Pendrigh and White complete McLaren Trophy line-up for Greystone
Greystone GT has revealed a fifth and final entry into the new McLaren Trophy with South African duo Shaun Pendrigh and Stuart White.
The pair will contest the 570S Trophy class of the five-round, European series alongside the already announced RAFA Racing Club entry of Rafa Martinez and Jem Hepworth.
Their arrival at the Silverstone-based team takes the number of entries in the McLaren Trophy to five as the two 570S Trophy cars join three in the Artura Trophy class.
“We’re extremely pleased to add Shaun and Stuart to the Greystone GT line-up for the McLaren Trophy,” said Mark McLoughlin, Greystone’s team principal. “Having two cars in the 570S Trophy class means we now have the ability to share information between crews in an effort to help boost the performance of both cars more and to accelerate the development of both of our bronze drivers.”
Wylie returns to GT Cup
31-year-old Scottish driver Ross Wylie will return to the GT Cup Championship in 2023 with Brabham and has his sights firmly set on claiming the GTO title that he won in 2021.
The 31-year-old from Thornhill near Dumfries gets his 20th year of motorsport competition underway with the opening two races at Donington Park this weekend.
Wylie will share a rare Brabham BT62 Competition with its owner Paul Bailey in the two 50-minute races at each event.
Ross made his GT Cup debut in 2019 and scored nine GTO podiums, including six victories, on his way to title success two years ago with Bailey. Kendall Developments will be preparing the Brabham this year.
The Scotsman twice made history for the legendary Brabham marque in 2021. Having achieved the first-ever class victory for a “customer” Brabham BT62 Competition, Ross went on to achieve a first outright race victory in the world the car at Silverstone.
Harrolds Volante Rosso Motorsport programme confirmed
The Harrolds Volante Rosso Motorsport team has been launched ahead of this year’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS season in a star-studded pre-Grand Prix event in Melbourne.
Ross Poulakis and Sam Brabham will be the teams’ spearheads at the opening round of the Championship at Bathurst before Chelsea Angelo and Chris Batzios will be in the second of the familiar Mercedes-AMG GT3 machines from round two at the Supercars event in Perth starting April 28.
Angelo is the only female driver currently entered in the championship for this season.
“The team at Harrolds recognised Chelsea’s driving talent and the increased participation of women in motorsport is something that we fully support,” said Harrolds Volante Rosso Motorsport co-owner Chris Papadopoulos at the team’s event, which featured appearences from David Brabham and Damon Hill.
“Harrolds wants to use its brand through Chelsea to help encourage women in motorsport and to champion the FIA Girls on Track program that Motorsport Australia operates locally.
“The increased female interest in motorsport will be demonstrated this weekend at the Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix, where female attendance is expected to be more than 50 per cent of all ticket holders. We aim to maintain that interest on the national stage.”
World Challenge Asia Am Cup class builds
The Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS series will boast a strong GT3 Am Cup category this year following confirmation of four entries this week from as many manufacturers.
Reigning overall class champions Andrew Macpherson and Ben Porter are again scheduled to contest all six events with AMAC Motorsport’s Porsche, while K-Tunes (Lexus), Comet Racing (Ferrari) and The Spirit of FFF (Lamborghini, formerly Reap Fueling Ambitions) also return for the Fanatec Japan Cup rounds at Fuji, Suzuka, Motegi and Okayama.
They’re joined by another Am entry overseen by RUNUP SPORTS whose participation with Nissan has already been confirmed.
Aston Martin, BMW, Ferrari, Honda, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG, Nissan and Porsche all featured on this year’s confirmed entry list prior to this week, with K-Tunes Racing bringing the ninth brand to the championship with its Lexus.
The Chang International Circuit in Thailand hosts the opening round of 2023’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS campaign on May 12-14.
Images courtesy of Greystone GT and Egghead Media
