Race Report from the Weekend at Donington

My  2021 GT Cup Season exploded into action last weekend at Donington Park with Paddock Motorsport, making their GT racing debut with a pair of Mclaren 570 GT4’s, we made a big impression bringing home silverware with two class podiums thanks to Paddock Motorsport providing us with a great car.

Saturday Endurance Race.

Both Paddock cars escaped unscathed from the melee at the start and quickly set about chasing down the leaders. My teammate started Moh started and quickly gained 2 places . A race long battle with inexperienced drivers in cars from the more powerful class hindered Moh’s progress but after aggressive moves to clear the slower drivers, he quickly set about chasing down the GTH class leaders. A polished move down the inside of the number 1 Mclaren of Orange/Jackson and a drive-through penalty for the leading Aston Martin, saw Moh take the lead heading into the pitstops. Unfortunately the Mclaren of Orange/Jackson was then able to leapfrog us and dropping us down to 6th during the pitstop leaving me now at the wheel and in pursuit of the leading pack. Having only sat in the car for the first time on Thursday it was a baptism of fire, but I managed to have some great on track battles and gained some places which brought the car home in second place to gift Paddock Motorsport their first ever podium finish.

Sunday Qualifying.

It was my turn to Qualify for Sunday’s sprint race. I have never driven on brand-new Pirelli slick tyres before and was forced to learn on the job, I managed to beat a host of pro and semi-pro drivers posting a very respectable P8 starting position in my first qualifying in the McLaren but I know as I learn the car there is definitely more in me.

Round 3 Sunday Sprint Race.

I had blistering start and managed to vault up to P4 on the opening lap, and had a great battle with one of the Porsche’s for several laps until going in Claine’s I made a commanding move into P3 in the closing stages of the race to claim the team’s second podium of the weekend. I managed to set the second quickest time in my class which means we start the endurance race in P2 in class.

Round 4 Sunday Endurance.

Starting on the front of the grid, I had a mega start and jumped into the lead on the opening lap and set about building enough of a gap to overcome the 15 second pitstop success penalty issued for the team’s previous endurance podium finish. Just before the pitstop window we were caught out by an ill-timed safety car undoing all of my hard work with the field now bunched up and us having to serve forced 15-second success penalty, we dropped from the lead of the race to P11. Moh went out for his stint and managed to bring the car home in P8 at the flag, crucially ahead of our nearest team rivals.

Overall, the first event of the season was a success for the team Paddock Motorsport founded by British GT Champions Martin Plowman and Kelvin Fletcher and myself and teammate Moh competing against some of the best GT teams in the country, we had 100% reliability and managed to bring home silverware in our very first outing.

Next round of the GT Cup will be held at Brands Hatch on May 1st.