The Avon Tyres British GT Championship finishes this weekend with a climactic meeting at Donington Park which 12 drivers start as potential champions.
Despite their issues at Silverstone, damage to the front of their Ferrari limiting their result MTECH pairing Matt Griffin and Duncan Cameron hold the championship by just half a point over Ecurie Ecosse driver Alasdair McCaig, who shot into title contention after a second place in the three hour race of the previous round at Silverstone. Altogether the top five teams, also encompassing RJN Motorsport, 2012 champ David Ashburn and Motorbase Performance drivers Michael Caine and Daniele Perfetti are covered by less than ten points – a margin so slim that a win for any of them will guarantee them the title.
The other two teams still in title contention – the two double winners of the season so far – will need poor results from those ahead as much as good results for themselves a win for their United Autosports or the Trackspeed Porsche combination of Steve Tandy and Joe Osborne only possible if the MTECH duo fail to crack the top seven at the end of the race.
A full run down of the title contenders, and a brief outline of what needs to happen for each to leave Donington Park as champions can be found here.
A total of 20 GT3 cars will contest the final round of the championship, with John Gaw and Phil Dryburgh returning under the Cyber Racing banner as a second Aston Martin Vantage squad after making their seasonal debut at Silverstone. Their fellow Vantage GT3 drivers – Jonny Adam and Andrew Howard are the best placed team in the points not to be able to win the championship. However, with a win to their name already from the meeting at the Nurburgring they are also chief amongst the teams that could become unwitting king makers in the championship chase.
The same – to an extent – could be said of two teams making a one-off appearance for the weekend. The Reiter Engineering Lamborghini of Nico Pronk and Peter Kox is a potential race winner while United Autosports enter a second McLaren MP4-12C for team co-owner Zak Brown and Alvaro Parente, a prologue to the team’s two car plans for the 2013 season.
Neither team will be eligible for championship points, however their physical presence on track means they too may have roles to play in the race, no doubt with the chance of controversy never far away.
The new entrants are not the only changes on the entry list that could have implications on the title race. Phil Keen fills the Trackspeed seat alongside David Ashburn, Richard Westbrook once again in action in the Rolex Series in the US, while after missing the races at Snetterton and Silverstone Oliver Bryant will rejoin the Ecurie Ecosse squad as they try to secure the title for Alasdair McCaig.
Unlike the GT3 title the GT4 crown was decided at Silverstone in favour of Team WFR drivers Jody Fannin and Warren Hughes.
With the main silverware decided only three GT4 cars make it to Donington with Team WFR, Century Motorsports and Jota facing off for the final race win of the season.
FF Corse driver Gary Eastwood and Ryan Hooker need only finish to secure the GTC class title, the Chevron GR8 drivers Ray Grimes and David Witt needing to win the class and for the Ferrari driving pair ahead to not score. Even that result would result in a tie.
The two hour race this weekend will be the subject of the first ever same day TV coverage for the Avon Tyres British GT Championship. Motors TV broadcasting a 90-minute program starting at 6pm UK time – just hours after the end of the race, the end of the season and the start of the celebrations.
