Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss, newcomers to the British GT3 series, started their campaign with a remarkable win from pole position at the two-hour race at Doncaster Park, setting the stage for the 2025 season opener.

The 2 Seas Mercedes secured victory, finishing 1.1 seconds before the Barwell Lamborghini as Jewiss managed to hold off late competition from Sandy Mitchell. Mitchell was racing alongside Alex Martin in the Huracan.

Kevin Tse and 2021 DTM champion Maximilian Gotz secured the podium spot driving the sister 2 Seas Mercedes during a weekend when the Bahraini team positioned themselves as strong contenders for 2025 success.

Even though it was anticipated to lead the pack, off-season discussions centered around the seasoned partnership of Tse and Gotz. This speculation arose because Dawson moved up from GT4 — he secured third place previously, whereas Jewiss had done minimal racing following his victory in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB in 2022.

Consequently, Dawson merely targeted the top five in qualifying sessions. However, the British GT community was taken aback when the #42 Mercedes secured first place ahead of their rivals with an impressive lead of six-tenths of a second, resulting in a 1-2 finish for 2 Seas. The duo of Martin and Mitchell managed to secure the third position.

The speed of the #42 Mercedes carried through the race, with Dawson gaining a second on the first lap and Martin passing Tse on the inside at Redgate bend.

However, that remained the sole lead change early in the race, since the sunny event at Donington was quite distinct from the chaotic wet race at Oulton Park that kicked off the previous season.

However, it was challenging for close-quarters competition to take place with Dawson maintaining impeccable control over the tempo, as he had widened his steady advantage to 3.5 seconds following 25 minutes of racing.

Dawson surged ahead of his competitors as he began his British GT3 career impressively.

Photo by: JEP

Although the leading trio maintained a remarkable speed, several incidents occurred further back down the field when Matt Topham lost control of the #1 Barwell Lamborghini spinning at Old Hairpin around the 30-minute mark.

Team principal Mark Lemmer stated that "the car spun around" when Rob Collard, who was standing in as a replacement for the current champion due to medical issues at Donnington Park, accelerated. Despite this incident, Collard still finished in 11th place.

A similar GT3 occurrence quickly ensued, affecting the overall standings when Giacomo Petrobelli, who was in fifth place, incorrectly assessed a gap while trying to overtake Ian Duggan’s Lotus GT4.

The Blackthorn Aston Martin took the inside line at Coppice, but collided with the Emira’s rear-right section, resulting in both cars spinning out. Consequently, a full-course yellow flag was deployed, leading to a safety car intervention after 40 minutes had elapsed.

Green-flag conditions were set to resume five minutes later, but a mechanical issue with the #88 Lotus, which had gone to the pits following a spin, led it to stall in the gravel near the pit exit.

Consequently, the safety car stayed out until minute 50, after which Dawson orchestrated the restart flawlessly. The leading drivers kept their positions intact, whereas Blackthorn was handed a 10-second stop/go penalty due to the incident involving him.

Petrobelli’s harrowing spell concluded 13 minutes later when the pit window became available. All GT3 vehicles, with the exception of car number #1 Huracán, promptly carried out their driver changes as soon as they could.

Topham followed with a pit stop one lap after Lemmer remarked, "It’s always risky to double stack the cars." This strategy paid off when the Lamborghini moved up to seventh position. Meanwhile, Mitchell, driving the second Huracan, aimed to reduce the five-second deficit behind Jewiss.

The Lamborghini factory driver rapidly closed in and cut the lead down to 3.5 seconds with 47 minutes remaining.

A charging Mitchell wasn't able to stop 2 Seas making the early British GT waves

Photo by: JEP

A complete course yellow quickly halted his assault, as marshals had to fix tire stack damage resulting from an earlier incident at The Esses chicane a few laps prior.

Team Parker's Nick Jones tried to pass Mike Price who was in eighth place, but ended up spinning when his Porsche collided with the Optimum McLaren. The race officials postponed the yellow flag deployment because the pit lane was about to open for stops.

The yellow flag lasted for just a moment before green racing resumed with 42 minutes left on the clock. Due to Jewiss getting caught behind GT4 traffic, Mitchell found himself trailing by merely a fraction of a second.

However, Mitchell needed Jewiss to make a mistake since there are few opportunities for passing at Donington. Despite this, the 2018 British Formula 4 champion remained resolute.

He increased his lead to 1.6 seconds with 16 minutes left, but then Mitchell narrowed it down to less than a second in an intense back-and-forth contest that heightened everyone’s nerves.

"I was a bundle of nerves," Dawson stated, mentioning he was caught with his hands raised high later on.

Both squads could only wait out the clock as Jewiss and Mitchell neutralized the remaining obstacles.

A minor error could have cost him the race, but Jewiss showed remarkable determination to secure the win while maintaining his position.

"It's the inaugural race of the season, so you're unsure about your stamina until the finish line. Additionally, catching a GT4 in the perfect spot feels like a gamble, yet we handled it quite effectively," stated Jewiss.

Gotz finished 10 seconds after Mitchell, with Morgan Tillbrook/Marvin Kirchhofer (Optimum McLaren) and Richard/Sam Neary (Team Abba Mercedes) rounding out the top five.

A flawless performance from Brown and Warren gives Optimum the ideal beginning in GT4.

Brown picked up right where he left off in 2024 with another victory in GT4.

Photo by: JEP

Jack Brown began his defense of the British GT4 championship flawlessly when he teamed up with his new Optimum co-driver Marc Warren to secure victory in the season-opening race at Donington Park in 2025.

McLaren drivers led the two-hour race for over 13.7 seconds starting from pole position, with Brown and Warren showing impeccable performance on the Arturia. In contrast, their competitors made avoidable mistakes.

Charlie Robertson and Ravi Ramyead came in second place in the Century BMW race, with the team of Seb Morris and Ed McDermott from Team Parker Mercedes securing third position on the podium.

"It’s precisely where we needed to be," stated Brown, who has consistently believed in another championship run, particularly due to his belief in how effectively Optimum functions contrasted with its competitors.

It happened during qualifying when Josh Miller and Aiden Neate (driving for Mahiki Lotus) initially secured provisional pole position. However, they were later disqualified due to a communication issue that led Mahiki to violate parc fermé regulations.

It positioned Brown and Warren at the top in a perfect 1-2 formation, with Warren managing a smooth start. Meanwhile, George’s and Hopkinson’s Artura fell to last place during the first lap due to a transmission issue.

As a result, Warren had minimal competition and capitalized on this situation by amassing a 7.6-second lead over Ramyead, who was positioned second, within the initial 20-minute period.

The Century driver concentrated on maintaining position behind, as Neate sustained his impressive speed from qualifying, managing to move up from second-to-last to third place in the initial laps.

Neate bounced back from a disqualified qualification to surge ahead of the pack until the penalties imposed on the Silver team hindered his progress.

Photo by: JEP

He hadn't concluded his race yet because the ex-Alpine junior managed to pass Ramyead within The Esses chicane during the 30th minute, with Warren maintaining a lead of 10 seconds ahead.

However, that disparity quickly disappeared when the safety car was deployed in the 37th minute due to Giacomo Petrobelli of GT3 crashing into Ian Duggan (Mahiki Lotus) at Coppice corner.

Brown mentioned it "eliminated all the strenuous effort" and, even though Warren handled the restart, they were ultimately surpassed by Neate when moving past Redgate after 55 minutes.

This was not particularly significant in the broader context because the Silver FIA-rated teams, such as the #84 Lotus, had to spend an additional 24 seconds during each pit stop compared to their Pro-Am rivals like the #90 McLaren.

Once the driver changes took place at the top of the hour, Optimum found itself back in the lead position. With minimal challenge from competitors trailing behind, a controlled drive by Brown proved sufficient for securing the win.

"It was more like half a job," asserted the current champion, aiming to be the first driver with two GT4 championships.

Robinson finished 9.7 seconds before Morris, indicating that Century’s 5-second penalty for crashing into the Lotus during the safety car period did not impact their final standing.

The fourth position was claimed by the second Team Parker car driven by Jon Currie and Phil Keen, trailing the sibling Mercedes by 1.8 seconds. Rounding out the top five were Miller and Neate.