G-Cat Unleashed Out Of The Bag With Donington GT Cup Double
G-Cat Racing battled the elements for two victories on day two of the GT Cup Championship's penultimate meeting of the season at Donington Park, while Forsetti Motorsport, Kendall Developments and Topcats Racing won big as well.
After a winning end to Saturday, G-Cat Racing's Porsche 911 GT3 was on great form the following day. It took the skills of Greg Caton to survive a late shower in race one, before adding another triumph in the Sprint thanks to Shamus Jennings.
Paul Bailey and David Brabham ensured two wins in GTO for Kendall Developments, while Topcats Racing's Fraser Fenwick and Warren Gilbert took group GTC spoils. A race lap record in GTH went to Mikey Porter the previous day with Forsetti Motorsport, and co-driver Sam Neser backed that up with two victories on Sunday.
Qualifying
Qualifying was thankfully held in dry conditions, and it would be a good session for Forsetti Motorsport's Neser who put the Aston Martin on pole position in the GTH group. Paddock Motorsport kept close in its McLaren Artura, while GTO and GTC honours went to Bailey and the #3 Topcats Lamborghini respectively. GT3 was topped by Jennings in the Porsche.
Endurance Race
The Topcats Lamborghini of Fenwick started from pole position overall and got the start he needed to lead the way under dry conditions. Jennings gave chase all the way up until the pit window opened, after which the weather took a drastic turn for the worst.
A downpour offered a mixture of strategies, with both Topcats cars heading in for wet tyres to battle the elements. Others stayed out to combat the limited time left on the clock, including Caton in the #33 G-Cat Porsche.
Caton quickly scythed his way past the Lamborghini of Warren Gilbert to assume the race lead, and then mastered the tricky conditions for the remainder of the contest to confirm a second win of the weekend for he and Jennings - top GT3 entry also.
Climbing up to second overall on wet tyres was the Fenwick/Gilbert Lamborghini to claim GTC honours once more, while a stunning performance by Forsetti Motorsport's Neser and Mikey Porter not only gave them GTH spoils, but third overall in the Aston Martin Vantage.
The experienced David Brabham mastered the wet conditions in the Kendall Developments Lamborghini Huracan to win GTO with Bailey, despite ploughing on with slick tyres in the worst of the bad weather.
Sprint Race
Jennings wasted no time in asserting his authority in the final Sprint race, leading the way but only after fending off an initial attack from Warren Gilbert's Topcats Racing entry as they went side-by-side through Goddards.
Gilbert settled into second place and picked up the win in GTC for the #3 crew, ahead of the GTO group-winning Huracan of Bailey in third overall.
Doc Bush meanwhile finished second in GTC, taking advantage also of a first corner spin for the second Topcats Lamborghini of Charlotte Gilbert which started on the front row.
GTH went to Forsetti Motorsport after a faultless driver by Neser in the Aston Martin, while a GTA triumph went to series stalwart Chris Murphy in his BMW E36.
#33 Greg Caton
“It was alright in the end actually. It started to get a bit sketchy in the last couple of laps but by then you've already committed and there's not enough time to head to the pits by then, so you just get on with it! A good race, the car felt good and we got the result in the end.”
#13 Tom Walpole
“It was the first time I'd driven that car ever in the wet. A very interesting first race where I was having a great battle with the Lamborghini of Paul in the dry, and then after that it was survival really. I probably pitted a few laps too late when the rain came, but we were trying to stay out with the time limit. A learning curve, but it's been great fun.”
#9 Sam Neser
“The car wasn't bad all weekend at all. It was the first time I raced in a GT car in the wet - full stop really. So that was a lot of a case of trying to just get used to it and get my head around the car in those conditions. I needed to work on my consistency to help build up a gap, but it was a good race and we've got the wins.”