A NORTHWICH team hopes this weekend’s round of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship brings them better luck than the last one, writes Andrew Simpson.

Speedworks’ Corvette Z06R did not make it to the end of the first lap last time out at Rockingham due to diff failure.

But driver pair Piers and Ron Johnson are determined to bounce back for the three-hours endurance race at Donington Park on Sunday.

They know the 560bhp machine can match their rivals after a pair of top ten finishes at Spa in Belgium earlier in the campaign.

That means their only points to date have been scored off British soil.

British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) leader Gordon Shedden swaps his Honda Civic for a Ferrari this weekend when he joins the Rosso Verde team for the longest race of the season.

He shares driver duty with Hector Lester at the wheel of a new Ferrari 458 Italia with regular runner Allan Simonsen racing elsewhere.

Meanwhile James Nash, who scored a maiden BTCC race win last weekend, makes his British GT debut in a GT4 class Lotus Evora.

Shedden’s Ferrari is not the only addition to the grid this weekend after JRM Nissan confirmed it will race a new GT-R.

Alex Buncombe and Nick Catsburg are on board.

Donington marks not only the longest and most gruelling race of the season, but it also carries more points than usual.

Sunday’s race victors will score 37.5 points as a reward for finishing first.

Father and son pair Jim and Glynn Geddie head the drivers’ standings after five rounds despite not yet setting foot on the podium’s top step.

Mike Guasch and Matt Bell (United Autosports Audi) are five points adrift.


Sunday’s race starts at 1550.

Before that the cars are out on track for two, one-hour free practice sessions on Saturday at 0900 and 1215.

Qualifying follows from 1700.