Back-to-back victories put Turner in the British GT box seat

Double British GT GT4 class champion Darren Turner delivered another brilliant performance to clinch the sixth overall GT4 class race victory of his career, and his second of the season, at Spa-Francorchamps, in Belgium, on Sunday.

The works Aston Martin racer, who drives an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 for Grange Racing by FSR alongside series debutant Dan Lavery, required all his skill and experience to come out on top in a fraught two-hour encounter.

“We couldn’t have dreamed of a better start to the season,” said Turner. “This team is still growing rapidly in terms of knowledge, championship understanding and how to get the best out of the car. Being a brand-new programme, we are obviously still a way from being at our optimum potential, so to earn two overall class wins in a row is an extraordinary way to begin the journey.”

Turner’s rookie team-mate Lavery was outstanding in qualifying on his first visit to the daunting 4.4-mile ultra-fast and unforgiving Belgian Grand Prix venue, and ensured that the duo qualified second on the grid in the Pro-Am class. But following a post-qualifying penalty, Lavery would start from 10^th in GT4 and fifth in Pro-Am.

In a race that was combined with the FFSA GT4 (French GT) Championship and the Alpine and Ginetta Cup grids, things were always likely to be frantic. But Lavery kept his head at the start and moved forward comfortably in the early running until the first Full Course Yellow [FCY] came on lap six to recover a beached Alpine. This would set the tone for the event.

Once the race went green again, Lavery easily absorbed the pressure from the pursuing Aston Martin of Jessica Hawkins and was perfectly placed to take advantage when the GT4 class-leading McLaren hit technical issues, moving the Grange Aston Martin up to fourth overall and second in Pro-Am.

Lavery then passed the Pro-Am-leading Ginetta on pace to move to the front of the division and run third in class overall.

“Dan’s performance was simply outstanding,” said Turner. “Spa is not an easy place to master, and to be honest is a little bit sketchy even for the most experienced GT drivers, and yet he drove it like he’d been racing there for years. He absolutely created the conditions for us to go on and win today. His performance was vital.”

It wasn’t entirely drama free, as the British driver picked up a 10-second time penalty for a Safety Car violation. Sometimes though fortune favours the brave and before it was time to pit, another lengthy FCY was called to clear up multiple FFSA GT incidents around the circuit. This meant Grange could serve the penalty, plus take its 20s success time from Oulton Park in its pitstop during the FCY with a much-reduced impact on the team’s track position. That allowed Turner to rejoin the track in third, right behind the two GT4 class leaders. All while having retained the GT4 Pro-Am lead.

After around 80 minutes of the two-hour race complete, the green flag finally waved again and almost immediately Turner was up into P2, as the leading Ginetta lost momentum out of Eau Rouge. This allowed the three-times Le Mans class winner to go and hunt down the now-leading McLaren.

A third FCY further interrupted the race, bringing Turner within shot of the GT4 class lead, which he duly took when the McLaren also faltered in traffic. But even then, the job wasn’t done because the recovering #59 McLaren and the now second-placed #42 Ginetta pushed Turner hard for the remaining 20 minutes of the race. At some points the gap between the three cars was less the 0.5s. But ultimately Turner’s canny traffic management proved vital in those intense final laps.

“A lot of it was down to planning ahead and trying to build a strategy on traffic management that was changing by the corner,” explained Turner. “We didn’t really have the pace to lead, but I just kept focussing on slowing the car down into the corner and maximising my exits to build a gap. Then it was about making sure I kept putting as much traffic between me and the others as I could.

“To be honest, the French GT and Alpine cars didn’t really help anyone’s race, but I was probably one of the few out there hoping for another FCY – but we held on!”

Even after more than three decades of racing, the intoxicating feeling of victory doesn’t go away… “That was absolutely fantastic fun,” said Turner. “For a start, how can you not enjoy racing at Spa in a GT car? But then between the congestion on track and the fight with the two behind me, there was no time to breathe, or make a mistake. Those moments in racing don’t come along often where you’re racing so closely for the lead. You have to relish them!

“I’m just so pleased for the team, and for Dan who was brilliant today. When we began testing at the beginning of the year, you could see the potential was there, but I never imagined it would all come together so well, so early on. Now we’ve got to get our heads down and work to keep improving and protect this advantage we’ve built up already.”

As well as being Turner’s sixth overall class win, it marked his 12^th GT4 Pro-Am win and his 18^th visit to the British GT podium. Turner and Lavery are second in the Pro-Am standings, 12 points off the lead, and remain fourth in the overall GT4 standings.

Turner’s next outing is also at Spa, as the Grange by FSR team stays out in Belgium to tackle the European GT4 doubleheader that supports the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa on the 26-27 June.