Best of British at Silverstone Supercar Weekend
Provisional Entry List announced for UK round of the FIA GT Championship
This year’s opening round of the FIA GT Championship gets underway at Silverstone on 2-3 May. Following recent confirmation of the provisional entry list, fans of the international race series will be delighted to see a total of nine British drivers lining up on the famous Silverstone start grid, including former Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy winner Ryan Sharp, who won at Silverstone with team mate Karl Wendlinger in 2008.
Silverstone’s iconic Grand Prix circuit will host the only UK round of the 2009 FIA GT Championship, and the British drivers will be pushing their multi-million pound GT supercars to the absolute limit in a bid to claim victory on home soil.
The nine British FIA GT drivers that have been provisionally confirmed for Silverstone’s round of the championship include: - Ryan Sharp (from Buckingham), driving a Saleen S7 for the K plus K team - Andrew Kirkaldy (Milton Keynes), driving a Ferrari 430 GT2 for the CRS Racing team - Rob Bell (St Helens), driving a Ferrari 430 GT2 for the CRS Racing team - Tim Mullen (Northampton), driving a Ferrari 430 GT2 for the CRS Racing team - Darren Turner (Banbury), driving a Nissan GT-R for the Nismo team - Tim Sugden (Leeds), driving a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR for the Trackspeed team - David Ashburn (London), driving a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR for the Trackspeed team - Luke Hines (Essex), driving a Saleen S7 for the Full Speed Racing team - Richard Westbrook (London), driving a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR for the Prospeed Competition team
In addition to the drivers, there will also be three British based teams competing at the Silverstone Supercar weekend – the UK round of this year’s FIA GT Championship - including CRS Racing, who have Andrew Kirkaldy, Rob Bell, Tim Mullen and Team Principal Chris Niarchos behind the wheel of their two Ferrari 430 GT2 cars; Nismo, who have announced former McLaren Mercedes F1 test driver, Darren Turner, as one of their drivers in the new Nissan GT-R; and Trackspeed, who have an all-British driver line-up in Tim Sugden and David Ashburn. Ryan Sharp and Luke Hines will be running the all-new Saleen S7 for their respective teams, while Westbrook, Sugden and Ashburn will all be piloting Porsche 997 GT3 RSR cars for the Prospeed Competition and Trackspeed teams respectively.
Fans visiting Silverstone can also look forward to seeing the latest racing models from Corvette, Lamborghini and Maserati battling it out around Silverstone’s 3.194 mile Grand Prix circuit.
Away from the track, there is plenty of entertainment to keep families entertained. Roary the Racing Car and his mechanic Big Chris, from the popular children’s television series which appears daily on Five’s Milkshake! and Nick Jr, will be wandering around the Silverstone paddock. They will also be meeting younger racing fans and signing autographs from a Roary the Racing Car display area on the Sunday of the race weekend.
With FREE entry for children aged 15 and under (accompanied by a ticket purchasing adult), free parking, grandstand seating included in the price of a general admission ticket, supercar displays and a fairground where all rides are free of charge, the Silverstone Supercar weekend is a perfect family day out for the May Bank Holiday. Advance tickets for the Silverstone Supercar weekend are available from as little as £20 for race day and £25 for the weekend (Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 May).
