Townsend Racing powered by Fox Motorsport will mount a full-season assault on the 2026 British GT Championship, confirming a GT4 Pro-Am entry with a brand-new Aston Martin Vantage GT4.
The programme brings together former Fox Motorsport race-winner James Townsend with the Maldon-based outfit he enjoyed much of his career success with, while also marking the team’s transition into an official Aston Martin Racing Partner Team.
For Townsend, the move represents a significant step forward both on and off the circuit. “This is the biggest thing I’ve done in motorsport,” he said. “Creating Townsend Racing powered by Fox Motorsport and reuniting with the team I’ve achieved most of my successes with was a no-brainer. This is part of a multi-year strategy to push forwards with my own racing career and to build a meaningful relationship with one of the most iconic sportscar manufacturers of all time in Aston Martin.”
Fox Motorsport returns to British GT competition for the first time since its one-off appearance at the 2023 Donington Park finale, where the team claimed GT3 Silver-Am pole position with Lamborghini machinery. However, its history in the championship stretches back more than a decade, having debuted in 2013 with a GT3B class victory at Silverstone.
Reflecting on the team’s return, Team Principal Paul McNeilly said: “It’s fantastic to be back in the British GT Championship — the series that really allowed us to showcase our abilities at an elite level when we first entered. To reunite with James, one of our most successful drivers, and to create Townsend Racing powered by Fox Motorsport makes it even more special.”
The Essex-based squad has since established itself as a proven race-winning operation across multiple GT platforms, including an outright British GT victory at Spa-Francorchamps in 2022 with a McLaren GT3. Further wins and podium finishes have followed in both overall and Pro-Am GT4 competition using Ginetta, Mercedes-AMG and McLaren machinery.
Townsend’s record with Fox Motorsport includes class titles in the Ginetta GT5 Challenge and Ginetta GT4 Supercup, along with GT Cup victories and a podium finish in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB. Between 2018 and 2022 alone, he amassed 11 race wins and 42 podium finishes with the team.
His British GT experience includes a 2023 campaign that yielded three GT4 Pro-Am podium finishes, followed by a one-off return at last season’s Donington Park finale. The upcoming season will mark his first full campaign in the championship under the Townsend Racing banner.
The Aston Martin Vantage GT4 represents new territory for both Townsend Racing and Fox Motorsport, with neither outfit having previously campaigned machinery from the British marque. According to McNeilly, the move signals a clear intent: “Becoming an Aston Martin Racing Partner Team is another step forward for us. Our target is to establish ourselves as the benchmark Aston Martin GT4 team in the UK, and with the championship-winning experience we have within the team, we have every intention of doing exactly that.”
Fox Motorsport’s expanded 2026 programme will also include a presence on the single-seater ladder with a planned entry into the GB4 Championship, further underlining the team’s long-term ambitions.
The 2026 British GT Championship gets underway at Silverstone — the Home of British Motor Racing — on April 25–26, a venue McNeilly says the team is already eagerly anticipating: “We can’t wait to get started at Silverstone.”
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