Graham Johnson and Michael O’Brien will share one of Balfe Motorsport’s two McLaren 570S GT4 next year in the British GT Championship.
The duo finished second in this year’s Pro/Am standings with Balfe Motorsport but was unable to score an overall GT4 victory. Nevertheless, a number of near-misses mean both drivers are confident of challenging for the Pro/Am and overall GT4 titles in 2020.
“The expanded team will help us cover more ground in terms of exploring setups, plus it’ll give me and Michael a new, more immediate benchmark to compete against,” said Johnson.
“I feel very fortunate to continue my partnership with Michael. He’s such a talent in the car and we’ve got a great relationship out of it. He pushes me out of my comfort zone, and re-introduced me to karting for the first time in over 15 years! He’s also got me using a sim for the first time. Indeed, I’ve just invested in a sim for my home thanks to Michael’s influence.
“Michael and I unquestionably have unfinished business in British GT. Were it not for refuelling issues at both Silverstone and Donington or for a reliability issue at Brands, we would have won the Pro/Am title this year. I also promised Michael at the start of this year that I’d help him get that elusive first outright British GT4 win, but while we came close a couple of times in 2019, I still owe him! I plan to ensure that I come good on my promise at least once in 2020, plus I want to win another GT4 title. I’m confident that Michael and I will be fighting for the overall GT4 Championship in 2020.”
O’Brien, a graduate of the McLaren Automotive Driver Development Programme, is also feeling bullish about Balfe’s chances.
“I’m absolutely delighted to be continuing with Graham and Balfe Motorsport in 2020,” he said. “Missing out by just two points in 2018 and then finishing second in Pro/Am this season means I definitely feel like there’s unfinished business. I’m more motivated than ever to go one better in 2020.
“Both myself and Graham are fully focused on all areas of driver improvement throughout the winter and together with the hard work of the team, I’ve got a good feeling that we’ll hit the ground running next season.”
The team is expected to announce its second full-season GT4 crew shortly, while Shaun Balfe and Rob Bell will be amongst the GT3 title favourites driving the team’s 720S GT3 when British GT’s 2020 campaign kicks off at Oulton Park on April 11 & 13.
