GT racing driver Carl Garnett and Project 29:7 Racing saw a podium challenge cruelly slip from their grasp after another promising performance in the Britcar Endurance Championship at Donington Park on Saturday (08 August).
The fifth round of the Britcar season was their second visit of the year to Donington Park, having secured a maiden class victory there in the season opener. They backed that up with a second win of the campaign at Spa-Francorchamps back in May.
The memorable Spa victory came when Garnett shared Project 29:7 Racing’s Ginetta G56 GTA with success one-make Porsche racer Jonathan Moore for the first time. The duo reunited their partnership for Donington, looking to secure a fourth podium finish of the season for the #297 car.
Multiple red flag stoppages unfortunately limited their track time in pre-event testing around the 1.979-mile Donington Park National circuit on Friday, but Garnett was still pleased with their progress and was confident they had got the car in to a good window ahead of race day.
Garnett took the reins for qualifying on Saturday morning and produced a good performance, securing them fourth on the grid in the competitive ‘Trophy’ class. He went on to start behind the wheel of the Telescope and Clearsilver Brand Marketing-backed Ginetta for the 90-minute race that afternoon.
Maintaining position through a busy first couple of laps, an early safety car period allowed the team to complete their first mandatory pitstop. When action resumed, Garnett moved his way back up to fourth in class before the racing was interrupted by another safety car stoppage.
This presented a great opportunity for the team to complete their second pitstop and driver change to Moore under the caution period, which would have put them in a great position to challenge for a podium finish in the second half of the race.
Unfortunately, as Moore went to leave the pitbox they suffered a driveshaft failure outside of the team’s control. A phenomenal effort from the team saw them replace the part in under 40 minutes, ensuring the #297 car was able to return to the track for a nine-lap run to the chequered flag.
Carl Garnett: “It’s incredibly frustrating to see another potential podium result go away from us this season. Alex, Paul and the team at Project 29:7 Racing did a superb job all event and sadly this sort of component failure is not something they have control over.
“The car was feeling quick from the off and I was pleased with my performance across testing and qualifying. After seeing the timing of a safety car period go against us last time out at Snetterton, it seemed luck with in our favour this time around when it came to the pitstops.
“Getting both stops and the driver change done under the safety car meant we were going to be in a great position on strategy for the rest of the race, but sadly the driveshaft had other ideas. We’re gutted, but a big thank you to the team for their efforts to get us back on track to make the finish.
“It was great to race with Jonathan Moore again after a brilliant time together at Spa. He really supported me across the Donington weekend and I’m pleased that he’ll be my team-mate for the remainder of the season. I’m confident we can enjoy some more big results together.”
The 2026 Britcar Endurance Championship season continues at Snetterton on Saturday 29th August. Garnett has some great commercial opportunities available for prospective partners to join him this year; interested parties can get in touch via this website.
