Toro Verde signs Hawkey
Toro Verde GT has announced that 2020 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Pro-Am Champion and former DTM racer Esmee Hawkey will make her debut in the British GT Championship this year.
25-year-old Hawkey joins Joe Wheeler aboard the #80 Ginetta G56 GT4, completing the second of the team’s two-car entry with experienced racers James Townsend and Ian Duggan rounding out the first.
Hawkey is no stranger to Ginettas after spending two years racing Juniors in 2014 and ’15. Her return to Ginetta competition is part of a new and wider-ranging brand ambassador role with the Yorkshire manufacturer.
Lionspeed GP joins GT Open
Lionspeed GP, a regular in the NLS and N24, has confirmed a full International GT Open programme with a Porsche 911 GT3 R in the Pro category for this season.
The headline here is that the team’s 911 will be driven 2007 GT Open Champion Richard Lietz. The Porsche factory driver will be pairing up with Lionspeed stalwart Patrick Kolb.
“The Nürburgring is our heritage and our home,” Kolb says. “However, after five consecutive years in the Green Hell it is time to embrace new challenges. The International GT Open is the next step for myself and Lionspeed GP.
“It is a championship that with over 30 GT3 cars on Europe’s greatest tracks will provide great racing. The global livestream will allow not only our German fan base but also our North American partners and fans to follow the races.”
DTM race-winning Porsche restored
The KÜS Team Bernhard Porsche 911 GT3 R that won the brand’s first DTM race with Thomas Preining last year has been restored by Timo Bernhard and the Porsche Heritage and Museum Department.
The car has been repaired and restored to the exact condition of the day it claimed the win at the Norisring in July 2022. It will now feature in the Porsche Museum collection.
“A racing car is the ideal exhibit for us to show off the characteristic Porsche DNA,” says Achim Stejskal, Head of Porsche Heritage and Museum. “This is why we always look for those cars that have achieved major milestones in the history of motorsport. It didn’t take us long to home in on Timo Bernhard’s team and its piece of Zuffenhausen history. We’re adding an important contemporary witness to the collection.”
For Bernhard, the car’s inclusion in the museum’s collection is a significant achievement in his career as a team boss.
“In the past year I’ve completed tests in the DTM configuration so that I could inspire my team,” says the 42-year-old. “The Porsche Museum is a very special place for me and it touches and fascinates many people. There they can experience the history of Porsche up close. Winning like this is something that cannot be expressed in words.”
Autosport GP reveals drivers
Alpine customer team Autosport GP has revealed its driver line-up for the 2023 GT4 European Series.
Simon Tirman and Paul Cauhaupé, who shared a car in the 2022 Alpine cup, now join forces in Silver class, and will split the driving between them in the #110 A110 GT4.
In the second #55 Alpine, Laurent Hurgon and Alain Ferté team up for a double season in both the GT4 European Series and the French FFSA GT4 championship in the AM category.
