British GT, Donington Park: Transmission's Top 20: Brilliant Barwell

Barwell came, Barwell raced, Barwell conquered.

So often the scene of British GT’s (and its support series’) championships’ finale, the autumnal challenges of Donington Park’s Grand Prix circuit arrived a few weeks early this year, yet despite the absence of the now familiar #DoningtonDecider hashtag, it was evident that little else had changed: The weather was as unpredictable and changeable as ever, whilst the need for speed intensified with every lap that passed …

… And once again, Barwell Motorsport took centre stage. Indeed, since 2016 (when Barwell partnered with Lamborghini), Mark Lemmer’s squad has won the outright driver’s title here twice, and been runners-up four times. It’s a remarkable record, yet one that looks set to be surpassed as following the performances of both the team’s cars here last weekend, only disaster at Brands Hatch, and an outright win for newly-crowned Silver-Am champions Shaun Balfe & Adam Smalley, can prevent one of the Barwell cars from claiming the 2024 crown. Indeed, with the second-placed car of Alex Martin & Sandy Mitchell currently standing 11.5 points clear of the McLaren pairing, the odds suggest that whichever Barwell entry wins the title (currently, the #63 car of Rob & Ricky Collard holds a 24.5-point advantage), the other will end the season in P2.

In GT4, what started as a tightly fought battle between the championship frontrunners ended in lost opportunities for all. Former leaders Zac Meakin & Jack Brown lost points and position following a penalty for speeding under a ‘full course yellow’. But whilst those chasing title glory came up short, others dug deep: Century’s Ravi Ramyead & Charlie Robertson became the second-most winning pairing  this year, whilst two determined stints from Charles Dawson & Seb Morris in the Team Parker Racing Mercedes-AMG GT brought the Pro-Am duo within reach of overall title contention.

In the support series’, some of motorsport’s rising stars pushed ever closer towards securing their futures on the climb upwards. A brace of GB3 wins for Rodin’s Louis Sharp brought the reigning British F4 champion within reach of back-to-back titles, whilst multiple kart champion (and serial F4-entrant) Freddie Slater was impressive on debut.

Ginetta Junior saw the battle between title contenders Chase Fernandez and Ethan Jeff-Hall get closer than either would have liked in Race 1, rookie Jeff-Hall clattering into the leader as the two squabbled into the Esses. Jeff-Hall was able to continue down the order but Fernandez was left beached and pointless. With 35 points now separating them, but more than 100 points available for the three remaining races, the Brands Hatch showdown promises to be just that.

Here are twenty of our favourite images that help to tell the story of this dramatic weekend.

All images by Howard Fielding and Steve Hindle