IAN Loggie was looking to get his defence of the British GT Championship title back on track as the 2 Seas Motorsport Team headed to Donington Park, writes Ste McNorton.

After a disappointing weekend at Silverstone in round three, the current champion sat in third place behind the sister 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes and the Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 of Darren Leung and Dan Harper.

Loggie and co-driver Jules Gounon were keen to show their pace, and during Thursday's test session they certainly did that, regularly sitting in the top three fastest spots.

As Saturday arrived, the weather was beautiful and with a newly resurfaced track over the winter there was a few whisperings over the tannoy about the new tarmac burning the tyres up, but this was yet to materialise.

After two one-hour sessions during the day, the No1 Mercedes was not at its best and the pace didn't seem to be there.

With no let up in the heat, qualifying took place at 4pm, and was the usual combined times of both drivers, but try as they may both Ian and Joules could only manage eighth quickest and they had to start on row four.

Sunday's two-hour race had the usual mandatory pit stops and the 2 Seas Motorsport Team knew they had their work cut out if they wanted the No1 Mercedes back at the top of the championship.

As the cars rolled round the last corner in two-by-two formation, on came the green lights and it was blast off.

With Loggie at the wheel he kept eighth place and maintained it for some time, but with punctures, damage and drive through penalties for his competitors, he made up a few places.

Around the hour mark which was when the pitstops were due, a safety car incident played right into the hands of the 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes as everyone dived into the pits, but Loggie stayed out and made up places on the track.

After gaining track position in came the No1 car to hand over to Jules Gounon.

A fairly rapid pit stop for fuel, tyres and the driver change really helped and put the team in a great position to challenge for the podium.

For his stint, Gounon drove really hard and eventually finished in third place, a huge achievement considering the struggles in qualifying.

The sister 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes took the win and now leads the championship but just eight points covers the top six drivers.

Rounds five and six are at Snetterton in just over two weeks' time.