With a healthy grid of 20 cars expected at Oulton Park's Easter Monday (5 Apr) opening rounds of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship - and the appearance of some delectable sports cars from manufacturers such as Aston Martin, Audi, Ferrari, Porsche and Lotus - the omens couldn't be more favourable for an exciting season ahead.
After a superbly competitive season in 2009, where the closely fought track action and the speed and professionalism of the entrants compensated for a grid lacking in outright numbers, the championship is looking ahead to a bright future thanks to the continued backing of tyre maker Avon, a superb and diverse calendar and renewed interest from competitors in all the classes - GT3, G4 and GT Cup.
"The improvement in entry numbers and the optimism of the teams for the year ahead is very encouraging," said Stephane Ratel, the Chairman of the championship promoter, SRO Motorsports Group. "I think this season will be healthy and competitive and that British GT will grow stronger as a result, now that firm foundations are in place."
As in previous seasons, the Avon Tyres British GT Championship calendar features races at the majority of the UK's top circuits, a variety of race formats and a foray to sports car racing's spiritual home, the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. The season kicks off alongside the Cooper Tires British F3 International Series at Oulton Park.
The majority of meetings will feature two one-hour races with a mandatory driver-change pit stop. At Silverstone and Donington there will be two-hour races with refuelling stops (that at Donington with an exciting 'into-the-night' format) while the Spa race is planned to be a two-stopper two-and-a-half-hour enduro which opens the possibility of three-driver teams.
Once again British GT will enjoy impressive coverage on both terrestrial TV in the UK and via satellite across Europe and around the world. Channel 4's regular weekend morning summer motorsport slot will continue to feature 24-minute edits of the championship's rounds, while Motors TV will broadcast 50-minute shows to Britain via its Sky-platform satellite channel and across mainland Europe to a total of 18 million homes.
The Independent CupThe Independent, the championship's media partner, has given its name to a handsome new trophy for 2010, to be vied for by the mainstays of the grid - the amateur 'gentlemen drivers'. A points system has been devised which will permit an amateur driver from any class to have the potential to win the coveted Independent Cup.
The runners and ridersDavid and Godfrey Jones, the twin brothers from Leicestershire who last year clinched the Avon Tyres British GT Championship by a single point, return to defend their title and head the diverse and exciting provisional entry list. Once again their Team Preci-Spark Ascari KZR1, with its 5-litre V8 BMW powerplant, will be prepared for the track by Team Pyro, the squad which powered the Joneses to race victories in 2009 at Knockhill, Snetterton and Brands Hatch.
At least five examples of Maranello's latest-spec GT3 weapon, the 430 Scuderia, will be ranged against the Ascari in a bid to put a Ferrari driver on top of British GT for the first time since Chris Niarchos and Tim Mullen took the crown in 2006.
Heading the charge of the prancing horses is the team with the greatest experience of the Scuderia, MTECH, whose drivers Duncan Cameron (Chester) and Matt Griffin (Northampton) claimed the car's maiden British GT win at Silverstone last year. MTECH will be hoping that their sometimes painful year of discovery with the Scuderia will give them the edge over the arrivistes.
Two of the Chad Racing team's three Ferraris are Scuderias, and there's an impressive mix of driving talent aboard in the shape of 18-year-old Dan Brown (Billericay), who is partnered with South African former single-seater racer Chris Hyman (London) in the STP-liveried Chad car, and ex-BTCC star Tom Ferrier (Bletchingley), who will share the Scuderia of Paul Warren (London). Brown was a double race winner in British GT last year, Ferrier's talent is as great, and both Hyman and Warren are quick veterans who have a year's experience of the championship under their belts.
Chad's third, older-spec Ferrari, is a dark horse in the hands of the championship's first all-Argentine squad: José Manuel Balbiani and his 19-year-old team-mate Juan Garriz. Partnered by Hyman, Balbiani helped score Chad's sole podium finish of 2009, at Knockhill.
Hector Lester was the man the Jones brothers pipped to the title last year; the genial Ulsterman returns with the Rosso Verde team, a Scuderia, and one of the fastest men in the championship, Danish driver Allan Simonsen, the holder of the lap record at four of the eight circuits being visited.
Phil Burton (Tarporley) and Adam Wilcox (Lichfield) endured a mechanically problematical season in 2009 but bounced back at the end of the year to become regular visitors to the podium; they return with the same squad - Rowan Racing - wielding the spanners, but with an upgraded Scuderia-spec Ferrari 430 and a new team name in Predator CCTV Racing.
The GT3 field is shaping up to be nothing if not diverse: joining the championship at Oulton Park, and at other meetings which do not clash with FIA GT3 commitments, are the exciting Audi R8 LMS machines of the Anglo-American United Autosports Team. It will be the first time that the impressive Audi has tackled the British GT Championship. Team co-owner Zak Brown is due to drive one of the R8s with Pablo Perez Companc, and the other will be in the hands of Mike Guasch and Mark Patterson.
Meanwhile, two Mosler MT900s are lining up to enter: one from works team Rollcentre Racing, likely to join after Oulton Park, and another for Moore International Motorsport, with Willie Moore and Paul White on the driving strength. There's an Aston Martin DBRS9 entered by Barwell-Cadena for Paul Whight (Earls Colne) and Michael Bentwood (Hale), and also a Porsche 911 GT3 from the Trackspeed team for Londoner David Ashburn and a co-driver.
G4 is the new given name for the class encompassing GT4-homologated chassis and Supersports machines, like the KTM X-Bow and Lotus 2-Eleven, and already there are encouraging signs that competition is going to be healthy this season and the grid strong.
Ginettas dominated GT4 in 2008 and '09, and four G50s are expected on the grid this season to try to make it a hat-trick of titles for the Leeds-based manufacturer. Reigning European GT4 Champion Joe Osborne heads the Ginetta brigade, the 21-year-old partnered with the relatively inexperienced Osman Yusuf. Great Budworth-based Christian Dick has been an Oulton Park instructor for a decade; he'll be hoping for a little home advantage at the opening rounds for himself, team-mate Jamie Stanley (Chester) and his Speedworks Motorsport team.
Nathan Freke (Kidderminster) is the reigning Ginetta G50 Champion and a former Formula Ford title winner; his own team, Century Motorsport, steps up to British GT this season with 22-year-old Danish lady racer Vibe Smed sharing the driving duties. The fourth G50, prepared by Team GCR, will be in the hands of vastly experienced sports car hand John Ingram (Camberley) and promising 19-year-old Tom Dunstan (Upper Boddington).
The diversity of the G4 category is underlined by the appearance of the Lotus 2-Eleven, KTM X-Bow and Nissan 350Z. The Lotus is prepared by Piranha Motorsport for circuit instructor Simon Mason (Bristol) and former Caterham and VdeV race winner Chris Bialan (Broadstone); they debuted the car successfully at Brands Hatch at the close of the 2009 season. British GT race-winning team ABG Motorsport is the squad behind the KTM's bid for G4 glory with Scottish Formula Ford Champion Rory Butcher (Kirkaldy) and Benjamin Harvey. Nissan's representative comes from Scottish team ProMotorsport, with Swiss-based duo Rick Pearson and Derek Palmer Jnr on the driving strength.
The GT Cup class is revived for 2010 and looks to be picking up momentum, with several teams exploring the possibility of entering. Multiple championship-winning Team Parker Racing is the force behind one of them, a Porsche 911 Cup car to be driven by Jim and Glynn Geddie when their Porsche Cup commitments permit, while former Caterham champion John Gaw and his driving partner Phil Dryburgh are hoping to handle a Kinfaun Racing-prepared Porsche, and there are several teams with Ferrari Challenge cars looking at joining the fun. "We are pleased with the quality of the potential entry in GTC," says championship manager Benjamin Franassovici, "and we expect numbers to grow naturally as the season continues, to the point where the class becomes a key part of our grid."
The Avon Tyres British GT Championship enjoys the additional support of Sunoco Racing Fuels, Anglo American Oil Company and The Independent.
2010 Avon Tyres British GT ChampionshipProvisional entries at 24/03/10
No Team Chassis Class Drivers1 Team Preci-Spark Ascari KZR1 GT3 David Jones / Godfrey Jones2 MTECH Ferrari 430 Scuderia GT3 Duncan Cameron / Matt Griffin IRL3 Rosso Verde Ferrari 430 Scuderia GT3 Hector Lester / Allan Simonsen DEN4 Moore Int M/s Mosler MT900 GT3 Willie Moore / Paul White5 GT3 Racing Viper Comp Coupe GT3 Craig Wilkins / Aaron Scott6 Trackspeed Porsche 911 GT3 R GT3 David Ashburn / tba8 Rollcentre Racing Mosler MT900 GT3 tba10 Chad Racing Ferrari 430 Scuderia GT3 Paul Warren / Tom Ferrier11 Chad Racing Ferrari 430 GT3 José Balbiani ARG / Juan Garriz ARG12 Predator CCTV Ferrari 430 Scuderia GT3 Phil Burton / Adam Wilcox18 Barwell-Cadena Aston Martin DBRS9 GT3 Paul Whight / Michael Bentwood21 Chad Racing Ferrari 430 Scuderia GT3 Chris Hyman RSA / Dan Brown22 United Autosports Audi R8 LMS GT3 Mike Guasch USA / Mark Patterson USA23 United Autosports Audi R8 LMS GT3 Zak Brown USA / Pablo Perez Companc ARG44 ABG Motorsport KTM X-Bow G4 Benjamin Harvey / Rory Butcher45 Pro Motorsport Nissan 350Z G4 Rick Pearson / Derek Palmer46 Team GCR Ginetta G50 G4 John Ingram / Tom Dunstan47 Century Motorsport Ginetta G50 G4 Nathan Freke / Vibe Smed DEN48 Speedworks Ginetta G50 G4 Christian Dick / Jamie Stanley49 Joe Osborne Ginetta G50 G4 Joe Osborne / Osman Yusuf55 Piranha Motorsport Lotus 2-Eleven G4 Chris Bialan / Simon Mason77 Team Parker Racing Porsche 911 Cup GTC Jim Geddie / Glynn Geddie81 Kinfaun Racing Porsche 911 Cup GTC Phil Dryburgh / John Gawe&oe
Provisional calendar03-05 Apr Oulton Park 2x60min with British F308/09 May Knockhill 2x60min 04/05 Jun Spa-Francorchamps 150min 17/18 Jul Rockingham 2x60min with British F314/15 Aug Silverstone GP 120min with British F329/30 Aug Snetterton 2x60min with British F325/26 Sep Brands Hatch GP 2x60min with British F316/17 Oct Donington Park 120min
