Callum Dunn secured the 2016 TORA British GT3 Championship title at Donington Park last weekend after Danny Gower made it four victories in as many starts.
Back-to-back wins on debut at Snetterton were followed up with an imperious showing at the eSport’s finale. However, it was Dunn’s early season dominance that allowed him to seal the title ahead of real-world British GT driver Alex Reed by 24 points.
Gower’s Limitless Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra was once again unstoppable in qualifying en route to pole by half-a-second over Reed, who achieved the first task in his title quest by out-qualifying his arch rival. Dunn was only one place further back, though, alongside the now familiar presence of the JAM Racing Aston Martin V12 Vantage.
The meeting’s opening race began well for Reed who not only took the lead but also benefited from Dunn’s uncharacteristic spin. However, any hopes of reducing his championship arrears were dashed over the closing stages when a number of off-road excursions whilst under pressure from Gower and a recovering Dunn saw the HCR McLaren MP4-12C drop to third at the chequered flag.
That left him with a mountain to climb over the course of this year’s title decider, which began with damp conditions underfoot. And tyre choice would play a major role in the outcome.
Reed initially gambled on slicks owing to the track not being fully wet. It looked like the correct call during the brief acclimatisation laps but, come the start, conditions had deteriorated sufficiently that the HCR driver was soon all at sea. Switching to wets part-way through the race dropped the championship challenger to last place, before his late-race fightback was scuppered by a steering failure that left the McLaren crabbing back to the pits. Championship over.
There was nowhere near the same level of drama at the front where Gower once again capitalised on the errors of others to cruise to a fourth straight win. Dunn, meanwhile, was content to finish second and claim the necessary points to be crowned 2016 champion.
Third place went to a very happy Mike Eyles for LNT Samsung Racing, a well deserved podium visit for the Ginetta driver who had been racing touring cars in Monza only four days earlier.
In GT4, South East Coast Racing Ginetta's Mark Byrne and Mark Power confirmed their class dominance with another pair of untroubled victories, although it was the latter who secured the title by just nine points. G55s completed the championship podium thanks to Lewis Scaife.
Fancy your chances in the 2017 TORA British GT Championship? Learn more about the official virtual series here.