Entry levels for this year's series of Group C races should mean that 2008 sees regular grids of 35 cars or more.
The evolution that the Group C organisation has undergone over the winter has been endorsed by its membership to the extent that almost forty cars have signed up for the season.
Group C's Charlie Agg, comments, "I am delighted with the ultimate response to what we have proposed for this year. We looked for our racing members to sign up for the season, offering them what we consider to be an excellent package : the four races and test sessions of track time, competitive racing, together with a social and hospitality programme the like of which the Group C series competitors have not experienced before.
"It has taken a considerable effort to achieve this - but once people grasped the rationale behind what we were trying to achieve, almost everyone understood that a commitment to the season was not only in their best interests but also in the interests of Group C as a whole, going forward."
Again, in 2008 Group C will see entrants from all over the globe participating in the series. Australian, Rob Sherrard is looking forward to his second season in Group C with eager anticipation and he will again be joined by a group of American racers complete with a selection of cars that ran in the GTP category.The ever-growing contingent of Continental European entrants will again take on a strong entry from the UK to ensure that race fans are treated to the sight of Mazda, Spice, Aston Martin, Tiga, Argo, Ford, Nissan and others mixing it with more than a dozen Jaguars and Porsches.
The new race formats, which offer both Sprint and 1 1/2 Hour Enduro races at most meetings and which will include both refuelling and driver changes, give Group C entrants the chance to return to something approaching an authentic period format, as well the opportunity to pair themselves with guest drivers.The organisers are currently lining up a number of star names from both the original Group C period and the current era to, sit alongside some of the cars'regular drivers.
Group C organiser, Kim Harmon, comments, "In the past we have seen a number of excellent and respected drivers in the cars. This year, with it being the 20th anniversary of the Silk Cut Jaguar's win at Le Mans and the 60th anniversary of the Porsche Club GB, we are particularly looking for drivers with an association with these marques. Furthermore, we are sure that the opportunity to take part the Group C race at Le Mans - organised by Motor Racing Legends - and actually compete in one of these incredible machines over the full Le Mans circuit, on 24 Hours race day, will prove a big draw for many."
With a stable race format and a great entry list behind him, Agg is now actively discussing multi-year support partnerships for the series with a number of companies. The first of these to come on board are Jaguar and Lotus specialist, JD Classics Porsche specialists, Paragon and E-type experts Eagle Racing with more likely to be announced shortly.
The Group C season kicks off with the series' first official test session of the year, at Snetterton, on April 14th.
