Jessica Hawkins charges from the back to another GT4 Silver podium at Spa-Francorchamps

Jessica Hawkins continued her impressive British GT Championship campaign with another fighting performance at Spa-Francorchamps, overcoming a difficult qualifying to secure a GT4 Silver class podium alongside teammate Will Orton in one of the most chaotic races of the season.

Photo credits: SRO / JEP

Jessica Hawkins continued her impressive British GT Championship campaign with another fighting performance at Spa-Francorchamps, overcoming a difficult qualifying to secure a GT4 Silver class podium alongside teammate Will Orton in one of the most chaotic races of the season.

Arriving at the legendary Belgian circuit for the third round of the championship, Hawkins carried momentum after a strong start to the year in the #21 MKH Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4. Following a runner-up finish at Silverstone and a GT4 Silver class victory at Oulton Park, Hawkins and Orton had established themselves among the leading championship contenders in a highly competitive GT4 field.

Spa-Francorchamps represented another important challenge, with the British GT Championship sharing the circuit with FFSA GT and Alpine Cup competitors in a massive 60 car multi-class field. Despite the added complexity of traffic management around one of the world's most demanding circuits, Hawkins and Orton immediately demonstrated front-running speed.

The pair were among the quickest GT4 competitors throughout the opening stages of the weekend. In Friday's Paid Test session, the MKH Racing Aston Martin topped the GT4 timesheets; their pace remained consistently strong during official practice. Hawkins and Orton were fifth fastest overall among the British GT4 entries in FP1 and third in the Silver class. They improved again in FP2, ending the session third fastest overall in GT4 and second among the Silver Cup contenders, placing themselves in the mix for another podium challenge.

However, their weekend suffered a setback during qualifying on Saturday. Hawkins was at the wheel when she suffered an off-track excursion at Stavelot. The British driver bounced through the gravel trap but produced an excellent save to avoid significant contact with the barriers. While she successfully kept the Aston Martin out of the wall, the incident prevented the car from taking part in Q2, leaving the team facing a difficult recovery drive from the back of the British GT field.

Photo credits: SRO / JEP

Hawkins knew she faced a challenging opening stint in Sunday's two-hour race, with plenty of traffic; at the start, however, she immediately began making progress. As the field streamed through the opening corners, Hawkins picked off several rivals and climbed to eighth overall in the GT4 category during the opening laps. Showing a decisive yet measured approach, she quickly settled into a competitive rhythm and continued to move forward.

The opening phase of the race was repeatedly interrupted by incidents elsewhere in the combined-field. Around twenty minutes into the race, a Full Course Yellow was deployed before escalating into a Safety Car period.

At the time of the neutralization, Hawkins had already climbed to sixth in the GT4 order. When racing resumed, her charge continued. A major development occurred when the leading British GT4 McLaren ground to a halt, immediately promoting Hawkins to fifth overall in GT4. Sensing an opportunity, she continued attacking and produced several decisive overtaking moves.

By lap 14, Hawkins had climbed into fourth place in the GT4 classification and had entered the battle for the overall GT4 podium. Considering her starting position at the back of the field, it was a very convincing recovery drive.

The Aston Martin's pace remained competitive throughout the stint as Hawkins continued to work through traffic generated by the combined British GT, FFSA GT and Alpine Cup grids. Another incident soon interrupted proceedings when an FFSA GT Audi became stranded at Les Combes, triggering another Full Course Yellow and subsequent Safety Car period.

While some competitors elected to pit immediately, Hawkins stayed out for one additional lap before bringing the #21 Aston Martin into pit lane from third position overall in GT4. She completed her stop on lap 18 with approximately 55 minutes remaining, handing the car over to teammate Will Orton.

Photo credits: SRO / JEP

The team's success penalty dropped the Aston Martin back to seventh in class after the pit cycle, meaning the hard work was not yet over. Following another restart, Orton resumed the recovery effort.

With only seven GT4 cars remaining on the lead lap after the various interruptions and pit-stop cycles, every position became increasingly valuable.

Orton quickly began making progress; he first moved ahead of Bradshaw before catching and passing Simpson's Ginetta to claim fifth place overall in GT4. The Aston Martin then became involved in an intense battle with Jack Collins' BMW while simultaneously navigating heavy GT3 and FFSA GT traffic around the 7-kilometre Spa circuit.

The constantly changing traffic conditions made the final stages of the race particularly challenging, but Orton continued to maximize the pace: despite multiple Full Course Yellow periods, Safety Car interruptions and heavy traffic throughout the field, the MKH Racing duo maintained a clean race and moved forward whenever opportunities presented themselves.

After two hours of intense racing, Orton crossed the finish line fifth overall in the British GT4 classification. The result also secured third place in the GT4 Silver category, giving Hawkins and Orton another class podium and extending their run of strong championship results.

Although qualifying difficulties had left them on the back foot before the race even began, Hawkins' very solid opening stint laid the foundations for another successful weekend with a great charge from the rear of the field into class podium contention, while Orton completed the job with a strong closing stint in tricky conditions.

The result further strengthens the duo position in the GT4 Silver championship standings; with podium finishes now becoming a regular occurrence, Hawkins and Orton head to the next round at Snetterton on 15-16 August with momentum on their side and their championship challenge very much alive.