Martin Short was in touch yesterday to bring more welcome news for a British GT Championship GT3 class that just weeks ago was looking in a less than healthy state but now looks set for potential year on year growth in the premier GT3 class.
“Richard (Neary) and I are returning in 2017 with a new car, a Mercedes AMG GT3..”
The move comes after a trying season for the pair in a BMW Z4 GT3 under the Team ABBA with Rollcentre Racing banner.
“It’s fair to say we didn’t have a happy year with the Z4. We just couldn’t make it work whatever we tried,” said Shorty.
We almost packed it in before the end of the season until Benji (Championship Co-ordinator Benjamin Franassovici) told us that there would be an Am/ Am Cup and we decided to have a crack).
“We were looking at potential cars to replace the BMW and I’d had the opportunity at Spa (for the British GT round) to get a sort of informal back to back test.
“The Bentley and the Astons just blasted by on the Kemmel straight but I could stay with them on the twiddly bits, not losing ground.
“Then the Mercedes caught up with me at the exit of Eau Rouge and just sat behind, I was surprised it wasn’t faster in a straight line.
“But it got alongside into Les Combes and by two corners later it was gone, the thing really handles!”
That impression from close at hand on track only improved when finally the pair got to test the Mercedes.
“We tested the car at Hockenheim and I found it was, by far, the best handling GT car I’ve driven. The balance of the car is beautiful, it has a lot of grip and just fantastic brakes. As a package it is just massively more confidence inducing than the Z4.
“Richard loves it too and I think it will play to his strengths, and he has plenty of them, particularly in the wet where he is way quicker than I am.”
The season plan is coming together quickly, “the full British GT season is settled with the AMG and we’ll try to do as many of the Creventic Touring Car races with the BMW M3 too.
“There’s the possibility too of perhaps the odd Creventic outing in the AMG which might also see some Blancpain action, either rented out, or, rather less likely, we might just do the odd race.”
In British GT though the new car, and the renewed confidence levels have relit the Shorty fire:
“The Am/ Am thing is a nice to have of course but in truth we’ll be looking for a bit better than that. I’m no Jonny Adam or Alexander Sims but on the right day, with the right circumstances I’d like to think we can spring a surprise or two!”
