A long-awaited achievement finally came at Donington Park for Revie Lake and his teammate Blake Angliss, as they secured their first British GT victory.
Paddock Motorsport drivers Revie Lake and Blake Angliss had a very difficult season in the British GT Championship, as unfortunate incidents such as technical issues and being taken out by other drivers prevented them from turning their pace into results. However, this unlucky streak was finally broken at Donington Park, as they secured their first pole position and, after a two-hour race, even victory.
Their qualifying times were enough to put them in a solid third position for the race start. However, after the disqualification of two Ginetta cars, #74 and #42, which had qualified in first and second place but were found not to comply with the technical regulations, the #84 drivers inherited pole position,"it was amazing to get pole after a long night of waiting, and making history too is awesome," Revie staited. "I never had any doubts whatsoever. We always look forward and never back, and that has got us somewhere. After each round, we always have parts to improve on and learn from, and at Donington, we executed it really well, so we got to show our true pace finally."
With qualifying, the first building block of success was in place. However, the main task was still ahead of them — the two-hour race. Right before the start, rain clouds made things more difficult for the drivers, as they had to put on wet tyres. For the #84 crew, the starting driver was Blake Angliss. He managed to handle the wet conditions very well and extended his gap to the driver behind right from the start.
As the race continued, the track started to dry out, and drivers pitted for slick tyres, unlike Blake, who stayed on track and extended his gap. Later, he handed over the racing duties to Revie Lake, who comfortably managed to maintain the lead and flew unstoppably towards the chequered flag.
After such a difficult season, it felt like redemption for Revie Lake, who became one of the youngest British GT winners, as well as for his teammate Blake Angliss. "I knew it was coming sooner rather than later, so doing it at Donington was nice. It’s a shame it couldn’t have been Silverstone or Spa, but we got there in the end. It will definitely be a moment I will remember forever in my life," said Revie.
The season is coming to an end, with the final round taking place next week, on 26–27 September, at Brands Hatch. When asked whether this victory had changed anything in terms of his confidence ahead of the remaining race, Revie responded: "Yes and no. I say that because it’s definitely nice to have mine, the team’s and Blake’s first win, but I think we also need to go into Brands with the same mindset of “we need to win”. Yes, it might make it a fraction easier, as everyone will be panicking over a championship, but we have a huge success penalty in play now. But that can all come back down after a nice safety car, so we can’t predict anything. We will have to wait and see what happens, but I am definitely confident for Brands."