KELTY racing star Dean MacDonald has hailed his first victory in a GT car at one of motorsport's most iconic venues on Sunday as "brilliant".

The 17-year-old, who last year made the move into sports car competition after a highly successful karting career, was in action in the seventh round of the British GT4 Championship at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.

MacDonald, who was one of the most successful domestic karters of his generation having racked up honours in Scottish club racing before winning British Super One cadets and minimax titles, was making his debut for his new team, Century Motorsport BMW.

He had entered GT racing after joining the McLaren GT Driver Academy, designed to provide a pathway for youngsters to move into sports cars, last March and raced with McLaren's Black Bull Garage 59 line-up.

At the age of 16, MacDonald became one of the youngest drivers in the history of the championships, finishing 13th in the drivers' standings, before moving teams this year.

He arrived for qualifying at Spa, home of the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix, with just one day of testing under his belt to partner the more experienced Jack Mitchell and took the start line from seventh position.

Following an incident involving two GT3 cars, the safety car was deployed on the first lap but, once racing resumed, MacDonald moved up the order and was involved in an intense battle with the HHC Motorsport Ginetta car of Patrick Matthiesen and Callum Pointon.

The race then took a sudden and dramatic twist as the pit window opened when, after the leading cars headed into the pit lane for their mandatory driver swap, MacDonald was left out in clear air before the deployment of the safety car again changed the race's complexion.

A perfectly timed pit-stop by the West Fifer handed the reigns to Mitchell and, with the duo leading, he held firm to cross the line just 0.387 seconds in front.

MacDonald commented: "I'm really happy with our performance this weekend, especially as it was my first race with BMW and having only had one day in the car before this race.

"To get my first-ever win at this iconic circuit is just brilliant. I want to thank my team-mate, Jack Mitchell, who was a big help to me over the weekend and he drove a fantastic stint to hold on to the lead.

"Also big thanks to the team for the support and giving me a fantastic car. I'm really looking forward to the next round at Brands Hatch."

Round eight takes place at Brands Hatch on August 5-6.