Rugby-based Tolman Motorsport has announced that Joe Osborne and David Pattison will drive its new McLaren 570S GT4 in the 2017 British GT Championship.
Tolman Motorsport finished seventh in the GT3 Teams Standings in 2016, campaigning the Ginetta G55 GT3.
“We’re very pleased to have secured about the best combination of drivers and car that you could assemble for our 2017 British GT campaign,” said Team Principal Christopher Tolman. “We had a great run with Ginetta who have been very good to us, and motorsport, over the years, culminating in us running their GT3 project this season. Tolman Motorsport wants to get to Le Mans in the next 2 -3 years and we felt McLaren are the brand to do that with. We’ve already got a good rapport with the team at McLaren and we’re proud to be associated with that name. It’s also a huge honour to be the first customer McLaren GT4 team.”
Joe Osborne who, alongside Lee Mowle, drove the #7 AMDTuning.com BMW Z4 GT3 to 4th place in the 2016 GT3 Teams Standings, is delighted by the move.
“It’s been seven years since I raced in GT4 but, in 2017, it will be more competitive than this season with more manufacturer variety,” said Osborne. “Arguably it will be better to watch than GT3. The road-version of the McLaren is a car I know well from work I do with the brand outside of racing, so its performance shouldn’t be a big surprise.”
David Pattison is also looking forward to the opportunity of driving alongside Osborne.
“I’m delighted to be finally racing with ‘coach’ Joe,” said Pattison. “I came to racing very late, fulfilling a lifetime ambition. Joe has been instrumental in my progress and I’m hungry to learn more. Having driven the McLaren I feel confident we have a very good car.”
The 2017 British GT Championship opens at Oulton Park on April 15 – 17.
