Jessica Hawkins has set her sights on GT4 glory in this season’s British GT Championship after showing strong early pace on media day.
MK Racing impressed at the British GT’s season preview at Silverstone, topping the GT4 class and showing the competition that they are not just here for experience, but to mount a serious title challenge.
Hawkins is a driver ambassador for the Aston Martin Formula One Team and will be racing the manufacturer’s Vantage AMR GT4 Evo this season. She will compete this year alongside GT experienced driver Will Orton.
Last year, the 31-year-old British driver competed in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup. She raced with Comtoyou Racing in an Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo and notably moved from bronze to silver class in the final round of the season, showing progress from the British driver.
She already has British GT experience, having competed in six rounds of the 2024 season with Beachdean Motorsport alongside Andrew Howard.
Speaking at the British GT media day exclusively to GT REPORT and BMM, she said: “The car is great. Still very early days, we’re still learning, I’m still quite fresh in the car but so far so good. It all feels really comfortable. Overall I’m very happy with how it’s started.”
Her teammate Orton brings valuable experience to help both Hawkins and the team. Not only is he a British GT4 vice champion, but the 21-year-old also has strong GT credentials, including a campaign in the GT4 European Series last year with Swiss team Racing Spirit of Léman.
Speaking about their partnership, Hawkins commented: “Will has a lot of experience in this car. He’s been very helpful. We’ve had a day or so in the car before today so it’s nice knowing we weren’t coming in completely blind.”
“Will’s been really great, we’ve been really similar in pace and I think we are a very good pairing actually so I’m very excited for the year.”
While it is often difficult to read too much into media day timings, their early rivals appear to be GBR Stratton Motorsport and WSR FlexiFly, both of whom have very strong driver pairings this season. The challenge they pose to MK Racing is expected to result in a close battle at the front of the GT4 field.
When asked about her season expectations, she said: “I’m only going to be happy with one result.”
Her GT4 title charge begins on April 25–26 at Silverstone’s 500 race, where early momentum could prove crucial in what is shaping up to be a fiercely competitive season.
