The 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss dominated the first British GT Championship Qualifying of 2025 to secure pole position ahead of the sister Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo for tomorrow’s two-hour race.

Charles Dawson stared in the opening 10-minute session, setting a lap time seven tenths quicker than the other 2 Seas Mercedes piloted to an early second place by Kevin Tse. It was a stunning lap by Dawson in the dying breaths of the session to take control of Qualifying early on, improving on his first lap that was already six tenths faster than the rest of the pack.

Blackthorn’s Aston Martin Vantage was third driven by Giacomo Petrobelli, followed by Alex Martin in the Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini and the Orange Racing by JMH McLaren piloted by Simon Orange.

In the second 10-minute session for GT3 cars, Sandy Mitchell and Barwell Motorsport would emerge as the closest challenger to the 2 Seas Motorsport pairing, but a good lap time of 1m24.396s still wasn’t enough to challenge the front row. Dawson’s teammate Kiern Jewiss’ lap of a 1m24.475s was enough to secure the #42 machine the first pole position of the year, with a combined time of 2m49.709s.

Maximilian Gotz’s effort in the sister 2-Seas Mercedes ensured that himself and Kevin Tse start second on the grid, followed by the Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini of Sandy Mitchell and Alex Martin, the Optimum Motorsport McLaren of Morgan Tillbrook and Marvin Kirchhofer and the Blackthorn Aston Martin of Giacomo Petrobelli and Jonny Adam.

In the GT4 class, pole position was secured by the Lotus of Mahiki Racing piloted by Aiden Neate and Josh Miller. The Optimum Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4 of Marc Warren and Jack Brown was second just over two tenths behind, followed by the sister Optimum Motorsport McLaren GT4 of Harry George and Luca Hopkinson.

British GT Championship, Donington Park, GT3 Qualifying Combined

1. Dawson/Jewiss, 2 Seas Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, 2m49.709s
2. Tse/Gotz, 2 Seas Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, 2m50.335s, +0.626s
3. Martin/Mitchell, Barwell Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, 2m50.510s, +0.801s
4. Tillbrook/Kirchhofer, Optimum Motorsport, McLaren 720s GT3 Evo, 2m50.586s, +0.877s
5. Petrobelli/Adam, Blackthorn, Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, 2m50.837s, +1.128s
6. Orange/Clutton, Orange Racing by JMH, McLaren 720s GT3 Evo, 2m51.249s, +1.540s
7. Neary/Neary, Team ABBA Racing, Mercede-AMG GT3 Evo, 2m51.285s, +1.576s
8. Topham/Cook, Barwell Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, 2m51.293s, +1.584s
9. Smith/Plowman, Paddock Motorsport, McLaren 720s GT3 Evo, 2m51.334s, +1.625s
10. Jones/Muller, Team Parker Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 2m51.719s, +2.009s

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Photo: SRO/JEP