Sebastian Priaulx and team-mate Scott Maxwell are the new GT4 class points leaders after converting pole position into a sensational race victory during the latest round of the 2019 British GT Championship at Donington Park (22/23 June). Becoming the first drivers to win two GT4 races so far this season, the duo enjoyed a near perfect weekend in Leicestershire as they lit up the timesheets in their Multimatic Motorsports prepared Ford Mustang GT4 around Donington’s Grand Prix configuration. The duo sent out a statement of intent during Saturday’s two free practice sessions, with blistering lap-times in the 1st Central Insurance and Ravenscroft machine putting them fastest in both and they duly replicated that performance in qualifying later that day. Each driver contested a ten minute session, with their fastest times being added together to decide the final grid. Both Priaulx and Maxwell put in fantastic efforts to secure their third pole position of the campaign for Sunday’s sole two-hour race. The bright and sunny conditions continued on race day and Maxwell kicked off the action with a great opening stint. Settling into second position, the Canadian racer stayed right on the tail of the class leader throughout before heading into the pitlane just past the hour mark. Emerging from the pitstop in second position, Priaulx quickly focused on closing down a gap of over three seconds to the leader. Within just seven laps he was on his tail and with 23 minutes to go, a slick move into the Melbourne Hairpin earnt him the lead. From there the 18 year old Guernseyman never looked back, immediately pulling clear of his closest challengers on his way to a victory margin of nearly nine seconds. Their second win of the season has put them in the championship lead by eight and a half points with three races remaining. The victory completed a stunning weekend for Multimatic Motorsports, with Priaulx’s team-mates Billy Johnson and Sir Chris Hoy finishing fourth overall in GT4 and first in the Pro Am category to fill the team with momentum heading into the last three meetings of the season. The next round of the 2019 British GT Championship will see Priaulx tackle the world-famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium for the first time (20/21 July). It will be an extra special meeting as he gets joined on the grid by his father Andy in the sister Ford Mustang GT4 alongside Hoy. Sebastian Priaulx: “I’m absolutely over the moon with the weekend, we couldn’t have asked for anything more! This was all possible thanks to the Multimatic Motorsports team, they gave us a perfect car that Scott and I could push to the absolute limits. “To top every session on Saturday was perfect and it gave us all the confidence that we could win on race day. We knew it was going to a tough race though, but Scott drove his stint superbly and handed it over to me in a great position to go on and take the race win. “It was a special feeling getting back onto the top step of the podium and taking the British GT4 Championship points lead in my first season in the series is brilliant. Now we have it though, we certainly don’t intend to let it go. Bring on Spa!”
Image from Jakob Ebrey Photography.