Our resident GT photographer Ben from Inked Hand Images (IHI) was also in attendance but in a professional capacity. It was Ben’s first outing with his full-on GT Media Press Pass which he has worked extremely hard to get over the past few years. 

He is now also working for Orbital Racing, the main sponsors of JRM who are running a Bentley Continental GT3 crewed by Seb Morris and Rick Parfitt Jnr. You have probably guessed that Rick is the son of the famous Status Quo guitarist Rick Parfitt. Rick Parfitt Jnr will be pleased to see his father’s partner in the band, Francis Rossi is doing rather well in the Qatar MotoGp this weekend!  

You can see more of Ben’s work in the Photographers section and the great images he captured on the day from inside the wire on his Instagram account and web page. 

We, as always, will concentrate on the spectator photographer’s view point to give you some tips if you decide to come along next year. The first thing to note is the lack of a pit lane walk. This is something that is very popular with the fans at the British Super Bike Media day and is held during the lunch time break. 

Enabling you to get up close and personal with the vehicles and drivers once in a season is fantastic. I’m not sure why it didn’t happen but I’m not really that disappointed, the day was a freebee and run very well with lots of track action and some amazing cars to photograph.

When the PistonClick team attends events like this it is a very relaxed affair. We generally meet up and have a quick chat about what we want to achieve then bomb burst around the circuit to capture as much of the event as possible. 

It was to be no different on this event, after a brew, myself and David Harbey (DH) went our separate ways meeting up for lunch later.  

I received David’s “best of” a baker’s dozen image set and write up a few days after the event. I had a plan on what I wanted to scribe for the GT Media Day but on second thoughts, the DH approach of his 12 favourite shots and why he liked them was a better idea, so over to DH.

DH writes: My recent retirement from corporate life means that I can now attend mid-week events like the British GT and F3 media day at Donington. I wasn’t sure quite what to expect – it was free to get in and around 3 hours of testing was scheduled for both the GT and F3 cars.

In the event, the day dawned dry and bright which was a considerable improvement on the Donington Stages (see Pistonclick’s report) and I even enjoyed a delay-free run up the M1 at rush hour – the omens were looking good!

After a quick catch up with Tony over a coffee, we agreed our plans for the day and headed out as the GTs fired up for their first session. Perhaps helped by the weather, all the teams took the opportunity to get plenty of laps under their belts.

Bentley Continental GT3 – Team Parker Racing – Geddie / Ratcliffe 

Best sounding car of the day #2 – a close run thing with the Bentley for rumble! Following the restoration of the inside of the circuit, it is now possible for spectators to access all the corners. This shot of the approach to Coppice is taken from McLeans on maximum zoom.

Mercedes-AMG GT3 – RAM Racing – Loggie / MacLeod

BMW M6 GT3 – Century Motorsport – Paul / Green

Best livery of the day #2 – well perhaps that should be most distinctive / “my eyes hurt” livery! An eye popping colour scheme that makes sure that the car can be seen ANYWHERE on the track! A panning shot between Redgate and Hollywood which silhouettes the driver in the cockpit.

McLaren 570S GT4 – Balfe Motorsport – Johnson / O’Brien

Best wheels of the day - silver wheels are best – period! Well, IMHO anyway. Taken heading out of Hollywood and with a touch of Dutch Tilt. It’s also a neat livery that accentuates the classic shape of the car.

Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – WPI Motorsport – Igoe / Wilcox

Best cliché of the day – the perfect car for captions including – “mine’s a 99”, “he won’t sell many ice creams at that speed” and “stop me and buy one”. Most cars were using all of the run-off area at McLeans which is, rather conveniently, the width of a GT car.

Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT3 – Beechdean AMR – Howard / Gunn

Best new car of the day – and a close second for best wheels of the day – the new to the British GT series Mustang which raced in GT4 in the US last year. Seb Priaulx (son of multiple champion, Andy and grandson of hillclimber Graham) shows that there might be something in the genes in the Priaulx family. This is taken at McLeans.

Ford Mustang GT4 – Multimatic Motorsports – Maxwell / Priaulx

Best corner of the day – has to be the Craner Curves as the cars head from Hollywood to the Old Hairpin. The deceptively gentle looking curves on the track map are anything but and it really sorts out who are the quick drivers. The fastest GT3 of the day Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO.

Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO – Barwell Motorsport – Balon / Keen

Best traffic jam of the day – the Century Motorsport M6 GT3 finds a way through a gaggle of GT4s – a McLaren, two Aston Martins and the Invictus Games Racing Jaguar F-Type. With a capacity 38 car entry, British GT racing this year will be fast and furious on circuits as varied as the wide-open spaces of Silverstone to the narrow undulating tarmac of Oulton Park. Pistonclick will be at Oulton Park on Easter Monday for rounds 1 and 2!

Starkeys Bridge to Schwantz Curve

Best tribute helmet of the day – hands up who remembers Ronnie Peterson – SuperSwede? Lucas has chosen to pay tribute to his fellow countryman in his helmet design including the Polar Caravans logo. He hasn’t quite got Ronnie’s speed or sideways style yet as he rides the kerb into Starkey’s.

Carlin Motorsport - Lucas Petersson

Best motorsport relative of the day – when Pastor Maldonado is your cousin there is certain baggage that comes with you in the mind of the knowledgeable fan. Having finished 7th in British F3 last year, he is back for another tilt at the title. Here he is using all the run-off at the Old Hairpin.

Fortec – Manuel Maldonado

“Best” off-road moment of the day. With a couple of minutes left in the session, Megan Gilkes decided to take the scenic route at the wide-open spaces of the Old Hairpin. Unfortunately, Megan wasn’t recovered and she had to sit it out and wait to be towed back to the pits.

Hillspeed – Megan Gilkes

Best driver of the day. OK, so there is some personal bias here! Tony and I had a quick chat with Mikey Broadhurst in the paddock. 

Mikey's a professional racing driver and driver coach who is heading into his second season in British GT with Mark Murfitt. Mark is relatively new to racing and has developed well having taken the plunge in British GT last year.