The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Fifer Adam signs off in style with Donington victory:
Adam signs off in style – but no such luck for Angus teen
The 2017 British GT campaign curtain came down with differing fortunes for Courier Country racers in what had been branded the Donington decider of this year’s title championship chase.
Reigning GT3 champion Jonny Adam – a double title winner in 2015 and ‘16 -– may have had to hand over the series crown to new kings Rick Parfitt Jr and Seb Morris, but the Fife Aston Martin factory driver signed off in the best possible fashion with a dominant final round win alongside TF Sport team-mate Derek Johnston.
A GTE Pro class winner at the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours earlier this year, 33-year-old Adam has also added another entry to his already record-laden British GT cv by becoming the GT3 driver with the most wins – 12 victories.
Adam, who also wrapped up a Blancpain GT series title in August, described the Donington performance of his Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 as “perfect”.
“The car felt so hooked up,” he said. “It’s a bit of a shame because I think we could have come here, if we had had a stronger mid-season, with a chance of the title but the performance shows the car is still quick.
“That’s two victories this year and it’s nice to finish on a win.”
In the GT4 category, Angus teenager Sandy Mitchell had looked well on course to end a rollercoaster season on a high before being left deflated, literally, by a late puncture.
The Angus 17-year-old drove the Black Bull Garage 59 McLaren 570S GT4 for the second stint of the two-hour enduro and battled his way to third in what was an action-packed finale to the campaign.
But with an agonising six minutes left on the clock fate struck, forcing the young star to pit for a tyre change and knocking himself and team-mate Andrew Watson off the podium.
Mitchell had been determined to be back among the Donington silverware having the previous week partnered Olympic legend Sir Chris Hoy to second place in a debut LMP3 Cup outing after winning a public vote to race alongside his fellow Scot in the United Autosports Ligier JS P3 machine.