Twilight refuelling race to close British GT season

A two-hour race format means the added excitement of mid-race refuelling in addition to the driver-change pit stops for which British GT is famous, adding a further element of unpredictability to proceedings.

A superb grid of the latest GT machinery is expected at Donington, headed by the Trackspeed Porsche 997 GT3R of the newly crowned British GT Champion, David Ashburn, and his co-driver Glynn Geddie. Ashburn, who clinched the title last month at Brands Hatch, will be bidding for his and Geddie’s fifth win of the season.

“David and Glynn won the last of the two-hour races, at Silverstone, in August,” said championship manager Benjamin Franassovicci, “but their Porsche was carrying a lot less ballast then and I think that Trackspeed will have their work cut out at Donington Park. Refuelling stops always make for great unpredictability and, with the race due to end in failing light, I think it will be a really exciting end to the season.”

The new champion will face the onslaught of several Ferraris, including the 430 Scuderia of Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin, which is prepared close to Donington by the MTECH team. The venue is home track also to the outgoing British GT champions, David and Godfrey Jones, whose Team Preci-Spark Ascari was a winner last time out.

Aston Martin is to be represented by the Vantage Racing team, who enjoyed a promising British GT debut at Silverstone with their Tom Black and Stuart Hall-driven DBRS9. Martin Short and Gregor Fisken will be back with their Mosler also.

G4 class champions Jamie Stanley and Christian Dick will be hoping to end their season on a high note with a fifth class win for the Speedworks Motorsport team and their Ginetta G50, but will face a tough challenge from Century Motorsport, which will field two Ginettas, and Team Osborne Racing. Further G4 entries are also in the pipeline.

A number of Invitation and Cup class cars are expected, including a modified Speedworks-prepared Ginetta for Piers Johnson and Ron Johnson, and a KTM X-Bow from ABG Motorsport for father-and-son pairing Colin and Sam Mowle. The Chevron GR8 will meanwhile be making its long-awaited British GT debut.

British GT is sponsored by UK tyre manufacturer Avon Tyres and is further supported by Sunoco Racing Fuels, Anglo American Oil Company and The Independent.

Provisional race weekend timetable
Friday 15 Oct: 1600-1700 practice
Saturday 16 Oct: 0910-1010 practice; 1220-1250 qualifying; 1530 race

Provisional UK TV schedule
Sunday 24 Oct: 0700 Channel 4 & 1905 Motors TV
Full UK & Euro TV schedules: http://bit.ly/bbb0c9

Provisional championship standings after round 12
GT3 & Overall
1  David Ashburn  91 points
2  Glynn Geddie 65
3= Matt Griffin/Duncan Cameron  63
5  Philip Walker  46
6  Hector Lester  45
7  Allan Simonsen  43
8  Tom Ferrier  41
9= David Jones/Godfrey Jones & Richard Westbrook 40 etc

G4 Class
1= Christian Dick/Jamie Stanley 60.5
3= Rory Butcher/Benjamin Harvey 38
5= Simon Mason/Chris Bialan 32.5
7= Nathan Freke/Vibe Smed 29
9= Benji Hetherington/Freddie Hetherington 24 etc

Pit stops to add excitement to the concluding round of the
2010 Avon Tyres British GT Championship. Image by Jakob Ebrey Photography