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British GT Oulton Park Preview: Strong Lineup for 2007 Season |
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Tuesday, 03 April 2007 |
The official launch of the 2007 Avon Tyres British GT Championship at Silverstone saw the entry list for the season announced, with a strong lineup of cars and drivers for the coming season which starts this weekend at Oulton Park.
The new GT3 class, which will produce the overall 2007 British GT Champion, which will feature eight different manufacturers, with another two, Jaguar and Morgan, due to compete later in the season and this promises to be the most closely fought championship for many years.
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Barwell Motorsport will be looking to add the team title to the GT3
drivers crown it won with Leo Machitski in 2006 and will field three
Aston Martin DBRS9’s , including a bio fuel powered car for Paul
Drayson and 2004 British GT champion Jonathan Cocker. Reigning GT3
team champions Lotus will also be fielding three of the diminutive
Sports Exige GT3’s and 2007 promises to be a resumption of the classic
David versus Goliath battles that were seen last season between the
1.8-litre four cylinder Exige and the 6-litre V12 powered Aston
Martin’s.
2002 British GT Champion Tommy Erdos is teaming up with Stephen Keating
for a second assault on the British GT crown with the Damax prepared
Ascari KZ1R. Erdos, who won the 2002 title with Ian McKellar Jnr in a
GT1 Saleen, went on to win the Le Mans 24 Hours LMP2 title with MG Lola
in 2005. A second Damax Ascari is will also be competing full season
with Jimmy Brodie, with the name of his co-driver to be announced ahead
of the first round after Luke Hines was released by the team to race a
GT1 Corvette in the FIA GT Championship. A third Damax Ascari is due
to compete in selected rounds starting at Donington Park next month.
However there will be plenty of opposition from other quarters this
season. Team RPM are entering two Dodge Vipers, one in the capable
hands of GTC race winners Alex Mortimer and Bradley Ellis, who have
been extremely quick in preseason testing, and a pair of Porsche
997’s. A Porsche 997 will also be run by FIA GT3 champions Tech9, with
the Liverpool based team returning full time to the British GT
championship this season with race winners Oliver Bryant and Matt
Harris. Front running Britcar team Moore Racing is moving up to
British GT and is entering a V10 powered Dodge Viper for Paul Fenton
and Mike Gardiner.
A pair of Ferrari 430 GT3’s will also contest the 2007 championship,
with Phil Burton and Adam Wilcox in the VRS Motor Finance entered car
and the other driven by Hector Lester and Allan Simonsen. However
Simonsen will miss the opening two races of the season due to a trip to
Australia and Lester will be joined by fellow Ulsterman and reigning
British GT Champion Tim Mullen for the Oulton Park meeting.
The 7-litre V8 powered Mosler MT900R will contest the British
championship in the hands of Craig and Elliot Cole for Eclipse
Motorsport. And finally Team Modena are entering a pair of Lamborghini
Gallardos, however delays have forced the team to revide their plans
and the first one will now appear at Donington Park later this month
with Antonio Garcia at the wheel and a second car will make its debut
later in the season.
Last season the GTC class saw plenty of action and while this year the
grids will be smaller, the quality of the cars involved will mean this
class will be just as hotly contested. The Team Aero Morgan of Keith
Ahlers will be back looking for the top step of the podium that eluded
the team in 2006.
Beechdean Motorsport, who had a good first season in British GT, will
be entering a Ferrari 360 Modena for team owner Andrew Howard and
highly experienced GT racer Aaron Scott. The teams second Ferrari is
ready to race and may enter the championship later in the season.
David Dove is also competing this year in a Ferrari 360 and will
compete against the likes of the Richmond Racing Ginetta G20 of Nick
Marsh and Richard Hollebon and the RSS Performance Porsche 996 of
Graeme Mundy and Jamie Smyth.
The opening round of the 2007 Avon Tyres British GT Championship takes
place at Oulton Park on Saturday 7th April at 17:20, with the second
60-minute race on Monday 9th April at 14:00.
The 2007 season will be held over 14 rounds at 8 meetings all in the
UK, with 2-hour feature races being held at Snetterton in June and
Silverstone in August. British GT will line up alongside the Lloyds
TSB Insurance British F3 International Series at all of these meetings,
which will also include a action packed support race programme which
will feature UK Formula Ford, Caterhams, Ginettas and the Volkswagen
Racing Cup
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