British GT Championship hatches over Easter
This year’s eagerly-awaited British GT Championship blasts off at Oulton Park over this Easter weekend with an eye-catching capacity 36-car field comprising 19 GT3s and 17 GT4s entered for the full 2024 season. Some blue riband events, though, will boast even bigger grids.
The 19-strong GT3 entry is one more than last year and the most since 2014. But although Pro-Am remains the most prominent class, a record seven Silver-Am crews are also set to contest the entire season.
Silver pairings have been GT4’s dominant force for much of the last decade but this year the balance of power has shifted towards Pro-Am, which contributes 10 of the 17 entries.
The overall 2024 entry list features no fewer than 10 acclaimed manufacturers, nine of which are racing in GT4. That category also includes four new models – the Aston Martin Vantage, Ford Mustang, Ginetta G56 Evo and Lotus Emira – alongside more familiar returning marque models representing Audi, BMW, McLaren, Mercedes and Toyota.
The tenth supercar manufacturer on the 2024 entry is Lamborghini with Barwell Motorsport fielding two Huracan GT3 EVOs, one intriguingly shared by father and son team Rob and Ricky Collard, both former BTCC stars.
Rob Collard is also one of five overall British GT champions on the GT3 entry list – the others being Jonny Adam, Andrew Howard (both aboard Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVOs), Ian Loggie (Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO) and Sandy Mitchell who lines-up in the second of the Barwell entries. Together with rival GT3 driver Sam Neary, Mitchell is a highly promising member Team UK, part of Motorsport UK’s talent developing Academy.
Another former champion, Seb Morris, is hoping to become only the second-ever driver to lift both GT3 and GT4 titles. He’s competing in Team Parker Racing’s Mercedes-AMG GT4 but faces tough opposition from the likes of Erik Evans and Matt Cowley who intriguingly have split up to defend their GT4 titles in opposing Mercedes and Mustang entries. That class also features two more former champions in the shapes of Dan Vaughan (Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO) and Matt Nicoll-Jones in another of the Academy Motorsport entered Ford Mustang GT4s.
Other prominent drivers include Aston Martin F1 Ambassador Jessica Hawkins, factory stars Raffaele Marciello (BMW M4 GT3), Maximilian Goetz (Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO) and Tom Gamble (McLaren 720S GT3 EVO) as well as reigning Porsche Carrera Cup GB champion Adam Smalley. Multiple British GT Championship runner-up Phil Keen also returns along with Alex Buncombe who makes his first start since 2013. Smalley and Buncombe are among those racing McLaren 720S GT3 EVOs while Keen is another of those pinning their hopes on a Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO.
All will be in action over seven stunning weekends with rounds at Silverstone, Donington (twice), Spa-Francorchamps, Snetterton and Brands Hatch following the season-opener at Oulton Park. Five of those – Oulton, Silverstone, Snetterton, Donington 2 and Brands – will also feature live Sky Sports F1 coverage, which is now confirmed for the next two seasons. For even more ardent followers, SRO’s GT World YouTube broadcasts of every qualifying session, warm up and race.