The capacity grid of 36 cars is only part of the good news story for the seven-meeting 2018 British GT Championship. Six manufacturers make up a fine, wide-open entry in the GT3 category, which features a good mix of factory talent, up-and-coming young guns, and seasoned veterans.
With the action at Oulton Park set to begin in just two days time, here the first part of DSC’s extensive British GT preview. So, let’s dive in and take a look at all the teams and drivers in the 13-car headline class, marque by marque.
Aston Martin
Over a third of the GT3 grid is made up of Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3s, with the mouth-watering prospect of five factory-backed Pro drivers battling together in equal machinery. Messrs Turner, Adam, Martin, Thiim and Sorensen need little, if any, introduction on these pages.
Maxime Martin is the first of three ‘foreign signings’ and is not only new to British GT, but new to Aston Martin Racing too. The ex-BMW works driver brings a wealth of top-level experience. His win in the Spa 24 hours will surely improve the standing of his Jetstream Motorsport team when the championship makes its now-customary visit for another ‘Ardennes classic’ in July. Graham Davidson follows in the steps of Derek Johnston in stepping up from the GT Cup series (bringing the team with him) in search of more challenge and profile.
If he can quickly get his teeth into the Vantage then this outfit should be flying from the off.
Nicki Thiin and Marco Sorensen are two carriages from the infamous ‘Dane Train’ and, like Martin, are on double-duty with factory World Endurance Championship duties this season. Of course, given the driver ranking systems, they are each piloting different chassis in British GT, albeit both berthed at TF Sport. Sorensen takes 2016’s champion Derek Johnston under his wing whilst Thiim partners Mark Farmer, returning for his fourth year in a row. Both very serious efforts.
Jonny Adam added the 2016 championship with Johnston to his 2015 title and would also have won the 2013 title with Beechdean’s Andrew Howard, had he not had points docked for an infringement in a race that year. Adam, last year’s Le Mans 24 Hours GTE Pro winner, joins Optimum Motorsport this year to partner debutante Flick Haigh, who has previous GT3 experience.
And finally we have Darren Turner, who is unarguably, going into his 13th year with them, ‘Mr Aston Martin Racing’. Andrew Howard will no doubt be delighted to return to the championship alongside him, looking to add a third title for his Beechdean AMR team and he is certainly very well placed to do so.
McLaren
Aston Martin will not have it all their own way when the lead drivers are on track. Rob Bell will do his best to make sure of that as Shaun Balfe’s team bring a GT3 McLaren (650S) back to the championship. Now in his sixth year as a factory driver for McLaren, he will be hoping to keep the momentum that took him and Balfe to a GT Open Pro-Am class title in 2017 with the team’s 650S GT3.
This is another strong pairing with an experienced team, so if the McLaren is competitive they will be front-runners capable of going toe-to-toe with the best in the class.
Mercedes
New outfit ERC Sport mean business this year, entering a Mercedes AMG for Lee Mowle and the last of the factory roster in the field to write about, Yelmer Buurman, who is still relatively fresh from winning this year’s Dubai 24.
Mowle will hope the ingredients all come together for him this year, his sixth consecutive attempt on the GT3 title. He believes the car will be stronger than he found it last year and intends to be at the sharp end of the field.
Lamborghini
Phil Keen is perhaps the next-best-thing to a factory driver, and if reigning Teams Champion Barwell Motorsport or Jon Minshaw were factories, they would probably hire him anyway. At many points last season it seemed implausible that this duo could fail to take the championship with their trusty Huracan, but given the strength in depth this year, a third consecutive runners-up spot would be yet another fantastic achievement.
Alongside under the Barwell Motorsort banner is the sister car of yet another returning GT3 champion, Leo Machitski (2006 vintage), making his series return joined by young Spanish born, Finn (living in Italy) and Lamborghini specialist Patrick Kujala. This could be a strong if somewhat dark horse entry.
Barwell’s third Huracan is, yes you guessed it, entered for another returning GT3 champion from even further back in 2004. Jonny Cocker partners young amateur Sam de Haan as he embarks on perhaps the same sort of journey he himself undertook a decade and a half ago.
Bentley
Bentley might not have any works drivers present, and Team Parker Racing only has two Continental GT3s at its disposal, but they did take the driver’s title last year and Rick Parfitt jnr is back to defend it, with former British GT GT4 champion Ryan Ratcliffe joining him in that quest.
Team Parker always seem to turn out a strong and quick car and it will be interesting to see what Ratcliffe can make from this opportunity to test himself against some of the best drivers in the business.
Ian Loggie and Callum Macleod return again in the sister car and will be hoping to build on their excellent victory at Spa last year, but being consistently well-placed is likely to be their mantra.
Nissan
Last but not least is the sole GT-R NISMO of Bob Neville’s evergreen RJN Motorsport. This is the only “Silver” category car (the remainder being Pro/Am) but Struan Moore and Devon Modell have the experience and pace to keep the 2015-spec Nissan in the mix if everything comes together and they can overcome the weight penalty they will incur for being a Silver Cup entrant.
Both Modell and Moore are up to speed with racing alongside a slew of factory talent, as both have multiple seasons of Blancpain GT experience under their belts. With Moore embarking on a dual British GT-Blancpain campaign this year with RJN, he’s sure to be fresh all season, and Modell proving in the past that he’s easily adaptable, there’s no reason this pairing can’t make some noise.
And that’s the field. The odds seem very much on for someone winning a second (or possibly third) title, making for what’s sure to be a fascinating 2018 story.
Qualifying at Oulton Park is on Saturday 31 March for the opening pair of two hour races on Bank Holiday Monday, 2 April.
Photos courtesy of British GT/Jakob Ebrey Photography
