WYCOMBE Wanderers chairman Andrew Howard and his partner Jonny Adam won the 2015 British GT title for an unprecedented second time in three years after a thrill-a-minute last-day decider.

They skilfully avoided the debris in an action-packed full-throttle race full of accidents to claim an historic but unlikely win while their rivals crashed out.

The Beechdean AMR drivers went into the finale, dubbed the Donington Decider, in second place overall and handicapped by a 20-second penalty on a day when any one of four teams could have clinched the championship.

Starting second on the grid for the two-hour race Beechdean boss Howard avoided getting involved in the chaos that unfolded in the opening high-speed chase as hard-charging rivals tried to chase the win. His steady strategy paid off as championship contenders Liam Griffin and Marco Attard were both forced to retire due to damage sustained

Howard and Adam crossed the line in fifth place but, with all but one of their rivals crashing out, that was enough to become national champions for the second time in three years.

A jubilant Howard said afterwards: “They had to do something wrong for us to win it and we got that little bit of luck that we needed.

“We never expected to win it. We have come from so far behind in this championship to win it. We were given no chance of winning it three races ago.”

Two teams knew they had to win the race to keep their title hopes alive, and went hell for leather because nothing else would suffice, while four cars in total were in the shake-up for the championship and that made for thrills and spills on the track.

Howard said: “There was carnage on the course, everyone was flying everywhere.”

The tension was immense.

Howard said: “We were burning through 1,000 calories an hour, your heart beats at 175 beats a minute. It is pretty intense stuff and you are so focused on what’s in front.”

They had to be. A crash in front of them could have ended their championship hopes.

Howard said: “We had a BM and an Aston hit in front of us and there was stuff flying off everywhere. You just have to aim for the accident because generally by the time you get there it’s moved on and you can never predict where it will go. You have got to be massively aware of what’s coming off the cars and we knew that we had to avoid it, otherwise it could have been the end of our championship hopes.

"Coming into this weekend we knew we had it all to do, but we just raced sensibly and consistently and that gave us the result we needed to become British GT champions again. To win this championship this time with my team-mate Jonny Adam is brilliant, but a huge thanks go to everyone involved at Beechdean AMR and all of our partners who have been fantastic.”

And he says winning it second time round beats their maiden win.

He said: “Winning it the first time is always really important but winning it a second time is more important because it proves it was no fluke.”

But he may well not defend his title next year.

Howard is hoping his title-win will earn him an invitation to Le Mans, the pinnacle of touring cars, next season.

He said: “That’s the most iconic race in the world, 200 million people watch it on the television. It is the crème of GT Racing.”

He will have to wait until January however before he knows whether his form this year has earned him a coveted invitation to perform on the biggest stage of the lot.

Their victory at Donington capped a remarkable season for the Beechdean AMR team who finished as double champions after Aston Martin Racing Evolution Academy drivers Jamie Chadwick and Ross Gunn clinched the GT4 title last month setting record along the way as the youngest pairing to win it and in Jamie’s case, the first girl to win it.