Gough and Wrigley close thrilling British GT season with a win.
After seven rounds of intense competition, the Pace Motorsport Finance backed Pro-Am pairing of Ian Gough and Tom Wrigley finished the 2023 British GT Championship in 3rd overall and 2nd in Pro-Am after an emphatic win at the last round of the championship, at Donington Park.
Going in to the weekend, Gough and Wrigley were mathematical title contenders however the odds were long - a significant points gap would need to be overturned and with five other driver pairings also within arms reach of the British GT Championship, luck would needed to have been on their side. And with fifteen minutes of the race to go at Donington Park, the luck nearly broke the way of the Pace Motorsport Finance #29 McLaren Artura GT4. But it wasn’t to be.
Starting towards the back of the GT4 line up (due to a 5 place grid drop penalty) the two hour race at Donington Park promised lot’s of opportunity for the drivers who could race and stay out of trouble. Ian opened the attack, behind the wheel for the first hour of the two-hour decider. Ian’s pace was electric and enabled him to move forward however his progress was stifled by two safety car periods. The driver change happened at the hour mark under safety-car conditions and upon rejoining the race, Wrigley found himself in the race lead.
Ian commented:
”That was a really strong stint, maybe one of the best I’ve driven this year. We were able to pass plenty of cars and importantly the pace of the leading pack was equal to mine. The safety car bunched us up and withour our success penalty free pit stop, that’s the first piece of luck we needed to mount our fight on the championship. Tom is in the car now and he’s got a tough hour ahead of him. We need to win the race and for our closest competitors to have issues. to win.”
Tom drove faultlessly for the hour that followed, soaking up immense pressure from the DTO ran McLaren. With fifteen minutes of the race remaining and in the lead of the race - the championship was falling the way of the Pace Motorsport Finance backed duo. But whilst Wrigley was commanding the race, the pace from the Mustang of Cowley/Evans was too strong - charging through from outside of the top 5 to snatch the lead of the race with just a few minutes left on the clock, and with it the championship title.
The race has just finished. We’re second on the road but Pro-Am class winners. The race was falling our way and with it the championship - until the Mustang powered through. They were just too fast today, benefitting from a generous balance of performance boost but also driving incredibly well - they were on another level this time. Congratulations to Academy and Cowley/Evans. Obviously we’re devastated not to win the championship but winning our class on the road today, 3rd overall in the championship and 2nd in Pro-Am is an incredible achievement in our rookie year.
With the championship finished, Pace Motorsport Finance are already working with Ian and Tom to ensure that they can be back next year fighting for more wins and with it, the British GT Championship.
