Devon Modell spent Easter weekend (19-21 April) traveling to and fro Oulton Park and Donington Park, competing in the Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup and Avon Tyres British GT Championship.
First on the Maidstone-based driver’s itinerary was the Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup at Donington Park on the Derbyshire/Leicestershire border on Easter Sunday (20 April).
Qualifying 11th, Modell propelled himself into the top ten away from the line, quickly becoming entangled in a battle with Team Pyro’s Rob Smith over ninth place.
The two continued to race nose-to-tail for much of the 14-lapper, but it was Modell who gained the upper hand to cross the line ninth, collecting 12 championship points.
Round 4 was much the same for both Modell and Smith, with the former again coming out on top in eighth position, moving him up to tenth in the overall Drivers’ standings.
Following his outing in the 1.6litre Renault Clio 200, Modell then traveled 65 miles north to Cheshire’s picturesque Oulton Park circuit, where he would pilot TF Sport’s newly-acquired 4.7litre Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4 in the season-opening round of the 2014 British GT Championship.
Partnering 2013 Aston Martin GT4 Champion, Andrew Jarman, the pairing opened their British GT account by placing their Aston Martin in an impressive third and fourth in class for the start of Rounds 1 and 2.
The series took a break on Easter Sunday ahead of a full day’s racing on Bank Holiday Monday, which saw Modell and teammate Jarman claim an impressive victory in their debut outing in the highly competitive championship.
The duo ran in second position for much of the opening hour-long race, until a Safety Car appearance midway through the session caused a lot of confusion throughout the pit lane.
Picking up the wrong race leader, the Safety Car’s misdemeanor left Modell with a lot of work to do, one lap down on class leader, Jake Giddings.
As the race reached its conclusion, Modell brought his V8 Vantage home in third to claim his first silverware of the season, which, with it being Easter, had a chocolate egg placed inside.
For Round 2, Modell was first to pilot the TF Sport Aston Martin and was looking to go one step further than in the previous race.
Straight away on the opening lap, the Kent racer climbed a place when Round 1 winner, Giddings, left the door open to the quick-thinking Modell, who seized the opportunity to promote himself to third in class.
Modell, aged 23, then set about chasing race leaders, Gavin Kershaw and Dan Cammish.
Able to close down on the leading two and gap Giddings, Modell’s stint came to an end in a positive fashion.
Milton Keynes-based Jarman was able to make the most of two Safety Car deployments to climb into the class lead, a position he would hold with both hands up until the chequered flag to claim yet more silverware for the already expanding TF Sport trophy cabinet.
“I was initially praying for rain, but I’m quite glad it didn’t materialise in the end,” said Modell. “We did exactly what we needed to do in the first stint, which was to stay ahead of the Beechdean Aston Martin as we knew we would have a very good chance of victory in the second part of the race if we hung on.
“The car definitely suits my style of driving as there is a lot of time to make in the corners and I feel that we have the pace to challenge for class wins. There is still a lot to learn about the car and championship, but I feel that TF Sport and I are making huge strides forwards.”
Modell continued: “TF Sport still has some tricks up its sleeves and, once I have more experience, we’ll be laughing. It has been a very positive debut outing in British GT. You can’t argue with third and first can you.”
For more information on Devon Modell and his racing activities, please follow@Devon_Modell on Twitter.