Marcus Clutton Sets Fastest Time in British GT Free Practice at Donington Park
In the opening free practice session of the British GT Championship at Donington Park, Marcus Clutton recorded a commanding fastest lap time of 1:27.287. The session, however, was marred by two red flags, limiting on-track activity amid dry yet windy conditions following Storm Amy.
The first disruption came when Joe Wheeler’s #88 Ginetta G56 GT4 Evo spun into the barriers at the Craner Curves, resulting in significant damage and a 24-minute halt in the session. The car was unable to continue after the impact.
A second red flag occurred with 15 minutes remaining when Ravi Ramyead’s #71 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 Evo collided with the barriers at Redgate, following contact with Rupert Williams’ #37 Jolt Racing McLaren Artura GT4. Fortunately, the BMW sustained less damage than the Ginetta.
In the overall standings, Sven Müller of Team Parker Racing finished second in the #66 Porsche 911 GT3.R (1:27.586), followed closely by Sandy Mitchell in the #78 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 (1:27.607) and Kiern Jewiss, who leads the championship in the #42 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo with a time of 1:27.710.
Callum Macleod placed fifth in the #3 Optimum Motorsport McLaren GT3 Evo (1:27.821), while Maximilian Götz in the #18 2 Seas Mercedes-AMG ranked sixth (1:28.035). The top ten was rounded out by Tom Wood (#97 Beechdean Aston Martin, 1:28.092), Jonny Adam (#7 Blackthorn Aston Martin, 1:28.148), Marvin Kirchhöfer (#77 Optimum McLaren, 1:28.168), and Hugo Cook (#1 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini, 1:28.179).
In the GT4 category, ex-GT3 champion Seb Morris topped the timesheets with a lap of 1:35.534 in the #12 Team Parker Mercedes-AMG GT4. Owen Hizzy followed closely in second for MHK Racing with a time of 1:35.543. Harry George, who previously won at Brands Hatch, took third in the #17 Optimum Motorsport McLaren (1:35.551), ahead of reigning GT4 champion Jack Brown (#90 Optimum McLaren, 1:35.600) and Luke Garlick in the #69 Mahiki Ginetta (1:35.619).
The weekend’s pre-qualifying continues with another 60-minute session scheduled for 12:00 local time.
