British GT – DONINGTON PARK – 2025
P1 & P3 for 2 Seas Motorsport
2 Seas’ duo surprised many by their pace in qualifying, but any hopes Dawson and Jewiss had of disappearing into the distance were dashed by a Safety Car period that ended 10 minutes before GT3’s driver changes could begin. Barwell’s Lamborghini initially driven by Alex Martin, who relieved Tse of second at turn one on the opening lap, also kept Dawson within sight throughout the opening stint. The gap between them ebbed and flowed but had settled at around four seconds when Giacomo Petrobelli’s contact with Mahiki’s #88 Lotus necessitated a long Full Course Yellow period and subsequent Safety Car. Dawson had largely re-established his advantage before swapping with Jewiss, who rejoined ahead of Mitchell, Götz, Marvin Kirchhöfer, Marcus Clutton and Sam Neary. Much of the top six remained unchanged thereafter. Nevertheless, the fight for victory wasn’t settled until the final lap.
Mitchell initially closed down Jewiss before dropping around two seconds back, confident that he would have the pace to go again towards the end of the race. And, sure enough, the Huracan – which had already set fastest lap – was back within a second 10 minutes from the finish.
That became a nose-to-tail 0.5s as the final lap approached. But if Jewiss felt any pressure it didn’t show on track, and his position was never seriously challenged before the chequered flag fell. Götz took the final podium place another 10s back after circulating with Kirchhöfer and Optimum’s McLaren, which – in Morgan Tillbrook’s hands – had consolidated fourth place before the pitstops.Petrobelli’s spin after the contact initially helped Simon Orange to move into fifth. But although his co-driver Clutton re-joined in the same position, a drive-through for exceeding the Full Course Yellow speed limit initially dropped the Orange/JMH McLaren to seventh. Worse was to come post-race, however, when the car was disqualified for a parc ferme infringement. The team has appealed the stewards’ decision.
Those issues helped Abba’s Mercedes-AMG shared by Richard and Sam Neary to complete the final top five, Matt Topham and Hugo Cook to finish sixth in Barwell’s second Lamborghini, and the Silver-Am winning Aston Martin – which enjoyed an entertaining scrap with Bridger’s Honda in the opening stint – to come home seventh.
Paddock’s 720S featuring Mark Smith and Martin Plowman took eighth despite a differential issue and damaged floor hindering their performance.
Result Race I GT3
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P1 2 Seas Motorsport – Dawson/Jewiss – Mercedes AMG
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P2 Barwell Motorsport – Martin/Mitchell – Lamborghini Huracan
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P3 2 Seas Motorsport – Tse/Goetz – Mercedes AMG
Result Race II GT3
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P1 Optimum Motorsport – Warren/Brown – McLaren Artura
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P2 Century Motorsport – Ramyead/Robertson – BMW M4
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P3 Team Parker Racing – McDermott/Morris – Mercedes AMG
Next -> SILVERSTONE 500 – 25th – 27th April 2025
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