Greystone GT scored a fifth win of the GT Cup season at Donington Park last Sunday thanks to a mesmerising performance by Mark Hopton and Euan Hankey.
The pair took their McLaren 570S GT4 to victory in the GTH category thanks to an opportunist performance that added to their earlier-season wins at Brands Hatch and Silverstone.
Mark – from nearby Derby – made terrific progress in the early stages of Saturday’s Sprint and Pitstop Races, climbing into the top five on each occasion.
Just nine minutes remained of Saturday’s 50-minute Pitstop Race when the safety car – which had been deployed to allow a stationary car to be cleared from a dangerous position – peeled into the pits and allowed racing to resume.
Surrey-based Euan wasted little time in dispatching the three cars ahead of him to take the lead and clear off to a three-second victory; his and Mark’s third of the year.
That result – added to Mark’s solo fourth spot in the Sprint – elevated the duo to second in the points, but their good work was undone on Sunday when contact with another car put Mark into a crash barrier in the Sprint; the damage putting the McLaren out for the rest of the day.
This meant that the sister 570S GT4 of York-based Phillip Carter and his Pro co-driver Michael Broadhurst was Greystone GT’s only GTH representative in Sunday’s Pitstop Race.
The duo were seventh – as Phillip had been in the Sprint – but had scored even more points on Saturday when Michael set the fastest race lap of the day and helped them to finish fourth in the Pitstop Race.
Iain Campbell and Oli Webb – already two-time race winners in the series fastest class – GT3 – were dealt a cruel blow on the formation lap of Saturday’s Sprint; a mechanical issue causing Iain’s brakes to lock on and stop his car.
Even worse, the now stationary McLaren – which was unable to start the race – triggered a chain reaction that involved all three of the team’s GT3 cars.
His car repaired, Iain started the Pitstop Race from last, but he and Oli recovered to sixth at the chequered flag.
A podium was possible in Sunday’s Sprint when a late – and heavy – rainshower hit the circuit, causing half the field – including Iain – to spin. He was sixth and then improved to fourth with Oli in the Pitstop Race.
The GT3 line-up was increased to three cars for the first time in 2022 as Rich Mason and Jon Lancaster – Greystone GT’s first-ever race winners – reunited to make their GT3 debut in a freshly-prepared Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo.
Harrogate racer Rich – racing for the first time in 2022 – equalled his best qualifying performance to date with ninth in class on Sunday and improved to seventh in both the Sprint and the Pitstop Race, in which pro driver Jon – from Leeds – shared the car.
Sadly, the Lamborghini was unable to race on Saturday due to damage sustained in the chain reaction caused by team-mate Iain’s brake issue.
Andrey Borodin and Ed Pead, who made their seasonal series debut at Silverstone last time out, continued their progress and scored their best set of results of 2022.
Andrey was sixth in GT3 in the opener and finished all four races in the top 10; Ed showing strong pace particularly in the Sunday Pitstop race as he matched the pace of fellow professional Jon in the Lamborghini.
Mark McLoughlin, Team Principal, said: “The victory for Mark and Euan at Donington is certainly the icing on the cake of a strong weekend. I’m especially happy for Mark because he lives nearby and winning at his local circuit means the world to him. Every one of our drivers, be they Sporting or Professional, did an excellent job this weekend in what were sometimes challenging circumstances. It was fantastic to welcome back Rich Mason to the driving seat for the first time in 2022 and he did an excellent job on his first time in a GT3 car and our first time racing the Lamborghini. I think the final round at Snetterton has the potential to be even better.”
