+ Overall contenders Petrobelli/Adam, Tillbrook/Kirchhöfer and Tse/Götz face record 28.5-point deficit
+ Beechdean's Howard and Wood on the cusp of Silver-Am crown
+ Provisional entry list: #DoningtonDecider
#DoningtonDecider is seldom straightforward, and especially for the championship leaders. This race has a habit of springing surprises, but surely – SURELY?! – this one will be different for Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss who have topped 2025’s GT3 standings since winning at the same venue back in early April.
A 28.5-point lead is the largest-ever at this stage of a GT3-era season, while 13 is the greatest number to be overturned during the same class’ finale. What’s more, all three of their rivals must win to have any chance.
In short, 2 Seas’ #42 Mercedes-AMG should be home and hosed. It has certainly been the most consistent performer across this year’s eight races and claimed a third win of the campaign last time out at Brands Hatch.
But that could also be the chink in Dawson and Jewiss’ seemingly impenetrable armour. Maximum points equal the maximum 20 seconds of Compensation Time served during the crew’s mandatory pitstop, which has the potential to trigger a typically fraught #DoningtonDecider.
Of course, that also depends on their rivals being in position to take advantage. Blackthorn’s Giacomo Petrobelli and Jonny Adam start level on points with Morgan Tillbrook and Marvin Kirchhöfer but crucially race without Compensation Time.
Adam is no stranger to overturning a deficit at the Decider. He did so en route to winning three of his four titles, albeit when the margins were significantly smaller.
Optimum’s McLaren also starts 28.5 points behind Dawson and Jewiss but has +15 seconds to contend with during its pitstop. It’s a tall order but if Tillbrook/Kirchhöfer do win then, just like Petrobelli/Adam, championship glory will hinge on 2 Seas’ leading duo finishing eighth or lower.
The odds of that happening are reasonably long. But they’re even longer for this year’s fourth contenders, Kevin Tse and Maximilian Götz, who line up 36.5 points behind their team-mates. Only a victory plus Dawson/Jewiss non-scoring will hand them the title.
GT3’s Pro-Am crown, meanwhile, will likely go to the overall champions. Dawson and Jewiss top the class by 29 points with 37.5 still available.
2 Seas also controls the teams’ championship thanks to its 56-point advantage over Barwell. Its Lamborghinis must win and finish second or third to have any hope of remaining champions.
Silver-Am is also still undecided. However, Andrew Howard and Tom Wood need only to be classified to deny Johnny Ip who starts 14 points adrift. The two crews have four class wins apiece but, curiously, they have been split between endurance (Beechdean) and sprint (Bridger) races. And with Donington one of the former, the advantage would appear to lie with the table topping Vantage.
Elsewhere, the Spirit of Race Ferrari returns to British GT action after missing Brands Hatch due to clashing European Le Mans Series commitments, Mahiki makes its senior class debut with McLaren plus GT4 graduates Steven Lake and Josh Miller, Mike Price is back behind the wheel of Optimum’s #3 720S, and Matt Topham deputises for Simon Orange.
There’s also a significant one-off entry in the shape of 2023 champion Darren Leung and Nick Yelloly who join forces in a second Blackthorn Aston Martin. Leung won his first British GT3 race at Donington before claiming the title at the same venue 12 months later. He now competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship and GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS but found space to make a winning domestic return at the Silverstone 500 earlier this year. That success sees his Vantage serve the maximum Compensation Time on Sunday.
The same Aston, as well as Orange/JMH and Mahiki McLarens, are not eligible to score points at Donington.
DONINGTON PARK TIMETABLE
THURSDAY 2 OCTOBER
10:55 – 11:50: Test 1
13:35 – 14:30: Test 2
15:45 – 16:40: Test 3
SATURDAY 4 OCTOBER
09:40 – 10:40: Free Practice
12:00 – 13:00: Pre-Qualifying
15:50 – 16:00: Qualifying 1 (GT3)
16:04 – 16:14: Qualifying 2 (GT3)
16:18 – 16:28: Qualifying 3 (GT4)
16:33 – 16:43: Qualifying 4 (GT4)
SUNDAY 5 OCTOBER
10:10 – 10:25: Warm-up
11:00 – 11:30: Paddock autograph session
13:15 – 15:15: Race
LAP RECORDS
GT3 – 1m24.977s – Euan Hankey – RACE LAB McLaren 720S – 2023
GT4 – 1m32.863s – Charles Clark – Optimum Motorsport McLaren Artura – 2023
PITSTOP SPECIFICS – TWO-HOUR RACE
The number of driver changes are free but there are minimum and maximum total drive times for the starting driver. In GT4 starting drivers must complete a minimum of 58 minutes, while in GT3 this rises to 62 minutes. All classes share the same maximum starting drive time of 70 minutes.
PITSTOP COMPENSATION TIME
20s - #42 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG (GT3) + #6 Blackthorn Aston Martin (GT3) + #17 Optimum Motorsport McLaren (GT4)
15s - #77 Optimum Motorsport McLaren (GT3) + 71 Century Motorsport BMW (GT4) + #12 Team Parker Mercedes-AMG (GT4)
10s - #1 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan (GT3) + #30 Team Parker Mercedes-AMG (GT4)
Mandatory Pitstop Times (pit-in to pit-out)
GT3: 115s | GT4: 145s
All GT4 Silver Cup entries must serve an additional 24s during their mandatory driver changes and carry 25kg of ballast.
