Jonny Adam and Graham Davidson have been awarded the 2019 British GT Championship post-race, following a dramatic finish to the final round of the year at Donington Park this afternoon, in which Shaun Balfe and Rob Bell emerged as winners.
Balfe and Bell commanded the race and the GT3 class throughout
in their McLaren 720S, but the real drama came laps from the end as
Adam battled with the Lamborghinis of title rival Jonny Cocker and
Dennis Lind.
Whilst running in fourth place Adam was tapped from behind by Lind
as they charged through the Old Hairpin for the 72nd time. Cocker
moved up to fourth, and held on to that position until the
chequered flag, which intially secured the title provisionally for
him and his co-driver Sam De Haan by half a point.
But, Lind was penalised post-race for making contact with Adam by
being dropped behind in the final race order in a move which gave
the title back to Adam and Davidson.
It was an eventful race elsewhere too, including heartbreak for
Adam Balon and Phil Keen in the final Lamborghini Huracan EVO GT3
who led the standings heading into the race. Balon started the race
from second, but he clipped the GT4 KTM X-Bow of Sean Cooper
and Mike McCollum whilst making his way through traffic, and the
right rear end of the car gave way from the damage shortly into
Keen's time behind the wheel.
The stricken Lamborghini made its way back to the pits, but was
restricted to a 23rd place finish in the overall standings - six
laps off the pace.
There was even drama before the race started, with multiple
incidents amongst the GT4 runners on the formation lap caused the
two-hour contest to begin behind the safety car.
Away from the frenetic end to the title battle, Ian Loggie and
Callum Macleod secured a strong second place finish in their
Mercedes-AMG, whilst Angus Fender and Jack Mitchell claimed third
following an excellent showing in their BMW M6 GT3.
In the GT4 class, there was a superb victory for Richard Williams
and Sennan Fielding in their Audi R8 LMS GT4, whilst Tom Canning
and Ash Hand sealed the title in their Aston Martin Vantage AMR
GT4.
Canning and Hand claimed third on the road in the GT4 class, just
behind the Ford Mustang of title rivals Scott Maxwell and Seb
Priaulx, but it was enough to hang on until the title. Meanwhile,
the Pro-Am GT title went to Martin Plowman and co-driver Kelvin
Fletcher - former star of Emmerdale, soon to feature on Strictly
Come Dancing - in their Aston Martin.
GT3 Result
1, Balfe/Bell, Balfe Motorsport, McLaren 720S GT3, 75 laps
2, Loggie/Macleod, RAM Racing, Mercedes-AMG GT3, +2.728s
3, Fender/Mitchell, Century Motorsport, BMW M6 GT3, +27.288s
4, De Haan/Cocker, Barwell Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO,
+27.580s
5, Davidson/Adam, TF Sport, Aston Martin V8
Vantage, +34.874s
6, Igoe/Lind, WPI Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO,
+34.911s
7, Parfitt/Morris, JRM Racing, Bentley Continental GT3,
+40.425s
8, Howard/Hasse-Clotte, Beechdean AMR, Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT3,
+49.622s
9, Wilkinson/Ellis, Optimum Motorsport, Aston Martin V8 Vantage
GT3, +1 lap
10, Farmer/Thiim, TF Sport, Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT3, +1
lap
GT4 Result
1, Williams/Fielding, Steller Performance, Audi R8 LMS GT4,
+1.543s
2, Maxwell/Priaulx, Multimatic Motorsports Europe, Ford Mustang
GT4, +16.382s
3, Canning/Hand, TF Sport, Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4,
+16.702s
4, Fletcher/Plowman, Beechdean AMR, Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4,
+18.569s
5, Matthiesen/Robinson, Optimum Motorsport, Aston Martin Vantage
AMR GT4, +20.013s