Winter’s hold finally lost its grip at Donington Park as the ‘Beast from the East’ made way for the roaring thunder of British GT’s class of 2018.
With a capacity grid of 36 (13 from GT3 and 23 from GT4), the assembled cars, representing many of the world’s top manufacturers, treated media and fans to a spectacular preview of the horsepower and factory-driven talent set to thrill when the season commences at Oulton Park over the Easter weekend.
Here are twenty of our favourite images from the day; there’ll be plenty more as the season gets underway.
With a 36-car entry, 2018 will see the largest GT grids for four years.
Struan Moore will drive the Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 for RJN Motorsport.
Shaun Balfe and Rob Bell will one again drive a McLaren 650S in the GT3 class.
Leo Machitski and Patrick Kujala will drive a Lamborghini Huracan with Barwell Motorsport.
Rick Parfitt Jr will fight for GT3 honours alongside Ryan Ratcliffe driving for Team Parker Racing.
Six manufacturers will compete for overall honours in GT3, including Aston Martin, Bentley, Lamborghini, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG and Nissan.
Left to Right: (1) the #69 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan will be driven by Sam De Haan and Jonny Cocker in GT3. (2) the #11 TF Sport Aston Martin V12 Vantage of Mark Farmer and Nicki Thiim.
Left to Right: (1) the #7 Bentley Continental GT3 of Ian Loggie and Callum Macleod. (2) the #33 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini of Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen.
The GT4 grid will feature eight manufacturers in 2018, including Aston Martin, BMW, Ginetta, Jaguar, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG, Nissan and Toyota.
There will be five McLaren 570S fighting for GT4 honours, while a smorgasbord of McLaren Sports Series models will lead the grid as the official safety cars in 2018.
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Images: Kevin Mc Glone(Red Square Images), Steve Hindle(The Black Stuff).
Written By

Steve Hindle
Steve has lived his life with motor sport; from childhood years as a fan, to racing around the greatest tracks in Europe, first as a driver and later as a team principal. Today he's a familiar sight trackside and in the pit lane, notebook in one hand, camera in another, capturing moments and contributing to some of the leading titles in motor sport and automotive media.
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