Team Parker Racing made a strong start to the 2025 British GT Championship with victory and two podium finishes during the opening round at Donington Park (6–7 April).

In the newly introduced Endurance Cup, Ed McDermott and Seb Morris claimed the inaugural win in the category while also finishing third overall in GT4. Close behind, Jon Currie and Phil Keen secured third in GT4 Pro-Am, although team-mates Nick Jones and Sven Müller were forced to retire due to damage.

The team displayed impressive pace during Thursday’s test sessions, topping the timesheets with a one-two in GT4 and securing fifth in GT3. That momentum carried through into Saturday’s Free Practice and Pre-Qualifying. In the main Qualifying session, Nick and Sven combined to place tenth in the GT3 Porsche, while Ed and Seb clinched Endurance Cup pole and fourth overall in GT4. Jon and Phil followed in seventh.

Sunday morning’s warm-up saw Sven set the fastest time of the session, providing a timely confidence boost ahead of the afternoon’s race. Under clear skies, Ed made an assertive getaway, moving into second in GT4 before briefly dropping back. Meanwhile, Nick reclaimed tenth in class and progressed to ninth, settling into a tight four-car battle.

A Full Course Yellow followed by a Safety Car bunched up the field just after the half-hour mark. Once racing resumed, Ed launched an immediate attack while simultaneously fending off challengers before diving into the pits as the window opened, handing over to Seb.

Shortly after, Nick attempted to pass for ninth, pulling alongside a rival, but contact between the two sent him spinning into the tyre barriers at the Esses, causing significant front-end damage. He managed to hand over to Sven, who delivered competitive lap times despite the compromised car. Unfortunately, with 30 minutes remaining, the Porsche was retired from the race.

In GT4, Seb and Phil – having taken over from Jon – were circulating in third and fourth overall. Matching lap times, they maintained their positions to bring both Mercedes-AMGs home for an impressive early-season trophy haul.

For Ed, the result marked a satisfying turnaround after previous near misses, while Jon celebrated silverware in only his second outing in the championship. Seb, already a title-winner in both GT3 and GT4, added an Endurance Cup triumph to his growing résumé. Phil, now tied for the most career wins in British GT history, has remarkably earned podium finishes in his first three GT4 starts – spread over a span of 13 years.

Team Parker Racing will return to British GT action at the iconic Silverstone 500 on 26–27 April, where all three cars will once again be pushing for top results in the headline three-hour event.

Ed McDermott: “Our goal was always to try and get an overall podium. Seb drove amazingly and how the guy isn't in a factory seat I don’t know. It’s ridiculous. I'm happy with how my stint went – I made a few mistakes and there was a bit of pressure at the beginning from some Silver class drivers, which probably allowed some of the other guys to get away a bit. The Safety Car helped bring us all back together, and then I felt I had the pace on the car in front, but it was a bit risk versus reward, so I kept it simple and came into the pits right on his bumper.

“Donington has always been such a curse. I love the place and it’s my favourite circuit, but it's never been nice to me at all as I've had overall podiums just gone with some annoying incident that wasn't even my doing. Seb is really helping me bring my game up, so I really feel a much more confident and complete driver.”

Seb Morris: “My trophy cabinet is becoming rather large, which I am rather proud of! A lot of hard work has gone in this weekend, so if you'd have told me we'd be on the overall podium, I would have taken that. Towards the end I knew I had a 10 second gap to Phil behind, so I was really careful with the GT3 traffic, just wanting to stay out of trouble and finish. As soon as Phil started knocking on the door, getting within a few seconds, I turned the wick back up again.

“I want to give Ed credit. We came into the week running lap times which he hugely improved by the time we got to qualifying, so I am incredibly proud of what we managed to achieve in a short period of time. When I can really work with an Amateur driver, I am sure I can extract the most out of them and I feel there is much more to come with Ed.”

Source: Team Paker Racing