British GT: Jessica Hawkins secures top-five in challenging Donington weekend
- RACERS
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Jessica Hawkins secured another top five finish in class, continuing her hunt for the championship at Donington Park despite a challenging fifth-round in the British GT Championship, bringing the #21 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 home fifth in GT4 Silver after a demanding two-hour race affected by rapidly changing track conditions.
Jessica Hawkins and Will Orton secured another top five finish in class, continuing their hunt for the championship at Donington Park despite a challenging fifth-round weekend in the British GT Championship, bringing the #21 MKH Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 home fifth in GT4 Silver and sixth overall in GT4 after a demanding two-hour race affected by rapidly changing track conditions and a penalty.
Hawkins arrived at Donington carrying great momentum from a highly successful opening stretch with MKH Racing. Sharing the #21 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 with Orton, the British driver had already secured a runner-up finish at Silverstone, a GT4 Silver victory at Oulton Park and another class podium at Spa-Francorchamps before enjoying a superb Snetterton weekend, where a pair of GT4 Silver podiums moved the duo into the lead of both the overall GT4 and GT4 Silver championships.
The Donington weekend saw the #21 Aston Martin progressively building speed through practice. Orton set a 1:35.439 in the opening session to place the car third in GT4 Silver and eighth overall in GT4, before clocking a 1:35.382 in the second session, where several laps were deleted for track limits, still leaving the Aston Martin fifth in class.
Qualifying proved slightly more challenging than at the preceding rounds, although the gap to the leading cars remained small. Hawkins took the wheel for Q1 and posted a 1:38.876, placing eighth overall in GT4 and sixth in GT4 Silver. Orton then produced a 1:34.618 in Q2, moving the #21 to fifth overall in GT4 and into the top three of the Silver class.
The team therefore remained within striking distance of the class leaders heading into Sunday's race, although the weather would introduce an entirely new challenge.
Rain before the start left the track damp, with some sections significantly wet, and conditions remained extremely challenging as the cars completed the formation lap. Hawkins took the start for the #21 Aston Martin on wet-weather tyres, lining up second in GT4 Silver following the disqualification of the two Ginettas from qualifying.
The opening laps immediately proved difficult, with extremely limited grip through Turn 1. Hawkins slipped to third in GT4 Silver as Stanton's McLaren moved ahead, while the BMW of Collins also gained several places among the GT4 field, dropping the Aston Martin to 16th overall and fourth in Silver.
The two Ginettas, meanwhile, had gambled on slick tyres and began making rapid progress through the field from the back of the grid, underlining how quickly conditions were changing.
Hawkins nevertheless kept her cool and gradually settled into her rhythm. She initially circulated in the 1:46.0s before improving to 1:45.6 and beginning to put pressure back on Stanton, although the cars ahead eventually started to edge away. Importantly, she had established a comfortable margin over the Ginetta behind.
As the track continued to dry, Hawkins continued to find time. She dropped to a 1:44.6 before setting a 1:43.5 around the half-hour mark, at which point some of the field had begun gambling on slick tyres. Hawkins remained on the wet-weather tyres, with the team opting to keep her out and avoid an additional stop before the driver change.
By lap 23 she had improved further to a 1:42.9, continuing to gain tenths on the cars ahead while conditions evolved rapidly.
A Full Course Yellow was then deployed after the #44 BMW was hit by the #77 McLaren at the Melbourne Hairpin, creating an opportunity for several teams to pit for slick tyres. Stanton brought the #59 McLaren into the pits, promoting Hawkins to third in GT4 Silver.
Rather than stopping immediately, however, Hawkins stayed out, with the strategy designed to allow her to reach the driver-change window on wets and avoid having to make two separate stops.
The race returned to green with one hour and eight minutes remaining, and Hawkins continued to circulate until lap 31, when she finally brought the Aston Martin into the pits from third in class. The car was fitted with slick tyres as Orton took over for the second half of the race.
With the track now dry, Orton immediately demonstrated the pace of the Aston Martin, setting a 1:36.6 lap before rejoining fifth in GT4 Silver. He quickly began making progress, passing Holland in the #74 Ginetta on lap 36 to reclaim fourth in class.
The #59 McLaren, which had gambled on slicks earlier, was now dropping back, while Orton continued to move forward and soon reached third in GT4 Silver. He remained under pressure from Holland's Ginetta, however, as the two continued to battle for position.
The promising recovery was then compromised by a penalty, with the #21 Aston Martin handed a drive-through for exceeding the pit-lane speed limit. Orton served the penalty on lap 41, dropping to fifth in GT4 Silver and seventh in GT4 overall. The penalty left the Aston Martin needing a further intervention of a Safety Car to close the gap to the silver-class cars ahead.
Despite the setback, Orton continued to push. He overtook the #40 ProAm Aston Martin of Wheeler and pulled clear, setting his sights on the Ginetta of Wareing approximately 16 seconds further up the road.
The gap gradually came down, falling to 11 seconds by lap 60 and then to around eight seconds over the following laps. However, with the race remaining green and no further cautions providing an opportunity to close the field, Orton was unable to complete the recovery all the way to the front.
The #21 Aston Martin eventually crossed the chequered flag fifth in GT4 Silver and sixth overall in GT4.
While the result provided valuable championship points, it also cost Hawkins and Orton the championship lead. They entered the final round third in the standings with 121 points, albeit only five points behind the leaders, meaning the title remains within reach heading into the season finale at Brands Hatch on September 26-27.
The final two-hour race will also offer the MKH Racing pairing an important opportunity, as they will have no success penalty for the first time this season.
