Jessica Hawkins makes British GT return with class podium

"Getting to the podium and getting closer to the pace is really good. It’s nice to see things coming together.” - Jessica Hawkins returned to British GT securing her second Silver-Am class podium and her first overall top ten finish after a strong performance at Donington Park for the Beechdean AMR team.

Photo credits: Fisher/Drew Gibson Photography

Jessica Hawkins made a stellar return to British GT with Beechdean AMR, scoring her second class podium in the Silver-Am class, as well as collecting her first overall top ten finish in the prestigious GT series.

The Aston Martin F1 Team Ambassador driver made her GT3 racing debut this year, teaming up with Andrew Howard aboard the #97 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in one of Europe's most competitive championships.

Hawkins, who previously raced in Mini Challenge UK, W Series, BTCC, TCR UK, and Britcar Prototype Cup among others, focused on learning the GT3 platform, though she quickly found her pace and scored her first Silver-Am podium at the third round of the season at Donington, where she narrowly missed the overall top ten.

Despite some challenging rounds, Hawkins made steady progress. A first corner elimination at Spa-Francorchamps and missing the Snetterton round meant she entered round eight of the season at Donington Park without any driving time since June. Additionally, mixed weather made conditions tricky, but Hawkins was more than up to the challenge.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Beechdean AMR duo however, as changeable weather during Friday practice made it difficult for the team to find the right setup.

Saturday’s qualifying took place on a wet track. Howard drove in Q1, finishing P15 overall and P6 in Silver-Am with a 1:29.233 lap. Jessica followed with a 1:26.581, placing them P16 in GT3 and sixth in Silver-Am for the combined result.

Sunday's warm-up session was held in heavy rain, making adjustments difficult. However, the weather cleared just before the 2-hour race, providing sunny skies for the start.

Andrew Howard, who had raced in the GT Cup at Silverstone to stay sharp, began the race from the back of the GT3 field. He made a solid start, gaining positions in the early laps, moving up to P5 in Silver-Am, and steadily advancing through the field.

Howard worked his way into the top ten overall, benefiting from incidents ahead while keeping his race clean. By lap 20, he was ninth overall and fourth in Silver-Am class after passing the #77 McLaren of Tillbrook.

Howard overtook Smith’s McLaren on lap 39, before pitting from P9 to hand the car over to Jessica Hawkins. A flawless stop by the Beechdean AMR crew allowed Jessica to rejoin P4 in class. She immediately set the car’s best lap of 1:28.407 and settled on a competitive rhythm.

Photo credits: Fisher/Drew Gibson Photography

Hawkins soon moved up to 8th overall while holding P4 in class. With a comfortable gap ahead and behind, she maintained steady lap times in the low 1:28s.

A Full Course Yellow was deployed on lap 61, with 25 minutes to go, due to a crash at Melbourne Hairpin involving the #56 Ginetta GT4, leading to barrier repairs.

When racing resumed for the final two laps, Hawkins remained close to the class podium positions; she seized her chance when Sam Neary crashed from third overall on the final lap, allowing her to finish seventh overall and take the Silver-Am podium.

This marked Hawkins' second class podium in British GT and her first top ten overall finish, capping a clean race by the Beechdean team in their return to the series.

“It feels great to be back on the podium, especially after a tough day on Saturday", Jessica Hawkins commented. "I’m very happy that we've brought home a strong result for the team, who’ve put in so much this weekend. I haven’t done a race stint since here in May and it feels like such a long time ago so I do think I came into the weekend on the back foot a bit."

"Getting to the podium and getting closer to the pace is really good", she concluded. "It’s nice to see things coming together.”

The final round of the 2024 British GT Championship is scheduled for September 28-29 at the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit.

Photo credits: Fisher/Drew Gibson Photography