Johnston clinches 2012 GT Cup on Pirelli tyres

Derek Johnston rounded off a memorable season in the GT Cup after clinching the overall championship crown at Donington Park. Peter Smallwood claimed championship glory in Group 2 and Chris Bentley was crowned the winner in Group 3. Following the conclusion of this year’s series, tyre supplier Pirelli anticipated increased grid numbers as the series organiser looks to broaden both participant numbers and sponsorship.

GT Cup Championship organiser Marc Haynes commented: “The organising team is working on making 2013 a fantastic season and being proactive on increasing grid numbers for next year. We are also working on new sponsorship partnerships and we have some great ideas taking shape to make next year bigger and better. Our goal is for competitiors to have some great racing next year and a lot of fun with a serious competitive edge. We are currently looking at the 2013 calendar and hope to have the dates confirmed in the next few weeks.”

Pirelli UK Motorsport operations manager Matthew Corby said that the company looks “forward to next year with the return of National B licence entries on the grid.”

Donington Park hosts final round

Donington Park marked the final round of this year’s hotly-contested GT Cup that uses Pirelli as the championship’s official tyre supplier. The weekend was dominated by Jordan Witt and his Chevron, who claimed a victory on all three races. However, a solid finish from Johnston gave the Ferrari 458 driver enough points to wrap up the 2012 title.

Speaking after the event, championship winner Johnston commented: “I went faster in that race than ever before. But then I had to ask myself what the heck I was doing: the plan was to take it easy for the championship! I had a brake problem in the race with warning lights all over the dashboard. It was pretty scary really, it felt like I was braking on just one wheel.”

Johnston added: “I had a hip replacement in January so it’s been a hard year and at some circuits it has been really painful. But here we are at the end of the season and we’ve won, which is something we set out to do. It’s a fantastic feeling.”

Pirelli’s Corby said: “We’ve had an interesting and varied season in the GT Cup: at the end of it nobody can deny that Derek Johnston is a worthy title winner. His performance in the Ferrari has been consistent throughout and despite having a hip replacement, Derek still managed to give it his all.”