An exceptional victory and three further podium finishes from Donington Park’s four-race autumn GT Cup meeting last weekend, allowed Feathers Motorsport (FMS) to extend its lead in the series’ GTH class championship with just the final quadruple-header at Snetterton (11-12 October) left to run. A tally of six wins amassed so far in an extraordinary comeback season for the Northamptonshire-based organisation, which runs an Inspire Engineering-prepared version of the ultra-successful Aston Martin Vantage GT4, means that its impressive young rookie Archie Clark also leads the Sprint Challenge standings into the final four rounds in Norfolk next month. One win, two second places and a third in class, over the Saturday and Sunday, ensured that an FMS driver has now stood on a step of the podium on 18 consecutive occasions, or put another way, in every race entered so far in 2025
For sixteen-year-old series debutant Clark, one of 23 candidates nominated for the 2025 Aston Martin Racing Driver Academy, and his co-driver, the 2019 AMR Academy winner Tom Canning, remain at the top of the GTH Class standings 53 points clear of their nearest rivals. Meanwhile Clark has amassed 168 points in the Sprint Challenge – (only open to those drivers who contest the shorter GT Cup races) a lead of 25 over the next driver.
The GT Cup ran to its standard weekend format at Donington, with a 25-minute Sprint Race on each day as well as a 50-minute Pitstop Race featuring both drivers. The first of those shorter races provided Clark with the perfect opportunity to showcase both his burgeoning talent and his remarkable maturity. In challenging weather conditions he didn’t put a wheel wrong. And starting from third in class calmly rose through the order, taking second place in the GTH class after just a handful of laps and then pressuring the leading SVG Motorsport Ginetta all the way to the flag.
Sunday provided drier conditions and Clark and Canning appropriately made hay out of them, recording an emphatic victory for the first time since June. Starting from pole position, which he claimed by 0.7s, Clark avoided the chaos of colliding cars down the Craner Curves on lap one and calmly shadowed the leader until moving ahead within a couple of laps. After that it was largely plain sailing for both drivers as both rival Ginettas hit trouble, Canning enjoying a 36s lead as he crossed the line.
The final Sprint Race was a close-run affair as Clark ran second in class throughout, sandwiched by the two Ginettas, but despite applying significant late-race pressure on the leading Innovation car, his challenge was scuppered as a Porsche from a different class split the duelling pair on the final lap.
As a reward for his inch-perfect weekend in challenging conditions, Clark was presented with the ‘Sunoco Driver of the Weekend’ trophy.
Clark said: “This was a really great weekend for the whole team. I really enjoyed the mixed conditions, which gave me an opportunity to learn more about the car and the circuit at GT level. The FMS team provided myself and Tom with a brilliant car that was perfect in all four races. Thank you to everyone in the team, especially Simon, for putting such a fantastic team together. Also thank you to GT Cup and Sunoco for the Driver of the Weekend trophy, which I am very proud of.”
Canning added: “Archie deserved the Driver of the Weekend trophy – he was tremendous all weekend! It was nice to stand on the top step of the podium again, and to reward everyone in the Feathers team with a result they truly deserve. We find ourselves in a good position in the championship now, and I know the team has all the ingredients it needs to finish the job now. Let’s hope we can achieve this in Snetterton.”
Team Manager Simon Rose, said: “This was a satisfying weekend for everyone involved with Feathers Motorsport. To have claimed our sixth class win is an outstanding achievement, and to have finished on the podium for the past 18 races, equally so. We go into the final race of the season with a nice championship lead in the GTH Class and the Sprint Challenge, but there is absolutely no room for complacency. The whole season has been incredibly competitive, and we can expect the same at the finale next month at Snetterton.”Team Manager Simon Rose, said: “This was as an exemplary return for our efforts this weekend; two wins and two podiums! These results mean that we have not finished outside of the class podium this season. We were up against it a little in terms of pace this weekend at Brands Hatch, but the team did a superb job to give Archie and Tom the best possible car to race with and they delivered emphatically for the team. Now we must remain focused on our objectives, get our heads down and try and continue in this vein through the summer rounds.”