17–year-old Patrick Kibble celebrated his 2019 British GT Championship campaign with a sixth-place finish at the Donington Park circuit, after a tight battle for the final spot on the podium.

The weekend got off to a solid start for the #95 duo as Patrick and his TF Sport team-mate Josh Price finished the first practice session of the weekend with the fifth-fastest time in the GT4 category – with Patrick setting the best lap time of the pair.

The second practice session proved to be a more challenging task, however, as the pair slotted their Aston Martin Vantage GT4 into eighth position with Patrick once again the quickest of the two drivers.

Heading into qualifying, Patrick was hopeful of another strong performance and was the first of the pair out to head out. His flying lap of 1:35.593s put Patrick third fastest after the first half of GT4 qualifying. 

When it was Josh’s turns to take the reigns, he set a best lap of 1:35.265s to go seventh fastest in his session with the track getting ever quicker. With their time combining to a 3:10.858s, Patrick and Josh were fourth fastest overall in the GT4 category.

With Patrick taking the start, the racing commenced under a safety car. This was the case for the first two laps, and Patrick had to sit tight under the much slower conditions. Then the green flag was finally waved, Patrick remained within a second of the #57 car in front. Setting continuously quick lap times, Patrick passed the #57 McLaren and firmly put the car in contention for a podium.

On lap 35, Patrick was called into the pits and handed driving duties over to Josh. With Josh now at the wheel, he pushed as hard as possible to deliver the team a podium but unfortunately, Josh was not able to maintain the final spot on the podium and crossed the line in sixth position in the GT4 class to finish the year with another points-scoring outing.

Speaking after the weekend, Kibble said: “Overall I’m happy with how I’ve driven over the year,” Patrick said after the weekend. “We have just had some very unlucky moments which meant that the championship points don’t tell the full story of the season. I am so grateful for the opportunity that TF Sport and Aston Martin have given me!

“I have learnt so much this season – both on and off the track with simulator sessions and so on. It has been great to be partnered with Josh. We have worked well as a team and it has been excellent to share a podium together too.”

Images courtesy of www.pspimages.co.uk