As it turns out, the previous week has been a busy one for British GT announcements. No less than four driver pairings were announced over the course of the week with some stunning liveries to boot. With the grid now filling up nicely, let’s take a look back at what has occurred over the past seven days.
News
➤ Today marks the big countdown until the start of the season. Just 50 days until the green flag drops at Oulton Park on the 18th of April.
https://twitter.com/BritishGT/status/1627595704410705920
➤ The first of many announcements came courtesy of Greystone GT who added a second GT3 line-up to their roster. Two-time GT Cup race winners in 2022, Mike Price / Callum MacLeod will make the step to Britain’s premier GT championship once again in their bright green Mercedes AMG GT3. Price himself started racing back in 2017 and has shown consistent pace in GT4 machinery with a class victory in GT Cup back in 2021 (also alongside MacLeod).
Greystone GT add Mercedes-AMG for British GT with Price and Macleod
➤ Next up is expected to be a three-car line-up with British Endurance Championship (BEC) race winners, Race Lab making their full season debut in British GT. Reigning two-time Ferrari Challenge UK champion, Lucky Khera will partner with Euan Hankey in a McLaren 720s GT3. Khera himself has competed within British GT previously but this will be his first full-season campaign. The pairing has previous success after securing overall victory in the three-hour BEC contest at Snetterton last year, also in a 720s GT3.
➤ We didn’t have to wait long for the second announcement from Race Lab as their GT4 programme was announced just a few hours later. The new McLaren Artura GT4 is their weapon of choice with Ian Gough / Tom Wrigley at the helm. Gough is still relatively inexperienced with GT machinery having spent most of his time racing in national Formula Ford championships. However, he did clinch victory during the Silverstone BEC meeting last season alongside Euan Hankey in absolutely torrential conditions. Wrigley meanwhile embarks on his first full-season campaign since 2018 where he finished 3rd in Carrera Cup GB.
The Lions Barber Collective and FastR join forces with RACE LAB for British GT4 assault
➤ The final announcement of the week comes courtesy of the newly formed One Motorsport. During the past week, Motus One merged with BTCC squad, BTC Racing to form One Motorsport and now they embark on their first full-season campaign in British GT. The car remains the same with the Mercedes AMG GT4 used towards the end of last season making a return with Ed McDermott / Michael Broadhurst once again piloting the now re-liveried car. The livery itself is a homage to the 1992 Zakspeed DTM livery as raced by Kurt Thiim and Roland Asch
McDermott and Broadhurst return with One Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4
➤ Every year the FIA sifts through their driver gradings and reviews whether everyone is at the correct grading. This year a number of British GT competitors have been upgraded to the next level. Jamie Stanley, Marcus Clutton and Sennan Fielding have been upgraded from Silver to Gold-rated drivers following their performances last season.
Social Media
➤ Elsewhere in the world, Team Orange have been readying themselves for the final rounds of the Asian Le Mans Series at Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. However, during the free practice sessions, a brake disc failure caused a large accident resulting in extreme damage to their McLaren. So much so that the carbon fibre tub itself was damaged resulting in the car being withdrawn from the weekend before the races even began.
➤ McLaren is the latest manufacturer to launch a new GT3 car with their evolution of the 720s GT3. Eagle-eyed viewers may have already spotted the car testing at Brands Hatch earlier in the week with its striking black, orange and blue paint scheme. Will we see this in British GT this year? We will have to wait and see!
https://twitter.com/BritishGT/status/1625802514690936834
➤ Century Motorsport have taken delivery of their second BMW M4 GT4 ahead of next month’s media day. They are sure to stand out amongst what already is set to be a very colourful field of cars.
https://twitter.com/BritishGT/status/1627256814914924545
➤ Meanwhile in GT Cup, Will Tregurtha will once again be teaming up with Grahame Tilley in his Mercedes AMG GT3 for another full-season campaign. The bright red Mercedes turned heads last season and the duo will be looking to build upon their knowledge of the car and get back to the top step of the podium.
https://twitter.com/GTCUP/status/1625467289427488769
➤ 2014 British GT4 champion, Ross Wylie will also be contending GT Cup this year after a tricky 2021 campaign was cut short. The monstrous Brabham BT62 has been settled upon over the majority of 2022 in the hopes of improving its reliability before returning to the track in anger.
https://twitter.com/GTCUP/status/1626159929844178944
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