Phil Quaife will return to the FIA GT3 European Championship at Silverstone this weekend having been signed by Apex Motorsport to race one of their Jaguar XKRs.

Quaife is currently competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB with Jota Sport and also dovetailed a full FIA GT3 season with a campaign in the Porsche Supercup last season. He returns to the series at this weekend’s season opener at the home of British Motorsport.

Apex Motorsport have vowed to continue racing in 2008 despite the tragic loss of Team Principal Richard Lloyd, driver David Leslie and data engineer Christopher Allarton in a plane crash last month. The team, who have worked extensively to develop the Jaguar’s GT3 contender, will race in the trio’s memory and hope to secure a good result against a packed field of Ferrari 430s, Porsche 997s, Aston Martin DBRS9s Corvette Z06Rs and Ford Mustangs.

Quaife will drive in Sunday’s double-header with Le Mans Series racer Stuart Hall and the pair made a superb start in Friday’s practice sessions by setting the second fastest time in morning practice and sixth quickest in the afternoon.

Phil said: “It’s a great feeling to be involved with an iconic marque such as Jaguar and after everything the team has been through over the last few weeks, we are all determined to get a good result at Silverstone.

“I tested the car at Snetterton last week and was really impressed with the supercharged engine and the upgraded rear suspension. We will also have a new front suspension on the car this weekend and although we haven’t had the chance to test it yet, we’re hoping for the same level of improvements as we had at the last test.”

Team boss Harry Handkammer welcomed Quaife to the team and admitted he hopes the relationship will extend beyond this weekend. “Phil had an excellent first test for us recently and so we are delighted to welcome him to the team. We intend to run him at every FIA GT3 round that doesn’t clash with his Porsche Carrera Cup GB commitments, and we are expecting some very good results together.”

Rounds 1 and 2 of the FIA GT3 European Championship take place at Silverstone this Sunday, with highlights of the races to be screened on Motors TV – visit motorstv.co.uk for listing details.