Former champion Sandy Mitchell is all set for a thrilling finale to the 2022 British GT series and the chance of a second title.
The Angus 22-year-old sits second in the championship as it heads to Leicestershire for the return of a Donington Decider to the campaign.
He actually won the series at Silverstone after a Covid calendar reshuffle in 2020.
But Donington Park has restored its reputation as the setting for a sensational showdown – with four crews still in GT3 title contention this weekend.
And Lamborghini star Mitchell will tap into the experience of two years’ ago as he aims for a repeat.
“We know it’s going to be tough this weekend,” said the Forfar racer.
“But we head to Donington knowing if we win the final two-hour race of the season, or finish second, we have a chance of lifting the title”.
Mitchell partners Adam Balon in the No. 72 Barwell Motorsport-prepared Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo.
“When I lifted the British GT title back in 2020, I knew if we won the final race of the year we’d clinch the championship,” he said.
“This year it’s slightly different,” admits the Lamborghini factory driver.
“With 37.5 points available to the winner of the last race, we’re just 24.5pts behind the championship leader.
“So we’ve got to overcome that gap and then hope other results go our way.”
Success penalty
But the two-time Spa 24 Hours class winner faces an extra hurdle in his effort to win at Donington.
He and Balon must serve an extra 15-second success penalty at the compulsory driver change as a result of their second place at Brands Hatch which saw them leapfrog into second in the championship.
“It certainly doesn’t help us,” said Mitchell.
“In a perfect world we’d be right in contention at the pitstop, then after the driver change have a safety car period to bunch the field right up again and negate our 15-second stop.
“But of course, we can’t count on that.
“What we can do is focus on what we can control, then wait to see what happens with the other cars and drivers.
“Everyone in the Barwell team has been through this scenario with me before.
“I know I have the strongest crew preparing the Lambo for this weekend and they, like Adam and I, are really up for the fight.
“We’re in for a fantastic end to the season.
“It’s going to be a bit of a nail-biter, but we’ll be doing everything we can to win the title again.”
