Wet, Wild and Deciding: How Donington Park Settled the 2025 British GT Title

Donington delivered a proper finale. The British GT Championship wrapped up at Donington Park on October 4 and 5, and it gave fans exactly what they wanted: messy weather, big swings, and a title decided under pressure. The weekend will be remembered for close calls, tactical gambles on tyres, and two teams doing very different jobs - one taking the race win, the other taking the championship.

Barwell Motorsport ended the season on a high note. The pair of Alex Martin and Sandy Mitchell brought the Huracan home in first place, and their sister car of Rob Collard and Hugo Cook completed a Barwell one two. The one-two was emphatic, and it was Barberwell’s last statement of the year on the track.

But the race win and the title are not always the same thing. Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss of 2 Seas Motorsport did what they needed to do to take the GT3 championship. They rode out the chaos, avoided catastrophe when possible, and left Donington crowned as champions. The pair’s points lead coming into the weekend was big enough that a fourth place or similar would seal it, and that is effectively what happened. It was textbook championship management, even if it felt frantic at times.

The GT4 picture had its own late twist. Optimum Motorsport’s Marc Warren and Jack Brown fought a tense title fight with Century Motorsport and a few others. In the end Brown’s drive, and Optimum’s pit timing, gave them the advantage they needed. Brown became the first GT4 driver to successfully defend the title, and Optimum also wrapped up the teams crown after a proper winner takes all Sunday.

What made the weekend feel like real motorsport was the weather and how it pushed teams into split-second decisions. Showers moved in and out, wind gusts changed the drying time of the circuit, and teams had to pick between staying out on slicks or coming in for wets. A few teams gambled and lost, a few gambled and won. That chaotic swing in conditions led to spins at Old Hairpin, gravel-stops at McLeans and Coppice, and at least one sizeable safety car period to recover stricken cars. That was the core of the drama.

There were a couple of moments that really mattered. Dawson and Blackthorn’s Giacomo Petrobelli clipped wheels into the Old Hairpin and both spun, a moment that could easily have flipped the championship. Later, contact between Dawson and Morgan Tillbrook at Coppice cost Dawson a 10 second penalty during the stop window. Those incidents were replayed on radios and screens all afternoon and reminded everyone how fragile a title fight can be.

Drivers were honest about how wild it felt. Jewiss said post race that the event was an emotional rollercoaster, and that skating around on slick tyres in the rain while the title hung in the balance was the worst possible situation. It was a rare blend of nerves and relief when the chequered flag finally fell.

For the teams and fans, Donington was a proper season decider. Barwell leaves with bragging rights for the race win and a clean one-two. 2 Seas Motorsport leave with the championship trophy and a job well managed over an entire season. Optimum take a slice of history in GT4, and a number of smaller teams earned plaudits for recovery and ingenuity in changing conditions. If you like your GT racing with little drama, Donington was not for you. If you like raw, unpredictable racing, it felt exactly right.

What’s next. The British GT paddock now heads into the winter with new champions to celebrate and a few questions to answer about setup and tyre choices when the weather turns. Teams will regroup and come back next season, with Silverstone the next big date on the calendar. For now the Donington decider will sit in the memory as one of those finals where anything could happen, and often did.

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Source and Images: British GT & GT Report