'Bittersweet feeling' for Stratford's Darren Turner as British GT class win at Donington Park slips away

DARREN Turner remains locked in an intense battle for the overall British GT GT4 class championship title after he and Newbridge Motorsport team-mate Matt Topham finished seventh in the fourth round of the series at Donington Park on Sunday.

Victory contenders throughout the weekend with their Aston Martin Vantage GT4, the pictured duo’s hopes of taking a third overall class win from four races were ultimately scuppered by two lengthy pitstops that dropped them out of the leading battle.

Their pace was strong, though, and a clean run home ensured that they maintained their unbeaten run of victories in the GT4 Pro-Am class as reigning champions in 2022.

“It was a bittersweet feeling looking back on it,” said Turner. “Of course, it’s great to have a fourth consecutive Pro-Am win, but as a team we know there was more on offer and we didn’t execute well enough to make the most of the opportunity. We really should have been fighting with [eventual winners] Academy Motorsport for the overall win instead of finishing where we did.

“That being said, we had excellent pace and despite having some curveballs thrown at us, we were among the front-runners, which is testament to Matt’s progress. You always learn more from the weekends when things don’t go to plan and, as a team, we will learn from this.”

Topham and Stratford racer Turner now have six Pro-Am victories to their name amid 11 visits to the podium since they began racing together at the beginning of 2021.

The Newbridge duo lie second in the overall GT4 standings, having closed the gap to just four points off the lead having finished ahead of rivals Stellar Motorsport at Donington, while they enjoy a commanding 17.5-point lead at the top of the Pro-Am points table.

Turner’s next competitive outing comes at Snetterton for the fifth round of the British GT Championship on Sunday, 26th June.