TF Sport concluded a highly successful maiden season in the Avon Tyres British GT Championship second in the final GT4 classification, Devon Modell and Andrew Jarman achieving a sixth podium finish of the year at Donington Park’s grand finale (13-14 September).
After being denied a class win last time out at Brands Hatch, TF Sport headed to Donington Park in the East Midlands in search of victory and used all the lessons learned over the course of the season to fettle the setup of its Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4 during Saturday’s (13 September) free practice sessions.
Modell and Jarman were both content with the car’s overall performance after positioning themselves third in the season’s final qualifying session.
Milton Keynes’ Jarman was first to pilot the TF Sport-prepared 4.7litre V8 Vantage and immediately made an impact on the two-hour contest. dispatching polesitter Oz Yusuf and championship rival Ross Wylie by the close of the fourth tour to claim the class initiative.
The leading trio continued to match each other blow-for-blow on lap times as they battled for class honours and, under increasing pressure, Jarman was able to position his car perfectly and maintain the lead, before handing the reins to Modell for the final time this season.
With pit lane penalties to serve, Modell joined the race second in class behind the Ginetta G55 of Morten Dons, but ahead of his Beechdean AMR rival Jake Giddings and Tom Oliphant.
Modell immediately got to grips with his GT4 challenger and set successive personal best lap times to open a comfortable gap to Giddings, who himself was fending off a charging Oliphant, while also narrowing the gap to class leader Dons.
Modell continued to do everything asked of him as he closed in on the class lead, but, similarly to Jarman, lapped consistently in the 1m39s, unable to shake off the competition.
With 30-minutes remaining, Oliphant got the better of Giddings to snatch third and place Modell under immense pressure, but the Maidstone driver drove the widest car on track to maintain track position.
In the dying laps of the race, Modell dispatched Dons and reclaimed the class initiative, before an unfortunate error in the middle sector saw him relinquish his lead once again and cross the line P2 in class and 16th overall, concluding a highly successful debut season and assure TF Sport of second in the final GT4 classification.
“Had you offered second place in the championship prior to the start of the season, I would have bitten your hand off, but having now finished it, I’m slightly disappointed,” said Modell. “We qualified really well for the first time since Snetterton, but struggled more in the race than recent times due to brake and tyre wear, which made defending harder. However, that’s just the nature of the Donington Park circuit.
“I was driving very defensively, which took some life out of the tyres, but the car felt great thanks to the recent test we did and I felt more than comfortable behind the wheel. I was pleasantly surprised by how quick the car was compared with the Lotus and Ginettas, and to come away with another podium is great. The TF Sport team has done a great job and have given me and Andrew Jarman a great car all season long.”
TF Sport Team Principal, Tom Ferrier, said: “I would just like to say a big thank you to everyone who has been involved this year, from the sponsors to the drivers, to all of the team. It was close, but not close enough to win, but we had a great year and to get six podiums and be second in the championship is fantastic. Bring on next year!”
For more on TF Sport, visit the official www.tfsport.co.uk website, ‘like’ the team’s Facebook page of follow @OfficialTFSport on Twitter.