Feathers Motorsport (FMS) continued its phenomenal start to the UK-based 2025 GT Cup season by adding two more GTH Class victories and two further podium finishes at Brands Hatch last weekend; cementing its position at the top of the championship standings after two meetings.
Sixteen-year-old series debutant Archie Clark, newly announced as one of 23 candidates nominated for the 2025 Aston Martin Racing Driver Academy, and his co driver, the 2019 AMR Academy winner Tom Canning, now lead the overall championship standings by five points, and the GTH class by 66 (!), after seven of the 22 rounds run.
FMS, the Northamptonshire-based organisation which runs an Inspire Engineering prepared version of the ultra-successful Aston Martin Vantage GT4, and which returned to the GT Cup for 2025 after a season’s sabbatical, hit the ground running at the Kent circuit as Clark claimed pole for the opening Sprint Race on Saturday.
The UK Cup also returned to its traditional format of a 25-minute Sprint Race and 50- minute Pitstop Race on each day of the weekend following the Donington 100 opener, meaning that there were four opportunities for points and silverware up for grabs over the two days.
Clark, who recorded his maiden car victory from pole position in the Vantage in the opening Sprint Race of the season at Donington Park, repeated the performance on Brands Hatch’s Grand Prix circuit having outqualified the rest of the class by more than half a second. This was particularly impressive given that the previous generation Vantage in GT Cup configuration arguably did not suit Brands Hatch as well as some of its class rivals. In another display of maturity that belies his years, Clark then absorbed race long pressure from SVG Motorsport’s Owen Hizzey driving a rapid Ginetta G56 EVO GT4, to record his third race win in the series.
In the Pitstop Race, Clark and Canning were forced to settle for second behind another Ginetta, that of Innovation Racing with Cresta this time. As winners of the Donington Park 100 last time out, the success penalty combined with the time added for Canning’s Pro Driver status meant that the Feathers Vantage was stationary for longer than its rivals. Canning’s heroics notwithstanding, another podium was the maximum viable outcome, and the young British duo duly delivered it.
With the format reversed for Sunday and the Pitstop Race held first, Clark once again qualified on pole position. He then delivered another immense performance, protecting his lead from the Innovation Ginetta. Clark, who is a long-term protégé of FMS partner Base Performance Simulators, continued in this vein for 10 laps before handing the car over to Canning. Once again, success penalties delayed FMS who emerged from the pits second in class, leaving Canning with some work to do to catch the leader.
With 10 minutes to go, Canning put on a thrilling pursuit and snared the Ginetta on the penultimate lap of the race with a dummy into Clearways followed by a dive down the inside of Paddock Hill Bend. A fitting way for FMS to clinch its 15th UK Cup class win. Clark then followed this up with another accomplished podium performance with second place in the final Sprint Race.
Clark said: “This was my first weekend racing on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit in a GT car, and I still have so much to learn about the Vantage GT4, but I feel like I’m beginning to understand the car and the championship now. Much of this is down to how Feathers Motor Sport is helping me with feedback and support, along with Tom’s coaching. The car didn’t miss a beat all weekend and it was a great feeling to my win my first race at Brands!”
Canning added: “I don’t think we could have extracted much more from this weekend in terms of performance. Archie was brilliant and unflustered under immense pressure on more than one occasion. And, when a faster car did get the better of us, Archie’s response was not to overdrive but keep things under control and chase the best result possible. That’s exactly what you want from your team-mate. The car, as ever, was immaculately prepared and it was brilliant fun chasing down the Ginetta in the second Pitstop Race.”
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.”
