Jones Brothers Clinch Avon Tyres British GT Title

The 2009 Avon Tyres British GT Championship was decided by a single point in a title fight that went down to the very last lap of the 14-race season. Identical twin brothers David and Godfrey Jones clinched the honours, sharing the driving of an Ascari KZ1R in the series they first entered nine years ago.

The three-way title race was eventually fought out between their Ascari, the Ferrari 430 of Hector Lester and Allan Simonsen and the Dodge Viper of Craig Wilkins and Aaron Scott – all of whom went into the final event at Brands Hatch with a chance of claiming the silverware.

Lester had gone into the weekend just a point behind the Jones twins, with Wilkins and Scott a further seven behind. When the Joneses won the first of two races, with Lester and Simonsen finishing third, that put the title beyond the reach of Wilkins and Scott.
From pole position in race two, Simonsen pulled away at the front of the field as Godfrey Jones started to move off the positions behind. David did the same when he took over the control of the car and eventually got up to third place – the position they needed to clinch the title. Lester then took control of the Ferrari and drove to victory, but lost out by a point.

“I think we’re relieved more than anything,” said David Jones. “It’s been a stressful weekend, but it’s been a lot of fun.

“I have been dreaming about this. I have dreamt good things and bad; it’s nice to have it over and that it’s gone the way we wanted it. We knew what we had to do… the one way that we could lose it was to not finish the race.”

In the GT4 category, which features less modified cars than the main GT3 class, Jody Firth won the title in his Ginetta G50, with a dominant tally of 11 wins from the 14 rounds, with co-driver Nigel Moore finishing second.

Avon Tyres’ title sponsorship of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship will continue in 2010 for a fifth year.