Photo: BritishGT.com / Jakob Ebrey Photography

After a hiatus of six weeks, the 2018 British GT Championship roars back into life for what is arguably the drivers’ favourite track of the year, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

32 cars will take to the grid for Sunday July 22’s two-hour race, Round Seven of the championship, with 14 cars entered in the GT3 category and 18 in the GT4 class.

With three rounds remaining, there are a number of changes to the entries for Spa, in comparison to the previous round at Silverstone. In the GT3 class, Jordan Witt replaces Ricardo Sanchez to drive alongside Struan Moore in the #24 RJN Motorsport Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3. The #26 Ultimate Speed / Michael Brown Aston Martin V12 Vantage driven by Michael Brown and Matt Manderson is not entered for Round Seven. Ram Racing is, however, entering its #30 Mercedes-AMG GT3, driven by Remon Vos and Ton Onslow Cole.

Continue reading All To Play For As British GT Heads To Spa For Round Seven (19.07.18) →

Photo: BritishGT.com / Jakob Ebrey

Fenny Compton-based Century Motorsport has announced that Dean Macdonald will join the team for Round Seven of the 2018 British GT Championship at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and for the remaining two rounds, driving the team’s #43 BMW M4 GT4 alongside Jack Mitchell.

Macdonald’s drive comes on the back of the departure of Aleksander Schjerpen who had signed for the first half of the season.

17-year-old Macdonald is the youngest winner of Comer Kadet Scottish Championship in karting at eight years old. Macdonald finished joint seventh in the 2017 British GT Championship GT4 Silver drivers standings and 13th overall in the GT4 class after a season driving the #59 Black Bull Garage 59 McLaren 570S GT4.

Nathan Freke, Century Motorsport team owner, is excited at the prospect of Macdonald joining the team but was quick to praise Aleksander Schjerpen for his efforts.

“It’s a real shame that Aleks could not continue the season,” said Nathan Freke. “I’m so happy we got a win at the last round with him and I hope we see him back in the near future.”

“Dean is someone who we have had one eye on for some time, and when the opportunity came up to work with him, we jumped at the chance. We have a test arranged before Spa for him to acclimatise. We know the BMW is good, the team is working well and Jack is a great co-driver. All the ingredients are there for Dean to slip into his role nicely and fight for results straight way.”

“I’m looking forward to the last three rounds and hope this is the start of a long relationship between Dean and Century.”

Dean Macdonald said: “I am very pleased to be part of the Century Motorsport team and very excited to see how the rest of the season will go.”

“It is going to be great to work with such a well-established team for the rest of the year and also to partner Jack Mitchell. I am very excited and looking forward to working with everyone.”

Qualifying for Round Seven of the 2018 British GT Championship at Spa-Francorchamps begins at 14:05 local time on July 21 with the lights going out for the start of the two-hour race at 13:40 local time on Sunday July 22.

Photo: BritishGT.com / Jakob Ebrey Photography.

The #99 Beechdean AMR driving duo of team owner Andrew Howard and Aston Martin factory driver Darren Turner are determined to reignite their 2018 British GT Championship at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and are leaving nothing to chance as the premier national GT series enters its seventh round.

Currently sixth in the GT3 Teams Championship and Pro-Am Drivers Championship, Howard and Turner are looking to Spa as a circuit that they both have extensive experience to see them back on the top step of the podium.

After a difficult race at Silverstone in June which saw the #99 car finish ninth, Beechdean AMR has examined in detail where it can improve and Andrew Howard is keen to see if the hard work will pay off in Belgium.

“Since Silverstone we’ve taken a good look at everything that went wrong,” said Howard. “We are constantly looking at improving things but this time we found ourselves having to find out why the car was so difficult to drive at a circuit we usually go well at. We’ve changed a few things and kept a few other things so this weekend we’ll find out if we made the right choices.”

Photo: Beechdean AMR

It is not only the car that has been examined – the drivers have also spent time fine-tuning their approach for one of the world’s most iconic circuits.

“We’ve done some great work on the Base Performance simulator and our times in the sim reflected where we thought we should be as drivers so let’s get back on track at Spa and see if we did all the right things.”

Darren Turner is also excited about the opportunities that racing at Spa-Francorchamps, a circuit he knows well, will bring.

“It’s always good to go to Spa and I’m lucky this year as I’ve already raced there in the WEC season-opener,” said Turner. “It’s a great circuit to have on any calendar and it really adds something to the draw of the British GT Championship. I’m pleased to see that we will be working with my race engineer from the WEC at Spa so let’s see if we can get back on that podium!”

Qualifying for Round Seven of the 2018 British GT Championship gets underway at 14:05 on Saturday July 21 with the light going for the two-hour race at 13:40 local time on Sunday July 22.

Hindhead-based Anna Walewska has announced that she has formed a new team to take part in the remaining rounds of the 2018 British GT Championship as well as potentially contesting the 24H Series round in Austin, Texas and The Gulf 12H at Yas Marina.

The team, to be named ProTechnika Motorsport, will campaign a new Mercedes-AMG GT4 and will be backed by the University of Bolton and the National Centre for Motorsport Engineering. This is a long-standing relationship for Anna in which she acts as an ambassador for the University and invites students to work within the team during race-weekends to gain first-hand experience of top-level motorsport.

Anna Walewska, who parted company with Team HARD Racing after the Snetterton rounds of the premier national GT championship, believes that this is the right time for her to move from driver to team owner.

Photo: British GT.com / Jakob Ebrey Photography.

“After two decades in the industry as a competitor, I still have the hunger to win races but also feel that this is the right time to elevate my career to the next level, which is naturally team ownership. This allows me to use my vast experience in shaping a team around me and the needs of any driver to achieve the very highest standard possible with no compromises.”

Anna is confident that the choice of Mercedes-AMG is the right one for her team.

“Mercedes-AMG offer, in my opinion, the very best products to allow us to progress and provide a platform for us to build both competitively and commercially. Their GT4 car has proven pace and reliability and I am very much looking forward to getting started.”

Anna is also delighted that she will continue her relationship with the University of Bolton and the National Centre for Motorsport Engineering.,

“I am thrilled to have the continued support of for the University of Bolton with this new venture and will do everything in my power to continue to give the students the correct platform to begin their careers in this industry. Owning the team allows me to better serve the students and their needs in line with the courses they are studying, which is very satisfying for me.

Qualifying for Round Seven of the 2018 British GT Championship gets underway at 14:05 on July 21.

Photo: BritishGT.com / Jakob Ebrey Photography.

RJN Motorsport has announced that Jordan Witt will re-join its British GT crew to partner Struan Moore in the #24 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 at Round Seven at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

Witt, a regular in the #22 GT SPORT MOTUL Team RJN Nissan GT-R he shares with Moore and Ricardo Sanchez, last drove in the premier national GT championship in Rounds Four and Five at Snetterton in which he and Moore took seventh and sixth place finishes.

Witt is excited about the opportunity to drive with Moore at Spa.

“I can’t wait to climb back into the car and get going’” said Witt. “Spa is one of, if not the strongest circuit for me, and somewhere I have enjoyed podiums and wins in the past. At Silverstone Struan and Ricardo proved how competitive a Silver Cup crew can be in the combined qualifying and longer race, so we now intend to give the Nissan GT-R its first podium of the season.”

Qualifying for the British GT Championship at Spa starts at 14:05 on Saturday July 21.