A mixed weekend for Academy Motorsport at Donington Park

It was another mixed weekend for Academy Motorsport at Donington Park, for the third round of the British GT Championship.

After a difficult weekend at Silverstone just two weeks ago, in which the team’s Ford Mustang GT4 was severely hampered by the Balance of Performance (BOP), everyone was geared up for more progress at Donington Park.

The weekend began strong, with both Matt Cowley and Will Moore demonstrating good pace in Thursday testing and Saturday’s free practice sessions. As the pair approached qualifying, confident that they had a slightly better BOP this time around, both drivers posted some extremely competitive lap times, with Cowley posting the fastest time in his session. With times combined the team lined up sixth on the grid for the two-hour race on Sunday afternoon.

Taking control of the opening stint, Moore strapped himself into the Ford Mustang, ready to line-up on the grid. As the race began, the safety car was quickly scrambled as drama hit the GT3 field ahead. As the British GT train weaved its way around the Donington Park GP circuit, Moore sat towards the front of the GT4 field, ready for the restart.

As more chaos ensued, racing finally got underway, however as Moore rounded the final corner onto the pit straight on lap 15, contact between two other cars saw Moore collected and sent into a spin. With damage sustained through no fault of his own, he was forced to park the Ford Mustang near the pit exit, ending the team’s chances of fighting for success.

Commenting on the Donington Park round, Academy Motorsport’s Managing Director, Matt Nicoll-Jones, said: “It’s incredibly frustrating. We have done everything right this year, the whole team work extremely hard between and during every round, and we definitely had the pace at Donington Park.

“Yes we still struggled with the BOP at Donington, but it was certainly better than it had been at Silverstone. To know we had the pace to finish in a very competitive position, but to be taken out in someone else’s accident and to not even have a chance is extremely infuriating.”

The team continues to look forwards, with the next round just two weeks away. The next round sees the British GT Championship return to European adventures, as we head to Spa Francorchamps during 24th-25th July.