2018 British GT Championship entry list: 35 cars are ready for new season
The 2018 British GT Championship season will kick-off on Easter weekend at Oulton Park International circuit. The 35 crew are ready for two one-hour races on the 4.3 km (2.69-mile) circuit in Cheshire. Thirteen crews are entering the competition in GT3 class and twenty-two crews will race in GT4 class.
Same as in 2017, this season will feature seven racing weekends with ten races. The double-header events are planned for Oulton Park, Snetterton and Spa-Francorchamps. The season’s finale will take place at Donington Park on September 22-23.
Defending champion Rick Parfitt Jr will share the #1 Bentley with Ryan Ratcliffe
Team Parker Racing’s Rick Parfitt Jr. will defend his championship title in the #1 Bentley Continental GT3. Seb Morris, his partner from the last year’s victorious campaign, moved to the Blancpain GT Series and will be replaced by Ryan Ratcliffe in the #1 car. Parfitt and Ratcliffe have a successful history together, they won GT4 class title in 2013 British GT Championship.
Last year’s vice-champions Phil Keen and Jon Minshaw will stay together in the #33 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3. Jonny Adam and Derek Johnston, champions in 2016 and last year’s third-placed crew, will be separated this year in two different Aston Martins. Jonny Adam will share the #75 Optimum Motorsport car with Flick Haigh while Derek Johnston will share the #17 TF Sport entry with Marco Sorensen.
One more Danish ace joined TF Sport – Nicki Thiim will share the #11 car with Mark Farmer. Maxime Martin, new Aston Martin Racing’s driver in the FIA WEC, will also race in the British GT in the #47 Jetstream Motorsport’s car. Aston Martin’s veteran Darren Turner, who was successful in international competitions, will make his debut in British GT Championship alongside Andrew Howard.
Twenty-two cars will race in GT4 class in the season-opening race
In the GT4 class, HHC Motorsport will try to defend a title with #55 Ginetta G55. A new pair of drivers in that car would be Ginetta GT4 Supercup champion Callum Pointon and his partner from Denmark Patrik Matthiesen.
The biggest novelty in GT4 class is a bespoke Jaguar F-Type SVR. Invictus Games Racing will run two unique cars, also playing an active role in the rehabilitation of wounded, injured and sick veterans of the British Armed Forces. Team’s Pro drivers Matthew George and Jason Wolfe would be joined by Major Steve McCulley and RAF Sergeant Ben Norfolk.
2018 British GT Championship entry list
| Class | Team | Car | Number | Drivers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GT3 | Team Parker Racing | Bentley Continental GT3 | 1 | Rick Parfitt Jr., Ryan Ratcliffe |
| 7 | Ian Loggie, Callum Macleod | |||
| Barwell Motorsport | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 | 2 | Leo Machitski, Patrick Kujala | |
| 33 | Jon Minshaw, Phil Keen | |||
| 69 | Jonny Cocker, Sam de Haan | |||
| TF Sport AMR | Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 | 11 | Nicki Thiim, Mark Farmer | |
| 17 | Marco Sorensen, Derek Johnston | |||
| Motul Team RJN Motorsport | Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 | 24 | Devon Modell, Struan Moore | |
| Jetstream Motorsport AMR | Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 | 47 | Graham Davidson, Maxime Martin | |
| Optimum Motorsport | Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 | 75 | Jonny Adam, Flick Haigh | |
| Beechdean AMR | Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 | 99 | Andrew Howard, Darren Turner | |
| Balfe Motorsport | McLaren 650S GT3 | 101 | Shaun Balfe, Rob Bell | |
| ERC Sport | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 116 | Lee Mowle, Yelmer Buurman | |
| GT4 | Tolman Motorsport | McLaren 570S GT4 | 4 | Charlie Fagg, Michael O'Brien |
| 5 | Jordan Albert, Lewis Proctor | |||
| 56 | Joe Osborne, David Pattison | |||
| Equipe Verschuur | McLaren 570S GT4 | 10 | Finlay Huthicon, Daniel McKay | |
| Invictus Games Racing | Jaguar F-Type SVR GT4 | 22 | Ben Norfolk, Jason Wolfe, Basil Rawlinson | |
| 44 | Steve McCulley, Matthew George, Paul Vice | |||
| Richardson Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT4 | 25 | TBA | |
| Team HARD Racing | Ginetta G55 GT4 | 34 | Anna Walewska, Callum Hawkins-Row | |
| 88 | Benjamin Wallace, Nick Worm | |||
| Century Motorsport | BMW M4 GT4 | 42 | Ben Green, Ben Tuck | |
| 43 | TBA | |||
| HHC Motorsport | Ginetta G55 GT4 | 50 | Will Burns, Mike Newbould | |
| 55 | Patrik Mathiesen, Callum Pointon | |||
| UltraTek Racing/Team RJN | Nissan 370Z GT4 | 53 | Kelvin Fletcher, Martin Plowman | |
| 54 | Jesse Antilla, Stephen Johansen | |||
| Academy Motorsports | Aston Martin Vantage GT4 | 61 | Jan Jonck, Tom Wood | |
| 62 | Matt Nicoll-Jones, Will Moore | |||
| Team Parker Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT4 | 66 | Nick Jones, Scott Malvern | |
| Steller Performance | Toyota GT86 GT4 | 68 | TBA | |
| 86 | TBA | |||
| Track-Club | McLaren 570S GT4 | 72 | Adam Balon, Ben Barnicoat | |
| Fox Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG GT4 | 77 | Mark Murfitt, Michael Broadhurst | |
| Balfe Motorsport | McLaren 570S GT4 | 501 | Graham Johnson, Mike Robinson |
Photos: Jakob Ebrey Photography, britishgt.com,
