 Silver Am Champions.
JAMES DORLIN & ALEX MALAYKIN
REDLINE RACING LAMBORGHINI
Championship Maths – GT3 Overall
The battle to be crowned 2022 Intelligent Money British GT Champion is, quite reasonably, the main focus of the #DoningtonDecider.
This year there are 4 cars with a chance at the top spot, with one car a clear favourite and three contenders for an upset victory.
Let’s take a look at how winning can happen.
#6 RAM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO
Having raced with a number of co-drivers this season, Ian Loggie stands alone at the top of the table.
1st – 5th
6th-8th
9th
10th
Winner
#72 2nd
#72 2nd #4 2nd #77 2nd
#72 3rd #4 2nd #77 2nd
#72 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO
If the Lamborghini finishes in these positions they will take the title if:
1st
2nd
#6 6th
#6 10th #4 2nd #77 2nd
#4 2Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO
Winners already of the most eye burning livery, the 2Seas crew need a bit of help if they are going to claim the title too:
1st
#6 9th #72 2nd #77 2nd
#77 Enduro Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3
A fairy tale to be sure if Enduro Motorsport manage to claim the title just a year after their first race win:
1st
#6 9th #72 2nd #4 2nd
Championship Maths – GT3 Pro Am
With 9 cars in the class and 8 points scorers, the GT3 Pro Am is one of the more populous classes. The numbers have been reduced though.
Three cars remain in contention. Leading the charge is the #6 RAM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Ian Loggie. Having changed co-drivers several times this year, Loggie stands alone at the top.
A consistent driver line up means that both the #72 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO of Sandy Mitchell and Adam Balon, and the #77 Enduro Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 of Morgan Tillbrook and Marcus Clutton stand a chance of sharing the honours with their team mates.
Here is how the maths stacks up.
#6 RAM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO
If the lone wolf in the class finishes in these positions they will take the title if:
1st – 6th
7th +
N/c
Winner
#72 2nd
#72 3rd #77 2nd
#72 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO
If the Lamborghini finishes in these positions they will take the title if:
1st
2nd
#6 7th
#6 N/c #77 2nd
#77 Enduro Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3
1st
#6 N/c #72 2nd
Championship Maths – GT4 Overall
14 cars will contest the GT4 class tomorrow with 12 of them eligible for points. This is one of the few championships where the maths goes all the way down to non-classification.
Three cars are in contention, Newbridge Motorsport’s #27 Aston Martin V8 Vantage AMR GT4 for Darren Turner and Matt Topham faces off against the #42 Steller Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT4 of Sennan Fielding and Richard Williams. A distant but still mathematically viable championship contender is the second Aston Martin, this one from R Racing for Jamie Day and Josh Miller.
Here is how the maths stacks up.
#27 Newbridge Motorsport Aston Martin V8 Vantage AMR GT4
If ‘Skully’ finishes in these positions they will take the title if:
1st – 2nd
3rd – 4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
N/c
Winner
#42 2nd
#42 2nd #23 2nd
#42 3rd #23 2nd
#42 4th #23 2nd
#42 4th #23 3rd
#42 5th #23 3rd
#42 6th #23 4th
#42 6th #23 4th
#42 Steller Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT4
If the Audi finishes in these positions they will take the title if:
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
#27 3rd
#27 6th #23 2nd
#27 7th #23 2nd
#27 9th #23 3rd
#27 10th #23 3rd
No Chance
#23 R Racing Aston Martin V8 Vantage AMR GT4
If the Aston Martin finishes in these positions they will take the title if:
1st
2nd
3rd
#27 5th #42 2nd
#27 8th #42 2nd
No Chance
Championship Maths – GT4 Pro Am
With only 5 cars in the class and one of those not counting for points, the championship maths is simpler in GT4 Pro Am. The invisible car here is the #62 Ford Mustang from Academy Motorsport.
Two cars remain in contention, the #27 Aston Martin V8 Vantage AMR GT4 of Newbridge Motorsport’s Matt Topham and Darren Turner and the #68 Team Brit McLaren 570S GT4 of Aaron Morgan and Bobby Trundley.
There is no need for complicated tables here. If the #27 finishes ahead of the #68, thats all she wrote. If the #68 wins, the #27 has to take second place.
Championship Maths – GT4 Silver Cup
There are 9 cars entered into the GT4 Silver Cup class at the #DoningtonDecider but only 8 count for points with the MotusOne Mercedes a round by round entry into the championship.
Two cars are in contention, the #42 Steller Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT4 of Richard Williams and Sennan Fielding and the #23 R Racing Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4 of Jamie Day and Josh Miller.
Here is how the maths stacks up.
#42 Steller Motorsport Audi
If the Audi finishes in these positions they will take the title if:
1st – 4th
5th – 7th
8th – 9th
10th
N/c
Winner
#23 2nd
#23 3rd
#23 4th
#23 4th
#23 R Racing Aston Martin V8 Vantage AMR GT4
If the Aston martin finishes in these positions they will take the title if:
1st
2nd
3rd
4th +
#42 5th
#42 8th
#42 9th
#42 wins.
Championship Maths – The Invisible Cars
There are 6 cars at Donington Park this weekend which do not attract points and are therefore invisible in terms of the championship mathematics. These cars are:
: : #7 MotusOne Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 – Ed McDermott and Michael Broadhurst.
: : #20 2Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO – Graham Davidson and Aaron Walker.
: : #24 Greystone GT McLaren 720S GT3 – Andrey Borodin and Ed Pead.
: : #62 Academy Motorsport Ford Mustang GT4 – Will Moore and Erik Evans.
: : #67 Orange Racing powered by JMH McLaren 720S GT3 – Simon Orange and Michael O’Brien
: : #97 Beechdean AMR Aston Martin V8 Vantage AMR GT3 – Andrew Howard and Lewis Proctor.
Barwell and Steller to the Fore in FP2
Barwell Motorsport have claimed the top spot in the final free practice session of the 2022 Intelligent Money British GT Championship season. The fastest time was set by former champion Sandy Mitchell in the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo he shares with Adam Balon.
In GT4 it was Steller Motorsport who took the top spot, moving forward in the middle of the session thanks to an effort from Sennan Fielding in the GT4 Audi shared with Richard Williams.
Drivers and fans at the circuit were pleased to find a dry track after the overnight rains had been cleared by early track action. It meant that there was no worries about tyres, all the teams fitting Pirelli PZero slick tyres and heading out to complete their programmes. A busy session followed with clear weather predicted for the rest of the weekend. FP2 was where the teams would learn what they need to know for qualifying today and the race tomorrow.
In GT3 the early entertainment came from the factory pro drivers, Lamborghini Squadra Corse’s Mitchell jousting for fastest time with Mercedes-AMG hot-shoe Jules Gounon.
What we didn’t see was Alexander Simms of BMW i Andretti Formula E fame. The Century Motorsport BMW snapped a belt in the engine bay and spluttered to a halt on the Grand Prix loop just before the halfway mark in the session. The stricken car caused a red flag which gave the teams a chance to breathe in the pit lane but also meant we lost valuable dry running time.
The remaining 20 minutes of the session once the green flag was shown saw Mitchell and Gounon back in action, squabbling over the top spot. Gounon went first, claiming bragging rights with 8 minutes left on the clock. Then came Mitchell who displaced him by just 0.004 seconds.
The Mercedes-AMG driver for RAM Racing, sharing the title leading car with Ian Loggie, set a purple in the first sector, then a green personal best in the second, but abandoned the lap and pitted before the time had elapsed.
A late scorcher from Lewis Williamson in the championship rivalling 2Seas Motorsport machine was disallowed due to track limits infringements.
The striking of the #4 machines time left Michael O’Brien, the FP1 fastest man, in third place with the denied yellow Mercedes in 4th. Fifth place went to Team Rocket RJN who spent much of the first session in the pits. There wasn’t talk of a problem with the car, just the team keeping their powder dry ahead of the important work of the day.
In GT4 Sennan Fielding set his fastest time relatively early and held out for the entirety of the post-red flag running. Matt Cowley for Academy Motorsport took second place in the Ford Mustang GT4, possibly the last time we will see the car with the new GT3 Mustang available next year.
Team Parker Racing’s Seb Hopkins and Jamie Orton took third in the 718 Cayman Clubsport RS ahead of the championship leaders Matt Topham and Darren Turner.
The Newbridge Motorsport Aston Martin was another car which did little in FP1, avoiding risk to the car and saving the work for second practice where conditions would more closely represent those of the later competitive running.
Orange Racing claim FP1 Honours
Orange Racing powered by JMH have claimed the top spot in an exciting and competitive free practice 1 for the #DoningtonDecider. The first session of the final British GT Championship race weekend of the season took place in improving conditions after overnight rain which led to a constant shuffle at the top of the order in both classes.
Orange Racing powered by JMH have claimed the top spot in an exciting and competitive free practice 1 for the #DoningtonDecider. The first session of the final British GT Championship race weekend of the season took place in improving conditions after overnight rain which led to a constant shuffle at the top of the order in both classes.
Simon Orange was joined by Michael O’Brien at the wheel of the McLaren 720s GT3 which claimed title glory in the GT Cup championship last weekend at Snetterton.
In GT4 bragging rights went to Toyota Gazoo Racing UK, run by Speedworks Motorsport whose Toyota GR Supra GT4 driven by Jordan Collard and Tom Edgar took the top spot in an equally hard fought ‘lower’ class. The changing conditions and indeterminate cross over point between Pirelli Cinturato wet tyres and the PZero slicks meant that the GT4 class featured as high as 7th place, or 8 places into the GT3 class, during the session.
The start of the session saw a fair bit of change at the top of the time sheets with RAM Racing’s Jules Gounon and Century Motorsport’s Alex Simms sharing the top spot with Sam Neary for Team ABBA Racing. The real surprise early on was a quick lap by Sam Neary’s father and team mate Richard, who bested AMG factory pro Gounon to top the time sheets during the tricky time when wets were the best option but slicks looked tempting.
All assumed the time came on the dry weather rubber; but it was on the Cinturato tyre that the older Mercedes-AMG took the top spot.
Come the end of the session, a battle between Simms, Gounon and Lamborghini Squadra Corse driver Sandy Mitchell enthralled. The pros gave way to the Ams for the final ten minutes of the session, which was when the eventual session ‘winners’ pounced.
Michael O’Brien, Euan Hankey for 7TSIX and a late surge from Lewis Williamson for 2Seas Motorsport had the final duel for supremacy. The Orange Racing driver hit hardest with a 1:27.439 to take the top spot with the Mercedes of Williamson splitting the McLarens 0.679 seconds behind. Hankey’s best netted third.
The final timing screen shows Ian Loggie for RAM, Darren Leung for Century and Adam Balon for Barwell Motorsport in positions 4, 5 and 6. This was a legacy of the pro’s performance.
After a similar battle in GT4 the Collard driven Toyota took the top spot. Seb Hopkins for Team Parker Racing took second place in the Porsche Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport with Tom Rawlings for Century in third.
However these drivers weren’t the stand out in the session. In the trickier conditions one driver shone, at a time when Paddock Motorsport held the top spot in both GT3 and GT4. Kavi Jundu, CEO of Diamond Box and graduating GT Cup racer put in blistering times early on. It was this series debutant who put a GT4 car well into the top ten overall.
New Faces and Old Friends Boost Decider Entry List
A flurry of changes to the entry list for the final round of the 2022 Intelligent Money British GT Championship have bolstered a car count which otherwise would have suffered. Team Parker Racing have not brought their 991 type Porsche GT3 to the circuit this weekend as they make their Michelin GT Challenge debut, supporting the final round of the European Le Mans Series.
The big headline visitor is the Beechdean AMR Aston Martin V8 Vantage AMR GT3 of former champion Andrew Howard. He is joined by Lewis Proctor who has spent the season running in the Greystone GT McLaren he shared with his father. We’ve not seen a GT3 Aston martin all year so the return of the Ice Cream machine is welcome.
We’ve also got a visit from Simon Orange whose Orange Racing powered by JMH McLaren sealed the GT Cup championship last weekend. He is joined by British GT regular and friend of the show Michael O’Brien.
2Seas Motorsport have also come with an extra car this weekend. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Graham Davidson, former champion and rapid British GT super sub, joined by Aaron Walker.
With Lewis Proctor in the Aston Martin, father Stewart Proctor needs a team mate, a role filled by former GT1 World Championship racer Warren Hughes. Mark Smith is subbing in the Paddock Motorsport machine for Kelvin Fletcher whose prior commitments mean he cannot partner Martin Plowman.
In GT4 there are a number of driver changes though the only additional car comes from Academy Motorsport. They’ve dusted off the spare Ford Mustang GT4 and installed Will Moore alongside Erik Evans. Matt Cowley joins Marco Signoretti in the full season entry.
The game of musical chairs continues for the Valluga Racing Porsche Cayman. Team boss Benji Heatherington continues to feature, joined this weekend by Adam Knight.
In the Paddock Motorsport Kavi Jundu joins season long driver Moh Ritson.
Key Links
Twitter Coverage:
Live Timing and Scoring:
Qualifying Live Stream:
Saturday 15th October
16:05
Warm Up Live Stream:
Sunday 16th October
09:40
Race Live Stream:
Sunday 16th October
13:00
From The Racetrack
#DoningtonDecider Saturday
From The Racetrack
#DoningtonDecider Sunday
