Yet another podium sweep in the UK-based 2025 GT Cup allowed Feathers Motorsport (FMS) to retain a healthy lead in the GTH class championship at Silverstone last weekend, as the series moves towards its season’s autumn climax.
While there were no victories to add to the five already amassed so far this season, three second places at the home of British Motorsport – including one in the rain-affected centrepiece GT Cup 100 event – ensured FMS retains its extraordinary 100% podium finishing record in 2025.
The results also mean that sixteen-year-old series debutant Archie 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 29 points clear of their nearest rivals after 14 rounds.
FMS, the Northamptonshire-based organisation which runs an Inspire Engineering-prepared version of the ultra-successful Aston Martin Vantage GT4, extracted the maximum from the package throughout the weekend despite facing a notable straight-line speed deficit to key Ginetta rivals in each of the three races.
With GT Cup having introduced a 100-minute endurance race to some of its more prominent events this season, it meant that both Sprint races contested by all the teams’ sporting drivers, were held on Saturday. Clark qualified second in class for both races, and in the first resisted significant pressure from the SVG Motorsport Ginetta to claim second place in a race that also featured a lengthy Safety Car intervention.
In the second race, Clark was forced to fight back into second place after dropping a position at the start. Maintaining his composure and not allowing frustration to take hold, the youngster showed admirable maturity as he sat in the wheel tracks of the Innovation Ginetta and pouncing on second place when his rival ran into tyre trouble.
In the 100-minute long pitstop race Clark once again delivered an exceptional performance. In changeable conditions that meant the track would become intermittently sodden, Archie ran third initially before pressuring the Innovation Ginetta into a self-induced spin at Village. He then went in pursuit of the leading Oselli Motorsport Aston Martin. Sizing up the newer Vantage up for a lap, Clark executed a textbook pass for the class lead through Vale and Club on the ninth tour.
A heavy mid-race rain shower allowed Clark to apply his skill and extend his lead into the pitstop window, where the FMS crew operated with precision to send Canning back out on track with a comfortable cushion to second place. But then a second rainstorm hit the track, causing chaos and triggering another prolonged Safety Car period. This had the effect of neutralising the race and diminished Canning’s lead as the packed closed in the queue. When the race went back to green for the final few laps, the former British GT4 champion was powerless to stop the faster Ginetta racing past him on the straight.
Clark said: “We didn’t have the fastest car again this weekend, but in a way that made it more fun for us drivers. I really enjoyed battling with the other cars in the class, and I’m certain there wasn’t anything left to come from our side. It’s frustrating to have come away from Silverstone without a victory, but we delivered to the maximum and that’s all we could ask for this weekend and we can take a lot of satisfaction from that.”
Canning added: “Archie did a great job this weekend, and it was fun to watch him fight to second place in both races on Saturday. The weather on Sunday was not the best, but we put in a very good performance, and I felt sure we were on for another victory until the Safety Car took away our hard-earned lead. There is nothing you can do about a Safety Car, but there was also nothing I could do to stop the Ginetta coming by… it was so fast on the straights. But when you can’t win, you maximise, and we definitely did that all weekend.”
Team Manager Simon Rose, said: “This weekend was another source of pride for us as we watched both the team and our drivers deliver to the maximum. FMS is driven by, and strives to achieve, success in the classes we choose to compete within, and so to continue our 100% podium record is very satisfying. On the other hand, it was hard to watch Archie and Tom unable to fight for victory through no fault of their own. There are two meetings left this year and we remain in the lead of the championship, so it’s up to us to keep the level as high as we can and bring home solid results in order to achieve our objectives this season.”