A new team, Inspire Racing, along with Pro-Am duo Richard Marsh and Gareth Howell joins the Intelligent Money British GT Championship next season with an Ekris M4 GT4.
The same crew made several appearances aboard a McLaren in 2017 but are now spearheading their own innovative racing project, full details of which will be announced in the new year.
The car certainly breaks with tradition. Indeed, the Ekris-built M4 – which was originally released before BMW’s own in-house GT4 car and is homologated separately – will be making its full-season British GT debut after achieving success in Europe.
Howell is a former British karting champion and BTCC race winner while Marsh has competed in GT Cup and BMW’s one-make domestic series since making his last British GT appearance four years ago.
Now he’s back with a new team, led by Julian Griffin, that will be the focal point of a larger project.
“This is our second crack at British GT after our previous attempt had to be aborted mid-season due to circumstances beyond our control,” Marsh explained. “This time I wanted to take matters into our own hands and for a purpose beyond purely racing. In doing so it’s also allowed me to introduce an idea that I’ve had for a long time, which will be announced in 2022. It’s important stuff – we can’t wait for people to see it as we know many will want to get involved judging by current interest. However, we need a few more things to be in place before going public.
“As for the racing, well obviously we can’t wait! I will spare you the standard statements that usually come out at this time of year. What I will say is we have assembled a team of very talented people, each one at the top of their game in their field. So we are taking this very seriously. However, we are also going to make sure we enjoy it. We will endeavour to do our very best each weekend and see where that gets us at the end of the season. This is the British GT Championship, the competition is highly capable and we are under no illusions about the size of the task.”
Howell, who has already tested the car along with Marsh, added: “It’s great to be out racing with Richard again and doing a full GT4 campaign. He’s worked extremely hard to put together a really experienced team of people, and in a proven, quick car with the Ekris M4. I’ve always said Rich is a great team-mate to have with lots of speed, but now we have the proper tools to show what he’s capable of. It’s going to be a load of fun next year – I can’t wait!”
2022’s Intelligent Money British GT Championship begins at Oulton Park on April 16 & 18.
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