Masters Historic Race Weekend 2024: Masters GT Trophy

Craig Wilkins was in imperious form as the Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evo driver won from pole in the first Masters GT Trophy race of the Masters Race Weekend at Donington Park. Wilkins was harrassed early on by the David Cuff/Frederic Laurent Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT3 car before their challenge faded, but after the stops the George Haynes/Adam Sharpe Mosler MT900R GT3 took up the gauntlet. However, the reigning champion could not be bothered and ran home the lights-to-flag win, eigth tenths up on Sharpe.

“The team do a really good job giving us a good car”, said Wilkins, who was momentarily thwarted by a backmarker towards the end. “I had a little bit of contact, I thought the guy had left me room to go up the inside and I’m sorry for the contact, that’s not what it’s about. But that was a good race, and the car’s intact.”

“It was great”, said Sharpe. “We had a good start, kept our gaps to these guys, so we were able to catch them through the corners under brakes, not on the straights, they’re just too quick for us. Criag had quite a good time in traffic, so it helped him build a gap. But it was great, really good to race with Craig.”

In third, Neil Glover and Aaron Scott took third, with Glover holding on in his opening stint and Scott fighting back from his elite-driver penalty to haul the Huracán Super Trofeo Evo up to the overall podium. Jason McInulty was an equally strong fourth overall in another Super Trofeo Evo, as he stormed through all the way from the back following a wet-tyre infringement in the semi-wet qualifying session in the morning. In their 488 Evo, Frank Thomas Headen-Morris and James Pickford were the first Ferrari home in the Corse class, finishing fifth overall.

“The car felt great”, said Glover. “I tried to keep everybody home as long as I could, but the safety car came out, which was a bit of a shame. The restart was great, we held our position and then handed it across to Aaron halfway through. And he was, as always, flawless and really quick. And who wouldn’t enjoy a Lamborghini around Donington?”

In sixth overall, Robert Oldershaw’s Aston Martin DBRS9 took second in the GT3 class with a fighting race, with John & Gary Pearson coming home tenth to claim third in class in their Ferrari 430 GT3. In ninth overall, David Harrison dominated the Cup class in his Porsche 991.2 Cup while Jasver Sapra came through to claim GT4 class victory in the BMW M3 GT4, winning from Dale Albutt’s Aston Martin Vantage GT4 and early leaders Stuart Hall/Peter Montague in another Vantage GT4.

A sundrenched Donington Park greeted a strong field of 23 cars for the first 45-minute Masters GT Trophy race of the Masters Race Weekend. Lining up on pole, Craig Wilkins was joined by David Cuff in the GT3 Audi R8 LMS Ultra, with Wlkins’ fellow Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evo driver Neil Glover and George Haynes in the Mosler MT900R GT3 right behind them. From the off, Wilkins had his foot down to the floor to open up a 1.1-second gap to Cuff on the opening lap, with Glover and Haynes retaining their third and fourth places into lap 2.

Storming through to fifth was Robert Oldershaw’s Aston Martin DBRS9, who led Stuart Hall in the Aston Martin Vantage GT4, the leading GT4 car. Seventh was David Harrison in the top Porsche 991.2 Cup, ahead of Frank Thomas Headen-Morris in the Ferrari 488 Evo and Michael O’Sullivan’s Ferrari 430 Challenge., with John Pearson’s 430 rounding out the top ten for now.

From the back, Jason McInulty (Huracán Super Trofeo Evo), Kevin Clarke (Huracán ST) and Harry Barton (Toyota GT Supra GT4 EVO) were making serious inroads into the three’s early-race deficit caused by a wet-tyre infringement during the morning’s semi-wet qualifying session – but then Clarke connected with Peter Reynolds in the Ginetta G55, one of the GT4 class favourites. The safety car was out. Meanwhile, Chris Compton Goddard’s Ferrari 430 GT3 had retired with gearbox trouble.

On lap 7, the green flag was waved and we were back into action, with ten minutes still to go for the pit window to open. Wilkins was on the war path right away, immediately recovering his 1.1-second lead over Cuff, while behind Glover, Oldershaw made up another place at the cost of Haynes, while Harrison pushed the lead Porsche through into sixth. Two laps later, Oldershaw showed that he wasn’t done yet, as the DBRS9 moved into third, with Haynes following through ahead of Glover. Meanwhile, McInulty continued his march to the front to pass Harrison, Hall and Headen-Morris in quick succession to be sixth.

Pearson soon picked up ninth from Headen-Morris, with Paul Whight in the invitational Aston Martin Vantage GT2 in 11th and Dallas Carroll in the second-placed Porsche 991.2 in 12th. Then followed a nine-second gap to Michael O’Sullivan in the Ferrari 430 Challenge, who headed the battle for second place in GT4 between Dale Albutt’s Aston Martin Vantage and Richard Dougal’s Maserati GranTurismo, with Vance Kearney’s 430 GT3 sandwiched in between.

Now on lap 13, Wilkins’ margin to Cuff was up to eight ticks, as the reigning champion put his stamp on this opening stint. Cuff, meanwhile, was chased hard by Oldershaw, but an unleashed McInulty was now the next driver up, the Lambo now in fourth, as the pit window opened. On lap 14, Neil Glover was the first to react, coming in to hand his seat to Aaron Scott, with David Harrison in the Porsche also in. The next time around, it was getting busy in the pitlane, as Haynes handed the Mosler to Adam Sharpe while Albutt, Carroll and Whight also joined him, the latter handing the GT2 car to Rob Fenn.

The warring Oldershaw and Cuff were in next, Cuff making room for Frederic Laurent, with Headen-Morris stepping out for James Pickford. McInulty pitted on lap 17, but leader Wilkins kept pounding in the fastest laps of the race ahead of a relatively late stop. Next time around, however, Wilkins’ time was bested by Scott who lobbed an entire second of the leader’s mark. Then on lap 19, Wilkins decided it was his turn, and he was followed in by Pearson (handing over to brother Gary), Hall (handing over to Peter Montague), Barton (handing over to Nigel Greensall) and Dougal.

As soon as the field had settled on lap 20, Wilkins still led, but a few quick laps from Sharpe had taken the Mosler up into a very competitive second place, with Oldershaw in third, six seconds down, and Harrison in a strong fourth overall in the lead Porsche, but chased hard by McInulty, Fenn, Carroll, while Laurent in eighth had Pickford and Scott snapping at his heels. In 13th Montague still led the GT4 class but Jasver Sapra in the BMW M3 GT4 was closing in fast, while Albutt in the Aston was just two seconds away from Sapra.

At the front, Wilkins and Sharpe continued to argue over the lead of the race, but Oldershaw was slowly dropping into McInulty’s clutches. Harrison – now under investigation for a short pitstop – followed a couple more seconds in arrears, while Scott was on fire and now up into sixth, having demoted Fenn, Carroll and Pickford in short order. Gary Pearson was a long way back in tenth, ahead of Laurent, with Greensall closing in the invitational Supra. Meanwhile, Sapra and Albutt had both relegated Montague to be first and second in GT4.

With less than ten minutes remaining, Sharpe’s challenge began to slowly fade, as Wilkins put 2.2 seconds behind himself and the Mosler. McInulty was third, a strong performance considering his start from the back, but 19 seconds behind the leader, while Scott closed in on Oldershaw with an eye on fourth, two six seconds down on McInulty respectively. Meanwhile, Dougal’s GT4 challenge was blunted by an unscheduled pitstop, the same happening to Carl Nairn in the Porsche 991.1 Cup.

Five remained on the clock as Wilkins kept his two-second lead over Sharpe in hand, but on lap 31, the gap was suddenly down to four tenths! Behind them, Scott had passed Oldershaw for fourth and now McInulty’s third place was under threat as well. Pickford was sixth ahead of Fenn, Harrison and Carroll.

However, Wilkins’ sudden loss of territory proved to be a minor backmarker-induced blip, as the next time around, the gap was back up to over a second, and after 35 laps, Wilkins crossed the line in first, eight tenths up on Sharpe’s Mosler. Behind the leading pair, Scott indeed pipped McInulty for third while a strong run towards the line handed fifth to Pickford in the Ferrari 488 Evo. Oldershaw took second in the GT3 class with his DBRS9, ahead of the invitational entries of Fenn and Carroll, while David Harrison clinched Cup class honours in ninth overall. The Pearsons rounded out the top ten in their 430. Jasver Sapra bagged the GT class win ahead of Albutt and Montague/Hall.

Craig Wilkins added another Masters GT Trophy to his already considerable tally by fending off a strong challenge from fellow Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evo driver Jason McInulty, while also overcoming a time penalty for track limits to go two for two at Donington Park.

“I must admit, with it being a Sunday race, I expected a little bit of an easier run”, said Wilkins. “He had shredded wheat for breakfast, was very, very quick and pushed me all the way. Which is good. It’s what we need for the series. I have a couple of small problems with the car we need to work out, but it only happened a couple of times. No excuses.”

“It started well, I started to push, got past Neil, got on the back of Craig and trying to hang on as long as I could”, said McInulty. “Good fun, but it’s a shame. We just need that little bit extra, but we’re going to get there. We’ve got a couple of weeks before Silverstone, so looking forward to that.”

George Haynes and Adam Sharpe grabbed the GT3 class win, their Mosler MT900R once again acting as the closest challenger to the Lamborghinis, while on the final lap the Neil Glover/Aaron Scott Huracán Super Trofeo Evo pipped Robert Oldershaw’s Aston Martin DBRS9 to fourth overall. Oldershaw did claim second in the GT3 class, with the Frederic Laurent/David Cuff Audi R8 LMS Ultra claiming third in class after a fine comeback drive to eighth overall.

“I started, managed to keep the car sort of at the front, come in and we were in third position”, said Haynes. “But first in class, two Lamborghinis in front, which is always the case, those pesky Lamborghinis! And we’ve managed to finish third overall and first in class again. A very good, awesome race.”

In sixth overall, David Harrison added another dominant Cup class victory in his Porsche 991.2 Cup, while the GT4 class saw a race of attrition that was won from the back by Peter Montague and Stuart Hall in their Aston Martin Vantage GT4, ahead of Jasver Sapra and Jeremy Cooke in a pair of BMW M3 GT4s.

As the early-morning dampness began to clear up, the Masters GT Trophy grid came out for their second and final race of the Masters Race Weekend at Donington Park. Race 1 winner Craig Wilkins headed the field, with Haynes in the Mosler MT900R following ahead of a charging Jason McInulty in the second Huracán Super Trofeo Evo, who immediately passed Glover for third. Robert Oldershaw was another quick starter in the Aston Martin DBRS9, leaping Frank Thomas Headen-Morris’ Ferrari 488 Evo for fifth, with the Porsches of Dallas Carroll and David Harrison up next.

On lap 3, McInulty moved up another spot at the cost of Haynes to set after race leader Wilkins, who by now was 3.8 seconds up the road. Behind Haynes, Oldershaw gained another spot to be fourth after four laps while leading Scott, Carroll, Harrison and Harry Barton in the invitational Toyota GR Supra GT4. In 13th overall, Jasver Sapra led the actual GT4 race, having already won race 1 in his BMW M3 GT4, but he was chased hard by Richard Dougal in the Maserati GranTurismo GT4, while Chris Compton Goddard’s Ferrari 430 GT3 split them from the third GT4 car in class, the Ginetta G55 of Daniel Quintero.

At the front, Wilkins found that he had a hard time walking away from McInulty who in fact narrowed down the gap to a mere eight tenths on lap 7. Haynes followed by ten seconds, with Oldershaw a further four ticks adrift. In fifth, Glover held his own against the two Porsches in his back, while Paul Whight was up to eighth overall in the invitational Aston Martin Vantage GT2, having passed Barton. Also on the up was Matty Evans in the non-Evo Huracán ST, now in tenth overall ahead of the Pearsons’ Ferrari 430 GT3. Further back, Dougal and Quintero had both got a move on by passing Sapra for the top places in GT4.

A fine duel between Wilkins and McInulty had erupted, as they traded fastest laps of the race while in the process leaving Haynes to trail by 19 seconds on lap 11. Further back, however, Carroll was in for an unscheduled stop, allowing the rest of the field to move up a spot. Also coming from the back, Frederic Laurent in the Audi R8 LMS Ultra was now up into 11th, chasing Pearson, Evans, Barton and Whight who was now up into seventh but harrying Harrison for sixth, a move that he got done on lap 14.

With less than half an hour remaining, McInulty’s challenge slowly began to fade, as Wilkins’ lead steadily grew to 3.1 seconds on lap 15. Meanwhile, Haynes was the first to come in for his stop. So now Oldershaw was third, followed by Glover, Whight, Harrison, Evans, Barton, John Pearson and Compton Goddard. In GT4, Quintero still led from Dougal and Sapra, with Dale Albutt in fourth in the Aston Martin Vantage GT4. On the next lap, Oldershaw and Glover dropped out from the lead to have their stops, the latter handing over to Aaron Scott. Matty Evans also came in to give his Huracán to Kevin Clarke, and he was joined by Compton Goddard and Sapra.

As more cars came in for their mandatory stop, we had to wait to lap 20 before both Wilkins and McInulty decided it was time for their mid-race pause. Harrison, Pearson (making space for brother Gary) and Quintero (to be replaced by Peter Reynolds) followed suit, as did his GT4 rival Dougal. However, as both Reynolds and Dougal failed to leave the pits in the Ginetta and the Maserati, Sapra was handed back the GT4 class lead on a platter.

The entire pitstop cycle had panned out on lap 22, and now Wilkins led McInulty by 5.3 seconds while the two Lambos set similar lap times. A fast-lapping Adam Sharpe had lifted the Mosler back up into third, six seconds behind the two Italian Super Trofeo machines, with Oldershaw’s Aston in fourth as the second GT3 car on the road. Harrison in the lead Porsche had risen to fifth, followed by Rob Fenn in the Aston started by Whight, while Scott was on the move to recover from his elite-driver time penalty at the stops. Nigel Greensall was eighth in Barton’s Supra, ahead of Clarke’s Lambo and David Cuff in the Audi vacated by Laurent. In GT4, Sapra now led from Albutt, but Stuart Hall was approaching fast in the Vantage GT4 started by Peter Montague.

At the front, with 11 minutes remaining on the clock, Wilkins seemed to have fought off McInulty’s challenge, as the second Lambo had faded to a 12-second deficit on lap 28. In fact, Sharpe was homing in on the Huracán at a rate that would see him catch his rival on the next lap. Behind a steady Oldershaw, Scott had cleared Harrison and Fenn for fifth, but still trailed the DBRS9 by 23 seconds. In GT4, meanwhile, the attrition rate continued with Albutt now also grounding to a halt. With Hall lapping two seconds quicker than Sapra, the race could still be his.

As the 45-minute contest progressed towards its inevitable end, Wilkins looked to have it sealed, while McInulty for the moment kept Sharpe at bay. However, Wilkins still had to hurry up as he was under investigation for track limits – but with 12 seconds in hand, he could still take the penalty and win. Behind him, Sharpe had given up his chase of McInulty, while Scott had closed down on Oldershaw – this was going to be tight for fourth.

39 laps done, Wilkins crossed the line in first, and had enough in hand over McInulty to negate his penalty and still win by three seconds. Sharpe took third and the GT3 class win in the Mosler, while Scott did pip Oldershaw to fourth. Harrison was a strong sixth overall and a double Porsche Cup class winner, heading home Fenn, Cuff, Clarke (in the third-placed GT3 Audi) and Greensall. Peter Montague and Stuart Hall took a fine comeback win in GT4, beating Savra to class victory, with Jeremy Cooke’s BMW M3 GT4 coming in a distant third. In 19th overall, Billy & Carl Nairn took a similarly distant second place in the Cup class.