2016 sees the addition to the DSC reporting squad of James Warnette, one-time British GT Press Officer and now one of our pair of writers (alongside the returning Martin Little) who will be keeping a very close eye on proceedings in the British GT Championship.
More from both in the next day or so after a day at Snetterton of catching up with the Class of 2016 but for now here’s James’ first contribution – a wrap-up of the major stories and questions we gathered.
GG
A bevy of loud snarling beasts, a new McLaren aimed specifically at the GT4 market, the debut of celebrity baker Paul Hollywood into national GT and the first runs for a number of new faces in new machinery, were the obvious headline takeaways from the British GT media day at Snetterton earlier this week.
As the cold bones begin to thaw and teams ramp up their testing schedules prior to the opening round of the season at Brands Hatch in four weeks time, we scratched away a bit deeper and spoke to a number of prominent paddock figures ahead of the hotly anticipated 2016 season.
1. More ‘new-era’ GT3s are on expected to debut in British GT this year
The strength in depth and variety of machinery were phrases on the lips of all key SRO personnel during the media day event, however it was hard to ignore the absence of motorsport heavyweights Ferrari and Porsche on the expected GT3 entry list. A confirmation of a new Ferrari 488 GT3 is likely in 2016, with potentially two appearing before Donington in September. Similarly new examples of the Porsche 991 GT3-R and Mercedes-AMG GT3 are expected too, but the BMW M6 GT3 is reportedly a long shot according to organisers. On the upside, Optimum’s mighty looking Audi R8 LMS (a non-attendee this week due to the Mugello 12 Hours), Ecurie Ecosse’s McLaren 650s GT3 and Barwell’s pair of Lamborghini Huracan GT3s along with Team Parker’s Bentley Continental GT3 make are valuable additions.
2. Knock Knock. Whos there? No Cayman.
There was an impressive flurry of orders for Porsche’s new for 2016 Cayman GT4 Clubsport when it was announced last year with cars sold in Europe and the USA, however we were surprised to arrive at Snetterton to find that there was not a single Cayman on parade amongst the 20+ GT cars on track, despite six due to feature. Some detective work post Norfolk has revealed that the originally communicated February delivery dates have slipped to late April, after the opening round of the British Championship and just a week before Round 2!
3. Live TV on the cards, streaming under evaluation
After possibly the best year in recent memory for British GT’s television programming, 2016 looks set to see just two rounds (Silverstone and Donington) feature live coverage on Motors TV, with the usual highlights at the crack of sparrows on Channel 4. Investigations into live online streaming are underway, with a good deal of sensible research being done by the organisers to ensure a stable platform for broadcast, be it online or offline, is achieved.
4. BRDC F4 is growing, and this is very much a good thing for British GT
As the low-cost single-seat series approaches its fourth year, a grid of 21 cars is to be applauded. Now, we’re highly aware this is a sportscar website, but the long-term health of British GT is aided by the strength of its support package; something that was made abundantly clear in the wake of Formula 3’s demise in 2014. To see the well-run MSVR championship brimming with top British and International talent keen to become the future racing stars, is a positive for fans of the British GT championship.
5. BOP parity has seemingly improved in the past twelve months
Several drivers and team owners were happy to share positive views about the balance-of-performance (BOP) formula being used by SRO, and the wider adoption across Blancpain, Super GT and World GT Challenge, has enabled SRO’s GT Bureau to better understand the complexities of the task at hand. However, with new cars such as the Lamborghini Huracan GT3, plus GT4 cars new to the series from Maserati, McLaren and Porsche and joining too, plus a pair of season-entered BMW Z4 GT3s (now no longer BMW’s prime GT3 challenger), opinions may alter as we approach the Oulton Park round in May.
6. Ladies start your engines…
For the fifth year in sucession, British GT will have at least one female racing driver on the grid, and 2016 looks likely to fall marginally short on 2015’s high of four (Jamie Chadwick, Jade Edwards, Chloe Edwards, and Anna Walewska) with just Walewska and Ebor GT’s Abbie Eaton (below) in full-season entries, and reigning GT4 Champion Jamie Chadwick destined to help Paul Hollywood meet the mark later in the season, from Spa onwards. Motorsports is a male-dominated world, but the British GT paddock is a positive and welcoming place for women to make a name for themselves, hopefully more female racers will join the series and bolster entries at circuits where higher capacity grids can be hosted.
7. Pseudo factory squads de rigueur in GT3
We’ve had several teams operate in British GT since 2010 with a level of factory support and in some cases full-factory efforts disguised to comply with series regulations. This year no less than ten cars will have a form of factory support beyond the traditional Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) / customer relationship. We won’t name names, but with the complexity of GT3 cars ever increasing and the competitive nature of the series doing similar, it appears drivers are taking it into their own hands to eliminate all but act-of-god failures of their GT3 weaponry. While on paper this isn’t so much a big deal, British GT has built a rich heritage on ‘Pro-Am spirit’ even in the GT1 and GT2 days of yesteryear. It also raises eyebrows in terms of budget spends, again perhaps a concern for only the more earnest of race fan and this writer.
8. GT4 is in rude health, and talk is it will surpass GT3 in coming seasons
With British GT yet again over-subscribed, it was easy to see that GT4 was this year a prime driver in this for the second year in succession. Seven marques in GT4 is something to be applauded and Franassovici’s support for the class even through the direst periods of 2009 and 2010 (some 5 GT4s starting a race) is delivering. A humongous 18 GT4s were on the media day entry list, so expect calls for separate GT4 races once more at circuits like Snetterton, Brands Hatch and Oulton Park from team owners and drivers. Notably the vibe in the paddock was different this year, with GT4 being acknowledged by GT3 and GT4 entrants as the class likely to assume the top tier of British GT sooner rather than later.
9. But… no need to panic on the future of GT3s just yet
Fifteen GT3s is a good starting point for the 2016 season and fans of the top tier of British GT need not panic. The fact it is down from 18 the year before can be read many ways. The influx of new GT3 cars this year means ‘AM’ drivers are being more choosey and in some cases will look at the early races as performance guide of what to put their money down on. The financial crisis is long over, but the scrutiny of top-earning executives in business is still high and this remains an issue. Costs for GT3 are also rising year on year and many in the paddock predict the inability to reduce overheads is ultimately going to be the demise of the class at a national level.
10. The change to Pirelli rubber for 2016 was driven by Pirelli
Speaking at SRO’s press conference, Pirelli UK Motorsport operations manager Matthew Corby made it abundantly clear he wanted British GT in the Italian tyre manufacturer’s portfolio of championships for 2016. While the benefit for SRO to have its major series all running on Pirelli tyres is obvious (less factors for error in BOP calculations), the desire of Pirelli UK’s Corby was a pleasant surprise. Having seen a level of sponsorship from Blancpain in past years, led in part by the efforts of Championship Manager, Benjamin Franassovici, this shows further progression for the series so often referred to as ‘the best national GT3 series in the world’.
Oh – Hang on there’s 11! Hold the front page… A new series website is imminent!
Anyone close to British GT will breathe a big ‘Hallelujah’ at this nugget. After some five or six years of the existing website a new mobile responsive website is due to be delivered at some point in 2016. By engaging fans via a strong web presence and across social media, sports promoters such as SRO can open new communication channels with their audience that can be measured and valued as a new commercial opportunity with sponsors. Businesses that get involved through sponsorships and social media promotions, meanwhile, benefit from increased brand affinity and loyalty. Teams and drivers biggest bugbear with the series is its perceived lack of promotion, so while not the panacea to all issues, it’s great to see this happening. More details are expected from SRO later in the year.
James Warnette
