Being back on the British GT grid really does feel like going home. This is my 13th full season, and 10 years since I scored the first title, and it has been a fantastic period of racing in my career. This year is a familiar look, albeit sharper all round, and looking to get back to winning ways – lining up with Giacomo Petrobelli and the Blackthorn AMR crew again for a second bite at the title.

We have had a good pre-season, testing and building a foundation for the year, and the car has felt really strong. The season opener at Donington, then, had the potential to give us the best possible start to our campaign, and really hit the ground running. Pace in each session was good, and qualifying put us in the mix. Giacomo’s lap put us well on course for a chance near the front, and then my quickest lap combined to set us up in P5 on the grid, with a chance to stage a decent attack on the podium.

A race will always bring up opportunities and risks, but everything was looking on target from the opening laps. I’d even say an unusually reserved start for a British GT opening round! Race pace was good, and we were in touch with the lead group before the Safety Car made its first appearance around halfway through the opening stint. Unfortunately, after the restart, Giacomo had contact which did some bodywork damage, and also hit us with a penalty dropping down the order. Despite that, and carrying the damage to the end, we did have a good package around us with the Vantage GT3 Evo, and I think we are in a good place setup-is moving forwards. Pace was good, and we managed to claw back a couple of places to finish P12 overall, and just inside the points for the Pro-Am class, meaning we are off the mark.

So, it wasn’t the result we were hoping for, and we have lost some important points to our rivals, but we learn from every race and every incident, and hoping this was our joker round. Getting the bad luck for the season out of the way early, and we will definitely bounce back at Silverstone in a couple of weeks.

British GT 2025 –
Team: Blackthorn AMR
Car number: #7
Circuit: Donington Park, UK
Race: P12 (P10 Pro-Am)