Breakell Racing picked up a hard-fought top ten class finish from an encouraging second appearance in the British GT Championship at Donington Park this past weekend (07-08 September).
The Lancashire-based team returned to the British GT grid with their formidable Mercedes-AMG GT4 targeting another competitive showing in the hotly-contested Pro-Am category after their stunning debut performance in the Silverstone 500 back in April.
Alongside the returning Harley Haughton, team principal James Breakell was behind the wheel for his personal British GT debut. In only his third ever race meeting in the Mercedes, pre-event testing was crucial for Breakell as he built up his speed and confidence in the car.
Building on the experience gained from a race outing at Donington Park in the British Endurance Championship earlier this year, the team enjoyed a productive day of running in testing on Thursday and built on that with consistent progress across free practice and pre-qualifying on Saturday.
Producing encouraging pace in tricky, mixed weather conditions, Haughton and Breakell then tackled individual ten-minute qualifying sessions. Their combined efforts secured them 12th in Pro-Am on the grid for the two-hour race on Sunday, which they headed into in good spirits.
With the sun shining for the first time all weekend, Breakell took the race start and produced a competitive opening stint. Staying out of trouble in a typically action-packed British GT encounter, he headed into the mid-race pitstop inside the class top ten.
Haughton produced great pace from the off and was looking to make progress up the order as the race progressed, however he was denied the chance when the race was neutralised by a 25-minute full course yellow / safety car period. In the two lap shootout to the finish, Haughton pulled off a late move to score a final result of ninth in Pro-Am.
James Breakell - Team Principal: “I’m delighted with how this weekend has gone. We’ve once again proven that we’re a professional and talented team that deserve to be in the British GT paddock alongside some of the biggest outfits in British motorsport.
“Everyone in the team did a faultless job across the event, putting a fast and reliable race car out on track for every session. We know the talent that Harley possesses and it’s a shame that the long full course yellow period in his stint stopped him from getting to show that in the race.
“Personally, it was a great experience to race in British GT for the first time. It was a huge challenge for me as an amateur driver with limited experience in the Mercedes, but I worked hard to close the gap to the pack and I’m happy with the progress I made.”
Alongside their British GT outing, Breakell Racing were also back in Ginetta GT Championship action at Donington Park for their second appearance of the season. The team established themselves as a formidable force in the series last year, winning eleven races across the campaign.
Teenage talent Alfie Davies joined them for the event, stepping up to the GT Championship for the first time after a competitive run in Ginetta Juniors over the last couple of years. He was jumping in at the deep end, with his first proper day of running in a Ginetta G56 GT Pro coming in Friday testing.
Davies showed great pace from the off and qualified sixth fastest in the PRO class. He enjoyed some exciting wheel-to-wheel action in the opening race, battling his way to a fifth-place finish in class and earning a visit to the podium as the highest-placed guest driver in the race.
The Surrey-based driver continued his impressive weekend on Sunday morning as he climbed to third in the PRO ranks and once again finished as the leading guest driver, before narrowly missing out on another trip to the podium in an action-packed final race.
James Breakell: “It was great to be back on the Ginetta GT Championship grid and we enjoyed going racing with Alfie. He really impressed with the way he got up to speed with the G56 GT Pro while adapting to the changeable weather conditions, and he deserved the trophies he came away with.”
Images from Jakob Ebrey Photography.
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