+ Entry list: Donington Park
New teams, cars and drivers join the list of established stars and champions this weekend when Season 33 of the British GT Championship kicks off at Donington Park.
Both the venue and date are a little unusual given that neither are Oulton Park or Easter, the traditional combination for British GT’s curtain raiser. Donington’s 120-minute affair this Sunday also provides a different proposition to that of Cheshire’s two hour-long sprints held on a Bank Holiday Monday, although that familiar scenario will play out later this spring.
Instead, all eyes are on a circuit that bookends British GT’s season but also hosts the first-ever ‘championship within a championship’ Endurance Cup round.
British GT is always best enjoyed trackside. But those unable to make it can at least watch qualifying and the race live on Sky Sports F1 and SRO’s GT World YouTube channel this Saturday and Sunday. Joe Osborne’s team manager commitments see a new driver join the commentary team: GT3 race winner and World’s Fastest Gamer James Baldwin will be alongside David Addison and Andy McEwan throughout 2025.
GT3
Changes galore over the winter, as well as the reigning champion missing round one, mean there’s plenty to unpack in GT3 where the established team and driver combinations will most likely enjoy an early advantage.
Rob Collard’s 2024 title triumph owed something to winning at Donington, but his enforced absence due to an unforeseen medical procedure leaves the #1 Lamborghini with a very unfamiliar look. Hugo Cook, who was due to partner the reigning champion after spending last season in an Audi, is instead joined by Matt Topham.
The other side of Barwell’s garage remains unchanged from last year when Alex Martin and Sandy Mitchell almost denied Rob and Ricky Collard the title. One of their three wins came in the first of Donington’s two races, so it would be no surprise at all if the same combination began its campaign in similar fashion.
Kevin Tse and Maximilian Götz also return in the familiar surroundings of a 2 Seas Mercedes-AMG after claiming two victories and pole positions last year – results that weren’t reflected in their final championship position. They’re joined at the team by reigning GT4 Pro-Am champion Charles Dawson and debutant Kiern Jewiss.
Blackthorn’s Aston Martin didn’t win a race last season but did score its best result – second overall – at Donington after a largely frustrating start to 2024. Continuity in the shape of Giacomo Petrobelli and Jonny Adam makes this entry, along with 2 Seas, the most likely threat to Martin and Mitchell.
But there’s also no shortage of potential winners amongst McLaren’s ranks despite wholesale changes to several line-ups. Morgan Tillbrook is a multiple Donington winner aboard the 720S and now has factory star Marvin Kirchhöfer for company after moving to Optimum. Its second GT3 entry features the familiar duo of Mike Price and Callum Macleod who have spent the last two years racing a Mercedes-AMG.
Tillbrook’s previous success at Donington was achieved alongside Marcus Clutton who now partners Simon Orange at Orange Racing by JMH. There are no such changes at Paddock where Mark Smith and Martin Plowman join forces for a third campaign, while Greystone GT’s Andrey Borodin and Oli Webb return on a full-season basis.
Sam Neary’s re-grading means Team Abba – which took its only overall British GT win at Donington in 2021 – is no longer eligible to contest Silver-Am. Instead, Bridger’s Honda and Beechdean’s Aston Martin, shared respectively by Johnny Ip/Luke Garlick and Andrew Howard/Tom Wood, will be scrapping for class honours and more.
Two manufacturers, Ferrari and Porsche, were due to make their British GT returns this weekend. But while the 911 GT3 R will be there thanks to Team Parker, Nick Jones (a winner at Donington with Bentley) and factory hotshoe Sven Müller, clashing European Le Mans Series commitments prevent Duncan Cameron, Matt Griffin and AF Corse’s 296 from competing. Instead, Maranello will make its long-awaited return later this month at Silverstone where several Ferraris are scheduled to race…
GT4
Assessing the form guide at the start of a new GT4 season is always tricky. Few would have picked Forsetti to triumph on its British GT debut last year, for instance. But 2025 appears especially unpredictable thanks to eight cars featuring British GT winners.
Optimum is the obvious place to start. No driver has enjoyed more GT4 success in recent years than eight-time race winner and reigning champion Jack Brown who also enjoys the advantage of stability by remaining with the same team and car. His co-driver, Marc Warren, is new to the fold and also Brown’s first-ever Am co-driver but one who excelled during his debut British GT campaign in 2024.
The same Artura also won at Donington last year, albeit with a Silver combination behind the wheel.
No driver has ever won two British GT4 titles, let alone consecutively. It was also back in 2016 when the last Pro-Am duo claimed the overall crown. Can Brown re-write both of those statistics this year?
He’ll face tough opposition from another top drawer and unchanged Pro-Am partnership in the shape of Ravi Ramyead and Charlie Robertson who scored the second of their two wins at Donington towards the end of last year. They remain with Century, which has the new Evo-spec BMW M4 GT4 at its disposal – a car that they have already driven extensively in the GT4 Winter Series.
They’ll also have one eye on Century’s remarkable record of winning championships in the first year of each previous new M4 model.
With second cars at their disposal, Optimum and Century look set to be teams’ championship contenders. But could the likes of Luca Hopkinson and Harry George, and Branden Templeton and Chris Salkeld also join their team-mates in the battle for drivers’ title success? Only one of them – 2023 Pro-Am champion Salkeld – has a British GT win to their name currently, while his co-driver steps up from junior single-seaters.
Mahiki enjoys the numerical advantage with three Lotus Emiras and a former GT4 champion amongst its ranks. But will that be enough to make it a British GT winner for the first time? Its two Pro-Am entries feature 2018 title winner Jack Mitchell and Steven Lake, and Ian Duggan and Joe Wheeler, while the Silver combination pairs race winner Josh Miller with Aiden Neate. Incidentally, only its two best placed Lotuses will score teams’ points at each race.
Perhaps this year’s most intriguing entry features Phil Keen who has joined Jon Currie in Team Parker’s full-season Mercedes-AMG. British GT’s all-time record holder in terms of wins – 19 GT3/overall and two more class – has only contested one partial GT4 season, and that was back in 2012. However, he and Currie have previously linked up in similar machinery elsewhere so should hit the ground running with a team that won the Pro-Am title last year. Their historic DTM livery is also amongst the best on this year’s grid.
This weekend’s other four entries are also eligible for the Endurance Cup, which counts events at Silverstone, Spa and Donington’s opener as well as decider.
Ed McDermott joins GT4’s reigning Pro-Am champion and 2017 GT3 title winner Seb Morris aboard Team Parker’s Mercedes-AMG, while Will Burns – who clinched the GT4 crown in 2021 – partners Jamie Orton at Rob Boston Racing. Their weapon of choice is now a Porsche Cayman.
MKH has one previous British GT outing to its name and returns for an Endurance Cup programme with the latest generation Aston Martin plus two of the team’s three founders: Peter Montague and Stuart Hall. Jolt Racing’s McLaren, shared by reigning GT Cup class champions Rupert Williams and John Ingram, completes a championship within a championship featuring four different manufacturers.
One significant change over the winter concerns GT4’s extra Silver ballast, which must now only be carried during the race. This allows Silver-graded drivers to demonstrate their true speed in qualifying.
DONINGTON PARK TIMETABLE
THURSDAY 3 APRIL
10:50 – 11:45: Test 1
13:25 – 14:20: Test 2
16:05 – 17:00: Test 3
SATURDAY 5 APRIL
09:40 – 10:40: Free Practice
12:15 – 13:15: Pre-Qualifying
15:50 – 16:00: Qualifying 1 (GT3)
16:04 – 16:14: Qualifying 2 (GT3)
16:18 – 16:28: Qualifying 3 (GT4)
16:33 – 16:43: Qualifying 4 (GT4)
SUNDAY 6 APRIL
09:40 – 09:55: Warm-up
11:45 – 12:10: Pitwalk + autograph session
12:45 – 14:45: Race
LAP RECORDS
GT3 – 1m24.977s – Euan Hankey – RACE LAB McLaren 720S – 2023
GT4 – 1m32.863s – Charles Clark – Optimum Motorsport McLaren Artura – 2023
PITSTOP SPECIFICS – TWO-HOUR RACE
The number of driver changes are free but there are minimum and maximum total drive times for the starting driver. In GT4 starting drivers must complete a minimum of 58 minutes, while in GT3 this rises to 62 minutes. All classes share the same maximum starting drive time of 70 minutes.
Mandatory Pitstop Times (pit-in to pit-out)
GT3: 115s | GT4: 145s
All GT4 Silver Cup entries must serve an additional 24s during their mandatory driver changes and carry 25kg of ballast.
