Former champion Sandy Mitchell secured second place in the 2022 British GT Championship after a dramatic ‘Donington Decider’ on the Leicestershire circuit.
And the Forfar 22-year-old looks back with pride on the fightback he and teammate Adam Balon made in their Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo after a tough start to the campaign.
The 2020 champion’s rollercoaster season was mirrored over the two-hour Donington Park finale.
Mitchell and Balon started from 10th on Sunday’s grid after a sudden downpour shook up qualifying the previous day.
First lap drama
And the Angus star looked on as his team-mate was forced to plough through the gravel at the opening lap when a rival spun in front of him.
“It certainly wasn’t the way we’d planned to start the race,” said the Lamborghini factory driver.
“Adam was really unlucky with what happened in front of him, but after that he stormed back through the field from ninth.
He drove really well to fight back through the pack and had moved up to fifth when he pitted to hand the car over to me.”
But when Mitchell rejoined the circuit — having also served the car’s additional 15-second success penalty, a result of having finished second last time out at Brands Hatch — he was hit by trouble, literally.
A chasing McLaren clipped the rear-right of their Barwell Motorsport-prepared car.
The impact dislodged part of the bodywork and the Lamborghini trailed a thick plume of smoke as it rubbed on the Pirelli tyre.
“I did think, that’s it I have a puncture, and I’ll have to pit again,” said Mitchell.
But despite his pace dropping slightly immediately following the impact he was able to stay out.
“We were really lucky to be able to continue, but didn’t quite have the killer pace the Lamborghini usually has after that,” he said.
“The impact of the aerodynamic damage gradually increased throughout the race and took the top edge off the car’s pace.”
Realistic outcome
Mitchell finally brought the car home fourth in terms of championship points.
And he acknowledged the team had achieved its realistic goal for the weekend after a day of drama.
“We came into the championship finale lying second in the title race, knowing we needed not only to win the race, but for the leading car to have a lot of misfortune, which is not what any driver wishes on their competition,” he said.
“At the end of the day, the championship lead car did exactly what it needed to do to seal the title, finishing second in the race.
“Even if we’d won the race we wouldn’t have been able to overtake the new champion, fellow Scot Ian Loggie. I’d like to congratulate him for a very strong season.
“It’s been an epic battle between the cars in the top five.”
Mitchell’s high-point was a history-making second win in the prestigious Silverstone 500 in May.
“It’s always really close and it’s been great to be fighting with these guys right through the year,” said Sandy.
“To come second after what was a difficult start to the year is a really good result for us.
“It’s something Adam and I, and the whole Barwell team can be proud of.”
