Zac Meakin returned to British GT Championship action at the weekend (September 7/9), remaining in close battles for three series titles after a post-race penalty cost him a fourth GT4 Silver Cup victory.
After an almost two-month break in racing, the teenager travelled to Donington Park in Leicestershire for three test sessions on Thursday, where he and teammate Jack Brown finished quickest in GT4.
It was a damp and misty for free practice on Saturday morning, where the duo finished fastest in Silver and second quickest in GT4 overall. Conditions remained difficult for pre-qualifying, the pair ending second in Silver as a red flag ended things early.
Brown took part in the first 10-minute qualifying period, as the track remained damp but had a dry line, finishing fastest in GT4. Zac also drove well in his session, helping the McLaren Artura GT4 into second, an agonising 0.020s from the combined pole position.
Zac started the two-hour race, running fourth in GT4 on the opening lap and doing well when a rival looked to have taken the spot from him, tucking back in to regain the position. He ran closely behind the car ahead during the opening 30 minutes, putting the pressure back on as the pit window approached, getting through and closing in on leading two cars, being hampered by faster GT3 machines every time he looked to take the place.
Handing over to Brown, the car resumed battle fourth in Silver and sixth overall, having had a 20 second pitstop compensation time for victory at Snetterton, and the mandatory 24 seconds for GT4 Silver entrants. There was a Full Course Yellow period, before a two-lap restart to the flag, where the pair crossed the line third in GT4 and first in class. Unfortunately, after the contest, Brown was judged to have sped under FCY, and the car penalised, dropping them to fourth in class and 11th overall.
Zac now has just one final British GT Championship race of 2024, which takes place on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit over September 28/29, where he will be pushing to help secure both the Drivers’ and Silver titles, as well as the Teams’ Championship for Optimum Motorsport.
Zac Meakin commented, “It was a tough race as it is really hard to get past the Mustangs, so I had to get ready and set it up in advance, and I definitely wasn’t going to let the other one past when I managed to get the place back from it. Once I did that I pulled away, we managed to jump another car in the pits, which was a bonus, and it kept going from there. I sorted myself out as I was struggling a little mentally and had a bit of flu, but I had a good qualifying and on Sunday morning cleared my head. The car was mega all weekend, and the team performed phenomenally, so I have to thank them.”
