William Antrobus, Cameron Pratt Thompson and Harry Gamble took a win apiece to set up an epic three-way fight for the PRO title in the Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT Championship season finale, as Jamie Caudle built his AM class lead with a triple win at Donington Park (05-06 September)
Qualifying
William Antrobus topped the timesheets in a fifth consecutive qualifying session, securing a double pole position by four tenths of a second. He led an Elite Motorsport one-two, with testing pace-setter Harry Gamble having to settle for a front-row start for both races.
Fellow PRO title contender Cameron Pratt Thompson (SVG Motorsport) finished up third quickest, as Jamie Caudle (E3 Sport) secured the AM class pole position in fourth overall. Second in that class was Elliot Foster (MDD Motorsport), with debutant Martin Addison (Orion SPR) in third.
Race One
It proved to be an action-packed start to the opening race of the weekend. A quick launch off the line helped Gamble squeeze into the lead past Antrobus heading into Redgate, however Antrobus fought back exiting the corner and they ran side-by-side down the Craner Curves.
Gamble ended up running wide at the Old Hairpin and as he returned to the tarmac, slight contact with Caudle spun him around. Behind, Addison swerved to avoid the incident ahead and unfortunately ended up hitting the barriers to bring his whole race weekend to an early conclusion.
The action continued through the Esses, as Louis Darling (Orion SPR) made a move on Pratt Thompson for second but lost momentum exiting the corner. It almost went four-wide into Melbourne as Caudle and Vladislav Tomenchuk (Elite Motorsport) got involved.
Caudle managed to pass two at once to slot into second ahead of Darling and Tomenchuk, with Pratt Thompson getting nudged wide and dropping to fifth. At this stage the safety car was called out to allow for the recovery of Addison’s car.
When the racing resumed, Antrobus was immediately able to break away at the front of the field and went on to take the victory by over five seconds. Caudle maintained second overall to score a big haul of points for his AM title bid, while there was an intense battle for third behind.
Pratt Thompson passed Darling for the position on lap nine and then had to fend off a spirited fightback in the closing laps to secure the podium result. Darling ended up losing out at Melbourne for the final time, with Tomenchuk diving down the inside to grab fourth overall. Tomenchuk was deemed to have caused a collision though, with a post-race penalty putting him back behind Darling.
Foster finished second in the AM’s, with Lucie Hodgson (Orion SPR) joining him in making a welcome return to the class podium. Gamble was able to continue after his first lap incident and after driving through the whole GT Academy field, the 2025 Donington Park race-winner picked up some points in seventh.
Race Two
The first of Sunday’s two races got underway with a good run for Gamble exiting Redgate allowing him to draft past pole-sitter Antrobus. As the latter came under pressure from Pratt Thompson in the early laps, Gamble was able to build a gap at the front of the field.
Antrobus soon shrugged off his pursuers though and was able to give chase to Gamble. Posting the fastest lap of the race as he closed the gap, he got himself in position to plot an overtake and he attempted a move into Redgate at the start of lap nine.
Aiming to cut back to the inside under braking, a misjudgement saw him hit the rear of Gamble and send them both into the barriers and retirement. Taking full advantage of his rivals’ misfortune was Pratt Thompson, who took the chequered flag for his second win of the season so far.
Pratt Thompson was part of a three-way battle through the race, with Darling and AM class winner Caudle hot on his heels to complete the overall top three. Behind, Foster and Hodgson celebrated their best-ever overall results of fourth and fifth respectively alongside AM podium finishes.
Race Three
Pratt Thompson’s victory in race two secured him pole position for the final outing of the weekend, and he converted it perfectly into the early lead. Behind, Caudle quickly picked off Darling to hold second, however later in the lap a fast-starting Gamble was able to charge past them both.
That put Gamble quickly onto the tail of Pratt Thompson and a slick move around the outside at McLeans on lap two secured him the race lead. Responding perfectly from his race two disappointment, he charged clear at the front to take victory by almost ten seconds. In addition, he ended the event with the Sunoco Fastest Driver of the Weekend Award.
Pratt Thompson and Darling renewed their battles behind, with Antrobus also getting involved as the race progressed. Darling and Antrobus traded third back and forth a couple of times, before Darling went on the offensive and snatched second from Pratt Thompson on the penultimate lap.
Antrobus ended up settling for fourth place, as AM victor Caudle picked up more crucial points in fifth. Tomenchuk rounded out the overall top six ahead of AM podium finisher Foster, with Hodgson unfortunately seeing her race come to an end on the opening lap.
The Donington wins for Antrobus and Gamble helped Elite Motorsport clinch their second consecutive Teams’ title in the GT Championship. The Norfolk team are the most decorated in the Ginetta UK Championships, with 24 title wins under their belt so far.
Full race results can be found at TSL Timing. All three races can be watched back now at GT World on YouTube.
