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.
In the GT4 class, Team HARD. with Trade Price Cars has not entered its pair of Ginetta G55 GT4s. Ex-Team HARD driver Anna Walewska is, however, joining the series for the first time as team owner, entering the #89 ProTechnica Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4 to be driven by Anna herself, partnered with Tom Canning.
Dean Macdonald has replaced Aleskander Schjerpen in the #43 Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT4, Schjerpen having only committed to the first half of the season. Macdonald joins from Stellar Performance where he had previously driven with Alex Quinn in the team’s #86 Toyota GT86. Neither the #86 or the sister #68 car are entered for Round Seven.
An addition to the GT4 grid for Spa is the #133 Generation AMR Super Racing Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4, to be driven by Matthew George and James Holder.
Looking the championship standings, TF Sport leads the GT3 Teams Championship on 180.5 points, 40.5 points ahead of Barwell Motorsport and 100.5 points ahead of ERC Sport, courtesy of victory at Silverstone and two wins and a third place at the Snetterton double-header. Barwell Motorsport’s Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen lead the GT3 Drivers Championship after a steady start to the season with a win at Oulton Park, a second place at Silverstone and third place finish at Snetterton. The battle for the GT3 drivers title is a tight one, however, with TF Sport’s Mark Farmer and Nikki Thiim just 2.5 points behind in second place.
Tolman Motorsport has a 16.5-point lead over Century Motorsport in the GT4 Teams Championship while Callum Pointon and Patrik Matthiesen, drivers of the #55 HHC Motorsport Ginetta G55b GT4, lead the GT4 Drivers Championship on 83.5 points, 8.5 points clear of Academy Motorsports Will Moore and Matt Nicoll-Jones, drivers of the team’s #62 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4.
The GT4 Silver Drivers standings are led by Pointon and Matthiesen while UltraTek Racing Team RJN’s Kelvin Fletcher and Martin Plowman lead the GT4 Pro-Am table.
Track action for the British GT Championship grid starts at 09:00 local on Saturday July 21 while qualifying begins at 14:05 local time later afternoon.
The lights go out for two-hour race at 13:40 on Sunday July 22.