James Kellett’s path to GT3 racing has been anything but straightforward. After years of fighting for budgets and limited track time, the Briton worked his way through karting, Ginetta and the Porsche one-make series. Now with Paradine Competition in the BMW M4 GT3 Evo, it’s his time to shine.
Kellett’s racing story began twenty years ago – at the age of eight. He competed in British karting championships and made the occasional trip to Europe. His operation might have been smaller than that of other’s, but it was very serious. “Very serious, but also quite low budget for me,” Kellett explains.
“I was still a privateer: it was literally me, my mum and my dad. A few teams picked me up for the last couple of years of karting. Then I moved into car racing at the age of 14, going into Ginetta juniors for two years. The rookie title, the Winter Series followed, and I finished second in the main championship – ahead of Lando Norris. That’s where my career started, really.”
From there came the Ginetta GT5 Challenge and Ginetta Supercup, followed by two seasons in Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain. Afterwards, Kellett moved into the German championship for 2024. “Which is a super competitive series. It was tough for me being one of the only English drivers on the grid, battling against people that had been racing that championships for more than six years,” he continues.
“It was my first ever year of European racing, so I absolutely loved it. The season was super stressful because it was something very new for me, and I was very much alone in that kind of season. I was really able to hone my skills as a driver and really work on myself.”
The relationship that changed Kellett’s career
His eventual move into GT3 racing was helped by a bond that started way earlier: Kellett first met Darren Leung – racing driver and owner of Paradine Competition – when both were involved in the Ginetta paddock, although they initially found themselves on opposite sides.
“Me and a couple of other coaches were looking at the GT Academy drivers and actually, I was looking after his main competition, so I was actually competing against him in a way. But I knew he was a local guy and we live like twenty minutes away from each other!” Kellett smiles.
The relationship eventually became pivotal to Kellett’s own career: Leung and Paradine gave him an opportunity to step into GT3 racing. “I really respect Darren for who he is. He’s absolutely awesome. He’s really good to me in every single way and I’m super thankful for it. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Darren.”
When asked what it all means to him, he responds gratefully: “I’m 28 years old, so my career has been quite long before this. I’ve always had the issue of finding sponsors, getting the budget to race, and Darren was able to provide me that confidence to take that step, which I’ve never had previously.
“He gives me the confidence to go and send it, he gives me that confidence to attack. You’re always worrying about the risk involved, but Darren allows me to go and do that. I’m able to find myself more because of it.”
Kellett doens’t want to take all credit: ‘It’s a team effort’
Speaking to GT REPORT, Kellett made it clear how much it means to now be established in a GT3 racing team so close to home. “I’m very proud of racing for a local team. I’m proud to be racing GT3s and, again, so grateful for Darren and the team to put me into this place. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be racing, never mind a GT3 car,” he says.
While Kellett repeats that, it’s also worth noting that his mentality, strength, racecraft and working ethic also brought him to where he is today. “I’ve never even driven any other GT3 car than a BMW, so I’m even thankful for them! Everything is going well. It’s my second year with Paradine and hopefully I’ve got plenty more to go.”
Kellett also believes the current line-up has everything needed to fight at the sharp end, provided the team executes the weekend correctly.
“Obviously, it’s a team effort. It’s not just me and the car. We have to work well as a team and I think me, Darren and Dries, it’s a team that’s super competitive and we’ve got knowledge and previous experience of strong performance as a three.
“So, we know we work well together. We just need to make sure everything’s right, strategy, car, prep going into the races, prep going into the qualifying sessions and if we maximise everything, we can definitely be at the top.
“There’s no two ways about it.”
