Jodie Sloss and Rianna O’Meara-Hunt began their partnership in the GT Cup Championship with a superb weekend at Donington Park: driving a Forsetti Motorsport prepared Aston Martin Vantage GT4, the duo finished on the GTH class podium three times out of four races.
Jodie Sloss and Rianna O’Meara-Hunt began their partnership in the GT Cup Championship with a superb weekend at Donington Park. Driving a Forsetti Motorsport prepared Aston Martin Vantage GT4, the duo finished on the Group GTH podium three times out of four races. A best result of second was achieved both by Rianna in her sprint race, in addition to Sloss and O’Meara-Hunt teaming up in the first pit stop contest of the season.
Racing in the GT Cup Championship marks a reunion for Jodie, with the young Scottish driver having experience of the series in 2022. Driving a McLaren 570S alongside Erika Hoffmann, the duo were a competitive partnership in Group GTH with the Formula Woman winners rewarded for their performances in the driver academy. In 2023, Sloss competed in the Porsche Open Cup where she drove a Porsche 991.1 GT3 Cup car in a multi-class series for Eden Race Drive. Combining these experiences while teaming up with emerging squad Forsetti Motorsport, Jodie arrived into the weekend targeting podium finishes.
Forsetti Motorsport have enjoyed a brilliant start to their life as a professional race team. Securing victories on debut in the GT4 Winter Series, this success was replicated in the opening round of the British GT Championship. Running two Aston Martin Vantage GT4 machines, Forsetti Motorsport won the GT4 class outright in race one, with additional class podiums in race two. Therefore, a further expansion into the GT Cup Championship was seen as the next step with Sloss lining up alongside Kiwi racer Rianna O’Meara-Hunt.
O’Meara-Hunt began her motorsport career in her native New Zealand and was a leading competitor in national karting championships, before branching out to circuit racing. In 2023, Rianna drove for The Heart of Racing in the Pirelli GT4 America Championship, after winning the team’s GT4 female shootout which took place at Sonoma Raceway at the end of 2022.
It was a successful season of development for O’Meara-Hunt who formed an all-female team alongside American racer Hannah Grisham. The pair finished sixth in the Am class championship, with a double class victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway a particular highlight. With a season of racing in the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 under her belt, Rianna was looking to use build upon this knowledge while learning some of the most iconic circuits in Britain.
The 2024 GT Cup Championship features seven events taking place at six different circuits, including the Grand Prix layouts of both Brands Hatch and Silverstone. With four individual races taking place at each event, with the exception of Oulton Park, a significant amount of track time is guaranteed. Jodie and Rianna compete in Group GTH, for GT4 homologated machines, with Group GTH often one of the most fiercely contested classes, while attracting top names from the world of endurance racing.
To begin the season, the Forsetti Motorsport duo competed in the official GT Cup Championship test day which took place at Donington Park on March 21st. Completing 101 laps across the day, it was a productive test for the duo who set the fourth fastest time in Group GTH, just two tenths away from second position.
An expanded grid of cars in Group GTH were entered for the opening round of the season, with the GT Cup format featuring back-to-back sessions of practice and qualifying to begin each day. The weekend began with a strong third place result in morning practice, before Rianna, as a Pro Sporting classified driver, took place in qualifying. It was another superb session for the young Kiwi who finished the session second in Group GTH, only behind her Forsetti Motorsport teammate Mikey Porter.
Rianna took the start for the opening race of the season and made a clean getaway, tucking in right behind the other Forsetti Motorsport Aston Martin. The front two cars were pulling away from their competitors in Group GTH, with O’Meara-Hunt doing driving well to remain in contention for the class lead. Setting a number of personal best lap times in the middle portion of the race, the gap to third had further extended which allowed Rianna to focus on maximising her lap times. Continuing her excellent pace, O’Meara-Hunt took the checkered flag in second within Group GTH to bank vital points for the championship.
The second race of the weekend was the first mini endurance race, with Jodie taking the start from second in Group GTH following Rianna’s strong performance in race one. It was a brilliant start from the Scottish racer who took the class lead on the opening lap of the race, while moving into sixth position overall. Sloss was soon under attack from teammate Matthew Higgins but defended well in the early stages to maintain the lead. On lap seven, a safety car was deployed after Jensen Lunn stopped on track, erasing the margin Sloss had built up over her rivals.
On the restart, Jodie was directly behind a slower car and this prevented her from getting the optimum launch. As a result, she had to take a different line into turn one and ran wide, losing the lead to Higgins. This brought the Mercedes AMG GT4 of Charles Dawson closer to her, with the former GT4 European Series driver applying the pressure. Once again in traffic, Sloss was caught up behind a slower car out of the final chicane with Dawson making the move for second.
Now in third position, Sloss got into her rhythm and began setting the fastest laps of her race to date. On lap 21, Jodie set her quickest time before handing over to Rianna to close out the fifty-minute contest. A great stop by the Forsetti Motorsport crew saw O’Meara-Hunt rejoin in second position within Group GTH, immediately ahead of former British GT3 champion Seb Morris. The Welshman moved into second position with a pass into turn one on lap 27, with the safety car deployed immediately after.
Rianna enjoyed a good restart despite battling both faster and slower cars, therefore remaining in contention for the Group GTH victory. Her chances were increased on lap 35 when the sister Forsetti Motorsport car served a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane, promoting O’Meara-Hunt to second.
Running just one and a half seconds behind Morris, she aimed to put in a late-race charge but this was made more challenging as the Group GTC BMW M3 of Chris Murphy moved in between the Group GTH rivals. Finishing race two of the weekend in second, it was an excellent start to the weekend for the all-female crew who immediately asserted themselves as championship contenders.
Sunday’s action got underway with a short practice session prior to qualifying. The Forsetti Motorsport duo maintained their momentum from Saturday to end the session quickest of all within Group GTH. Sloss then took to the track for qualifying and ran in tandem her teammate Matthew Higgins. Holding second place for the majority of the session, Jodie lost out to Charles Dawson in the closing stages. As a result, it was a third place starting spot in Sunday’s endurance race, with Jodie’s lap time almost matching that of Rianna’s on the previous day.
Jodie took the start for the third race of the weekend and was shuffled back in the early stages, falling to fifth in Group GTH by the end of the second lap. Determined to fight back, Sloss was immediately challenging Stephen Walton in his Mercedes AMG GT4. Making a move on her rival on lap six, Sloss pulled a sizeable gap and began setting personal best lap times. With a significant gap ahead to the podium places, Jodie was grateful to see the safety car deployed two laps later and this allowed to close up to the leading drivers.
On the restart, Sloss displayed excellent pace which saw her run a series of quick times and challenge for a podium spot in Group GTH before handing the car over to Rianna. Following the team’s success in Saturday’s race, this led to an additional pit stop success penalty to be served and as a result, O’Meara-Hunt was seventh at the conclusion of the pit cycle.
The Forsetti Motorsport driver continued her strong form and ran fast times to ensure Seb Morris remained in her sights. A series of drive through penalties for competitors ahead then elevated the Kiwi driver inside the top-5. Overtaking the Group GTC machine of Keith Bush on lap 35, Rianna was now inside the top-10 overall and was still in contention for a third consecutive trip to the podium.
Just running out of time in the closing stages, it was a great effort from O’Meara-Hunt who brought the car home in fifth position within Group GTH to complete her driving for the weekend. Following a disqualification for a rival competitor, the duo were elevated to fourth and narrowly missed out on three consecutive podium finishes to start the season.
The fourth and final race of the weekend was the second sprint contest, this time with Jodie behind the wheel. With the grid set by the fastest laps from the earlier endurance race, Sloss would line up second as she searched for her maiden individual podium. It was a clean start as the Forsetti Motorsport driver held her position, while applying pressure to teammate Matthew Higgins for the runner-up spot.
In the early stages, the battle for the lead was closely-fought with Charles Dawson, Higgins and Sloss all running nose-to-tail. As the race progressed, Higgins was able to make the move for the lead and as a result, the Group GTH leaders became more strung out. Nonetheless, Sloss continued her excellent form by taking the checkered flag in third position, her first solo trip to the rostrum in her GT Cup Championship career.
Finishing the weekend with three podium finishes from the four races, it was excellent return for Sloss and O’Meara-Hunt from their first event in partnership. Rianna also secured the Driver of the Day award on Saturday after her impressive debut performances in both the sprint and endurance race. Jodie’s pace is very close to that of her teammate and this balance in performance will serve the Forsetti Motorsport team well as the season progresses.
Claiming a victory in Group GTH will be the next target, with Jodie and Rianna now looking ahead to the second round which takes places at Brands Hatch on the weekend of 18th/19th May.
