Ford and Lamborghini join British GT Grid for Silverstone finale.

The Avon Tyres British GT Championship is anticipating a twenty nine car grid for the two hour season finale this coming Saturday, 8 October as a number of new entrants are set to bolster the grid.

Bringing the Lamborghini name back to British GT will be Simon Atkinson and James Pickford in their Backdraft Motorsport-prepared Gallardo GT3 ‘B’ entry, while Barwell Motorsport also has a car in GT3 ‘B’, with Paul White and Andy Ruhan in a DBRS9. They will run alongside Rockingham race winners Andrew Howard and Jonathan Adam in their Beechdean Motorsport car.

TV Motoring pundit Tiff Needell also joins the grid, alongside Peter Erceg in the “Secure Racing by Barwell Motorsport” Aston GT4, while Silverstone will see the return of the Ford name to the series as Peter Bamford and 2007 Champion Bradley Ellis pilot the RPM Ford GT.

After his successful British GT debut at Donington Park, BTCC Championship contender Gordon Shedden will once again be sharing the Rosso Verde Ferrari 458 Italia alongside Hector Lester while the GT4 Class is bolstered with the addition of another Ginetta G50 for former class Champion Stewart Linn alongside Chris Midmark. Chris Holmes swaps to the Lotus Sport UK Evora alongside Phil Glew for the two hour finale.

David Ashburn, one of twelve drivers going for the Championship will have Richard Westbrook in the car alongside him at Silverstone, the duo secured victories at Oulton Park and Spa-Francorchamps earlier in the season.

Jordan Witt and Anthony Reid will face some competition in the GT Cup category as Witt’s Dad, David, will pilot a second Chevron GR8 alongside Ray Grimes.

“In addition to it being the deciding round of the championship, the Silverstone race has attracted one of the biggest grids of the season,” says championship manager Benjamin Franassovicci. “We welcome the new teams and the returning old faces and look forward to a great battle on the track. British GT is now attracting the best GT cars in the world, with such prestigious brands as Aston Martin, Ferrari, Audi, Porsche and Lotus having enjoyed race or class victories this year. Interest for next year is already running high and with a very similar platform of seven GT meetings, and stable rules, 2012 is going to be as good, if not better.”

Silverstone Schedule:

Friday, 7 October:

09.00 – 09.50, 11.20 – 12.10: Testing

Saturday, 8 October:

10.40 – Qualifying
15.55 – Round 10 (120 Minutes).

Rockingham Ready for British GT Season Resumption.

British GT Race Start at Spa last time out - the series heads to Rockingham this weekend.

September is all set for an adrenalin-fuelled kick start thanks to the resumption of the 2011 Avon Tyres British GT Championship, following the song summer break since the last round, at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.

The top Sportscar drivers in the UK go head to head in a pair of one hour races at the Rockingham Motor Speedway in Northamptonshire, driving supercars from Ferrari, Porsche, Corvette, Aston Martin, Mercedes, Audi and Ginetta. A field in excess of twenty two cars is expected, with sixteen cars entered in the GT3 Category.

Heading to Rockingham, the Championship battle couldn’t be any closer or exciting. Currently, the points are being led by Mike Guasch and Matt Bell in their Audi R8 GT3, run by United Autosports, but they only have a two point advantage over father and son pairing, Jim/Glynn Geddie in their CRS Racing Ferrari 458 Italia. The Scottish pairing has been a regular visitor to the podium in 2011.

Matt Griffin and Duncan Cameron in their MTech Racing Ferrari 458 are coming up the standings fast and they secured the victory out at Spa last time out. They secured a strong seventh place finish out at the Slovakia Ring recently in the FIA GT3 European Championship. That was despite some technical issues.

“It was a tough weekend in Slovakia,” said Griffin, “and I hope we can put all that behind us for Rockingham. We need a couple of good, solid finishes there to keep the ball rolling having turned our season around a bit. But it won’t be easy because British GT is so competitive and because Rockingham has historically suited the Porsches more than it has the Ferraris.”

Rockingham marks the last double header of the season for the British GT field. Their next outing, at Donington Park is a three hour endurance style race while the season finale at Silverstone is a two hour race. Benjamin Franassovicci believes that it will be a fascinating season finale:  “The three circuits coming up all offer their own unique challenges, as will the format of the races at each. The championship is wide open and will be, I think, all the way to the final round. We are expecting to see 27-plus cars on the grid at Donington, which is even more exciting.”

Also lining up in the GP3 Category will be reining Champion David Ashburn in his Trackspeed Porsche. He has secured two victories this season while the teams’ second 997 will be driven by Gregor Fiskin and Tim Bridgman, who secured victory at Brands Hatch.

CRS Racing will also have their second Ferrari 458 out, with Andrew Tate and Alex Mortimer. Both the Geddie’s car and the Tate/Mortimer car will have a striking new livery for Rockingham.

2009 Champions, David/Godfrey Jones will be out in their Team Preci-Spark Mercedes AMG SLS, fresh from coming seventh overall out at Spa during the Spa 24 Hours, while Oulton Park victors, Michael Lyons and Charles Bateman will be looking to secure yet more success for the young Scuderia Vittoria outfit.

Andrew Howard and Jonny Adam will be driving the Beechdean Motorsport Aston Martin while Corvette is also represented by Piers and Ron Johnson, who are piloting the Speedworks Motorsport car. The duo collected a season’s best sixth last time out.

Ginetta will be represented by three G55’s, at the hands of Century Motorsport’s Julien Draper and Freddie Hetherington.

In the GT4 class, the battle for the title is just as fearsome. Currently leading the way is the ABG Motorsport duo of Peter Belshaw and Marcus Clutton, in their KTM X-Bow. They have secured GT4 honours three times already this season.

Spa-Francorchamps saw maiden class wins for Dan Denis and David McDonald in the Scuderia Vittoria run Ginetta G50 and the Lotus Sport UK run Lotus Evora for Ollie Jackson and Phil Glew. Jake Rattenbury and Josh Wakefield have also secured a class victory in the Century Motorsport G50, during the second Oulton Park race. After their maiden GT4 Podium finish at Spa, Peter Erceg and Chris Holmes will be hoping to repeat the feat in their Secure Racing Aston Martin.

In GT3B, the class will be contested by MTech Ferrari drivers John Dhillon and Aaron Scott while the GTC Category will see Jordan Witt and Anthony Reid in their Chevron GR8.

The British GT Championship is sponsored by UK tyre manufacturer Avon Tyres and is further supported by Sunoco Racing Fuels, Anglo American Oil Company and OAMPS.

British GT Rockingham Schedule:

Saturday, 3 September:

09.00 – 10.00: Free Practice 1
11.45 – 12.45: Free Practice 2
16.20 – 16.55: Qualifying

Sunday, 4 September:

10.00: Warm Up
12.50: Round Seven (60 Minutes)
16.25: Round Eight (60 Minutes)

Picture Credit: British GT Media