It was a big week for me last week. A big birthday saw a special new helmet celebrating some of the amazing memories with my family that this career has provided me over the last 20+ years. It was suggested that it might bring us some luck this weekend, and after some bad luck in recent rounds, I was looking to end a big week on a high.

We had high hopes of a strong result, arriving at Donington Park for the second time this season. It is always guaranteed action, and we have been making big strides with each event, so there was an opportunity to keep building on this, and hopefully score some strong points. A podium was definitely within reach.

The championship isas strong now as I can ever remember it, possibly at its best ever. The level of competition is extremely high, but with Giacomo and Blackthorn AMR running our new Vantage, we have a strong package, and the ingredients are certainly there. But, small margins can be costly, as we found in qualifying when we qualified out of position, which gave us a bit more work to do. However, a greasy track, after overnight rain, led to action from the first corner, and Giacomo had a lightening opener. With two of the leading pack making contact, we were immediately moving forwards, and were knocking on the door of a podium. A great pass into the Melbourne hairpin on lap 5 moved the #87 into the top 3, and another position was gained before I took over at the midpoint.

I love Donington Park. A fantastic layout, and a real driver’s track. A mix of slow and fast corners, and a real challenge, but really rewarding when you have a car hooked up underneath you. My stint was one of the most fun I’ve had this season. The car felt good, and I could just focus on the job in hand, of reducing the gap to the Lamborghini in front, but it was a tall ask. A late Full Course Yellow meant it would go down to the very last dash to the line, and at the very end we were just 3.2s off the win, but the result was a huge one for us.

A first podium for us as a team this season, the first outright British GT podium for the Vantage, and the perfect way to sign off the first weekend of this new decade. Incredibly proud of everyone who helped us achieve this result.

British GT Championship 2024 –

Team: Blackthorn AMR
Car number: #87
Race 8: P2 / P2 Pro Am

GT3 drivers’ championship: 53 points; P7

Pro-Am drivers’ championship: 76.5 points; P6