Jamie Chadwick and Ross Gunn made history last weekend at Snetterton when they won the 2015 British GT4 chanpionship title after taking a fourth place in the second of the two races.
The two Beechdean Aston Martin team youngsters have been the ones to beat for the whole season ever since taking podiums in the opening weekend at Oulton Park.
Their consistency has been incredible for two such young drivers, they’ve won twice, becoming the youngest winning pairing ever at the time, and scored another three podiums in the five meetings before Snetterton.
Chadwick has been especially impressive having come straight from Ginetta juniors. Although the configuration of the car is similar they are a lot less powerful than her GT4 Aston Martin. The speed to which she adjusted to her new machine was incredibly impressive.
A lot of attention was directed towards Sophia Floersch in Ginetta juniors this season for the speed in which she adjusted and was winning. Rightly so but Chadwick showed we’ve got our own British stars who can be just as quick.
It’s the second year running that Beechdean’s junior team has been successful with Ross Wylie and Jake Giddings taking the title and they’ve continued to unearth more talent with Chadwick and Gunn.
It was Zoe Wenham who had been the GT4 championships record breaker before in her two seasons in the championship in 2012 and 2013. She was the first female to win in British GT4 and the youngest race winner. She sadly missed out on the overall title though.
Chadwick has now eclipsed her achievements taking the youngest driver record and alongside Gunn, they make up the championship’s youngest ever pairing at 33 years and 330 days. (their two ages combined.)
Chadwick is also the championships youngest ever champion, at 17 years and 95 days she beats the previous record holder, Jonny Cocker who was 18 years and six days old when he won the NGT class championship in 2004.
On top of all these records Chadwick is also the first ever female champion in British Gt with no female winning any title in British Gt before. Again it was Zoe Wenham who was closest previously having finished as GT4 runner up in 2012.
Chadwick was modest talking about her achievements;
“We didn’t really expect it after Race 1 but I guess conditions played into our hands a little bit,” recounted Chadwick after the second race. “Needless to say I’m absolutely delighted, and to do it a round early is the icing on the cake. Those stats are a bonus, though. I’m here just to race and hopefully win. Ross has done a formidable job and I’m delighted with how it’s turned out, but to be the youngest and first female is just a nice extra.”
It appears the title wasn’t in her expectations at the beginning of the season;
“I wasn’t really expecting this after stepping up from Ginettas, although we knew coming in with Beechdean and the credentials they have would put us there or thereabouts. But at the end of the day it was up to Ross and I to deliver. It was evident straight away what amazing pace he had and we clicked quite quickly. I think halfway through the season, with those two wins under our belt, we knew it was about being consistent. The Aston Martin’s reliability played into our hands, too. To win it is just unbelievable and awesome!”
Her team mate Gunn was full of praise for the Beechdean team that have helped them to the title
“It’s quite unbelievable. All the hard work we’ve put in throughout the year has been leading up to this,” he said. “I’m absolutely over the moon. We’ve been in the mix all year, which I have to say comes down to the efforts of Aston Martin Racing and Beechdean AMR who have given us an incredibly reliable and quick race car. I also need to say a big personal thanks to Andrew and Susie Howard who took me on at the start of the year when I had absolutely nothing. From where I was to now is a dream, a real dream.”
It’s also worth noting that Chadwick and Gunn were part of the team which won this year’s Silverstone 24 hours although this is totally unconnected to British GT, they used the same car that Chadwick and Gunn race in the championship.
As if all this success wasn’t enough they’ve also been recognised by the BRDC just before their championship winning weekend having been named BRDC Rising Stars.
They still have one more race at Donington Park in September and few would bet against them adding to their podium or wins tally at the season finale. The two record breaking champions have impressed the British Motor racing community with their speed and talent this season and both look set for bright futures in the sport. By Marc Waller
