Bentley, Lamborghini vie for British GT glory with on Pirelli tyres

The winners of this year’s British GT Championship titles in both the GT3 and GT4 classes will be decided in a two-hour race at Donington Park on Sunday, where all entrants will be equipped with Pirelli tyres. The track, which also hosts the World Superbike Championship, supplied by Pirelli, is only a 14-mile drive from the manufacturer’s Burton-upon-Trent facility, making it something of a home track.

After victory at Brands Hatch, Rick Parfitt Jr and Seb Morris lead the way in their Bentley Continental GT3 for Team Parker Racing, but Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen are only 10.5 points behind in their Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3. Will Tregurtha and Stuart Middleton lead the way in GT4 with a 25-point margin over fellow Ginetta drivers Alex Reed and David Pittard.

As at every round of the British GT season, the P Zero DHD tyre will be supplied for the GT3 class and the P Zero DH is provided for GT4. The Cinturato WH rain tyre will be on standby for both classes in the event of wet weather.

Teams will be required to make one mandatory pit-stop for fresh tyres and a change of driver during a specified 10-minute window in the middle of the two-hour race. The top three finishers in each class from the last round at Brands Hatch will have to serve success penalties at their pit-stops, which could prove important in the title fights.

Jonathan Wells, Pirelli UK motorsport manager, states: “Donington Park provides a similar challenge to Brands Hatch with a fast and flowing layout. The high-speed Craner Curves at the beginning of the lap place large lateral demands on the tyres, while the biggest braking forces come into the Esses at the end of the back straight. With the championship finely-poised in GT3 in particular, getting the most from the tyres in the two-hour race will be crucial.”