Barbell Motorsport has announced that BTCC star Sam Tordoff will switch to the British GT Championship in 2017 with the team, driving alongside Liam Griffin in a Lamborghini Huracan GT3.
Tordoff has years of experience racing in the UK in the Renault Clio Cup, Porsche Cup and BTCC, most notably finishing runner up in this year’s British Touring Car Championship. He has driven in a GT car before however, racing in JMW’s Ferrari 458 GTE in the ELMS last year.
“I am really excited about 2017 as I embark on a new career in GT Racing,” said Tordoff, who will be making his British GT debut at Oulton Park next year. “It is something we have looked at pursuing for a while, and when this opportunity presented itself with Liam and Barwell Motorsport it was the perfect time to jump ship.
“I’ve known Liam for a long time and I think together in the Lamborghini we have all the tools in place to mount a serious title challenge. The British GT Championship is going from strength to strength and I am very aware of the expectations of the Team to be at the sharp end of it, I cannot wait to get started!”
Liam Griffin meanwhile was one of the fastest Am drivers in the 2016 British GT series, and took the first win for Barwell’s Lamborghini Huracan GT3 at Oulton Park alongside Adam Carroll.
He was running second in the title chase and set to mount a serious challenge before his season was derailed at Silverstone, when an errant Dutch GT4 series interloper took him out of a strong potential race-winning position. But having proved his pace all season, Griffin is certain to be very strong again in 2017.
“Sam has emerged as one of the UK’s most talented and successful star drivers, he has all of the ingredients that we would look for to make a top quality GT driver. It is an absolute pleasure to welcome him to the ‘Barwell family’ for his first full season in GTs to partner Liam,” added Barwell team principal Mark Lemmer.
“It’s great to welcome Liam back, I’ve got a really positive feeling about this pairing. We know that Liam is naturally super quick and can beat anyone on his day. I am sure he will benefit from Sam’s meticulous preparation and from it being his second season in the Lamborghini Huracan GT3. I think sharing with three different Pros last season wasn’t, in hindsight, the best situation for Liam, but having Sam as a full season team-mate should take Liam’s performance to another level.
Also we must give credit to SRO for listening to the Teams and competitors regarding improvements to the GT3 class, and for implementing many really positive changes for 2017. It all makes drivers want to be a part of the Championship, and is helping to achieve yet another top quality GT3 entry for what is looking like very exciting 2017!”
