Derek Johnston

Derek Johnston is the British amateur racing driver who won many championship titles so far in his relatively short career. Most recently, he was the British GT champion in 2016, driving an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for TF Sport together with Jonny Adam.

Derek Johnston

Late but successful start of the career

Johnston, who is the owner of Steel Decking UK Company, opened his racing account in 2007 driving a Radical SR8 in the Radical UK Cup Series. Johnston finished as a runner-up in his rookie season and announced that soon he will become one of the best gentleman racers in the UK. Derek stayed in the Radical UK Cup Series and won back-to-back titles in 2008 and 2009.

In 2010 Johnston raced at Daytona 24 Hours and he did surprisingly well after finishing 10th in DP class, driving alongside Brad Jaeger, Fabrizio Gollin, and Memo Gidley. The same year Derek won the title in Fun Cup World Cup petrol class.

Derek Johnston racing his Ferrari 458 Challenge

Championship titles in a Ferrari

The stream of successes continued in 2011 when he switched to GT racing and immediately became a champion in the Pirelli Ferrari Open class, driving the Ferrari 458 Challenge. In the following year Johnston raced in the GT Cup and again won both class and overall titles at the first attempt, announcing that he is ready for a higher level.

The British GT Championship was perfectly suited for the racers like Johnstone. Derek debuted in the series in 2013, driving MTECH’s Ferrari 458 Italia and Ginetta G55. He scored maiden points by finishing 8th at Rockingham and that was the only race in which he was able to score.

In the following year, Derek moved to Triple Eight Racing Engineering sharing the seat of BMW Z4 GT3 with Luke Hines and Joe Osborne. The 3rd place in the race at Rockingham was the highlight of the season during which he collected a total of 41.5 points before finishing 14th in the Drivers’ Championship. The same year Derek made a one-off appearance in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup.

Derek Johnston was driving BMW Z4 GT3 in 2014

Joining TF Sport in 2015, winning championship in 2016

Johnston moved to TF Sport in 2015 and now he was behind the wheel of Aston Martin Vantage GT3. His co-driver was Matt Bell and the won the final race of the season at Donington Park. They also finished 3rd at Brands Hatch and Snetterton before taking the 5th position in the final standings. That was the very good result but the best was still to come.

In 2016 Derek Johnston became the British GT champion. He stayed with the team and driving the same car alongside Jonathan Adam won the races at Brands Hatch and Rockingham. The TF Sport drivers also finished 2nd in the races at Snetterton and Donington thus crowning a great season. In 2017, with number 1 on their car, Johnston and Adam scored two wins to finish third in the points.

For the 2018 British GT season, Johnston stayed with TF Sport. His new co-driver was Marco Sorensen. They were race winners once, finishing ninth in the points.

2016 British GT champions Derek Johnston and Jonny Adam

Photo: britishgt.co.uk, flickr.com, picssr.com