Greystone GT, 2 x Mclaren 570S GT4
British squad Greystone GT has announced a two-car entry into this year’s GT4 European Series, with Richard Distl and Alain Valente being the first pairing confirmed for the team’s twin McLarens.
Greystone GT, which only made its debut last season in the UK GT Cup Championship, will make the step up to European competition this year running two McLaren 570S GT4s.
German driver Distl and rising Swiss star Valente are the first pairings confirmed for the team. They will contest three of this year’s six rounds, with Greystone’s second car planned as a full-season entry.
Distl and Valente will run in the Pro-Am class and will contest the mid-season double-headers at Paul Ricard in France and Misano in Italy, as well as the season finale at Barcelona, Spain, in October.
Munich-based Distl began racing in 2019 in the Pure McLaren GT Series, finishing in the top six in the Cup class for GT4 machinery in every race he entered.
After a year away he returned in 2021 with selected outings in the more powerful 570S Trophy division, scoring a best finish of fourth at Portimão with Alain co-driving. He also made a one-off appearance in the GT4 European Series at Paul Ricard last season as a toe in the water for this campaign.
Pro racer Valente began his career in karts aged seven; winning the Swiss title and the prestigious Trofeo Andrea Margutti before graduating to cars in 2014 in FIA Formula 4 and scoring six podiums on his way to fifth in the points.
Since switching to GT racing he has been a member of both the Lamborghini Young Drivers and the McLaren Automotive Driver Development Programmes. During this period the 25-year-old has scored wins in the Italian GT Championship and the ADAC GT Masters GT4 Trophy in Germany. Last year he finished on the podium three times in British GT’s Silver Cup class.
Aside from its race team, Greystone GT boasts a successful record of running both high-performance test sessions and track days in the UK. This move into the GT4 European Series marks the team’s biggest expansion yet.
Mark McLoughlin, Greystone GT Team Principal, said: “To launch a multi-race programme in a series as intensely fought as the GT4 European Series, and to be attracting drivers from across the continent to what is a very ambitious, but still very young, team, makes us all feel very proud. We really enjoyed testing with Richard in Barcelona last year and are delighted to have him on board for 2022 as we work together to help him take a step forward with his racing. In Alain, we have a young racer who has already been recognised as having the talent to join two major manufacturers’ young driver programmes and who gave a very good impression of himself when he tested with us last year at Oulton Park. I can’t wait to see what we can potentially achieve in the series together.”
News on Greystone GT’s second car will be announced soon.
Arkadia Racing, Alpine A110 GT4
Arkadia Racing will continue to fly the flag for Alpine in the GT4 European Series this season, and the team has signed single-seater ace Pierre-Louis Chovet and Stéphan Guérin to pilot its first A110 GT4.
The French squad ran twin Alpines in the championship last season, and will welcome back Guérin for a second campaign this season – the Frenchman having finished sixth in the Pro-Am championship last term sharing an A110 GT4 with Antoine Leclerc.
For this year, Guérin will race alongside Chovet, who moves to GT racing from a successful career in single-seaters. Having started his career in karting, Chovet is a graduate of both French Formula 4 and the Formula Regional European Championship. Last year he competed in the Asian Formula 3 Championship, recording six race wins and finishing second in the points. He has also made appearances in the FIA Formula 3 Championship. Guérin and Chovet will compete in the Pro-Am class.
The deal has been struck following a pre-season test at Barcelona and a successful first race outing in last November’s Trophee Tourisme Endurance 6 Hours of Le Mans, during which Chovet helped Arkadia’s Alpine to a maiden pole position in the event.
W&S Motorsport, 2 x Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport
W&S Motorsport plans to field two cars for its maiden campaign in the GT4 European Series this season and has announced the championship’s first all-Russian driver pairing for one of its Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsports.
The W&S Motorsport team is a regular in single-make Porsche racing in Germany, having won last year’s Nürburgring-based Cayman GT4 Trophy by Manthey-Racing, and enjoyed multiple strong results during guest entries in ADAC GT4 Germany.
To make the jump into the GT4 European Series, W&S has partnered with the Russian team ISKRA Motorsport. The alliance aims to help ISKRA gather experience and data of competing on the European stage, which it can then in turn use during national races in Russia.
Russian drivers Andrey Solukovtsev and Mikhail Loboda will race the 718 Cayman in the Am class this season, and the pair will be coached by professional Danish driver Nicolaj Møller Madsen, who is racing with W&S in GT4 Germany.
Experienced German duo Max Kronberg and Hendrik Still will crew the team’s second Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.
Kronberg (35) graduates to the European stage following an impressive 2021 season, in which he won the Cayman GT4 Trophy by Manthey Racing title with W&S and was also a class winner in the Nürburgring 24 Hours. He also made six race starts in GT4 Germany as a toe in the water ahead of this season.
Still (34) has extensive experience in GT racing with a long list of successes in both domestic, European and international competition, including titles in the Porsche Super Sports Cup Germany, VdeV Endurance Series and the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Middle East.
Alongside their GT4 European Series campaign, both drivers will also compete in the full GT4 Germany season with the W&S team.
Allied Racing 2 x Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport
Allied Racing will return to the GT4 European Series this year with a two-pronged Porsche attack, fielding a brand-new 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport in both the Silver Cup and Pro-Am classes.
The German squad has been a major player in the GT4 European Series in recent years, having entered the championship every year since 2015. For the 2022 campaign, Allied will bring three of its promising Junior Academy drivers to the European stage with Danish driver Alexander Hartvig and German Moritz Wiskirchen crewing its Silver Cup entry, and karting graduate Vincent Andronaco set for his first full season of GT racing.
The Pro-Am car will be raced by team CEO Jan Kasperlik and Andronaco, who graduates to the GT4 European Series after a successful domestic karting career in Germany.
