Garage 59, the Brackley-based team owned by Alexander West, Andrew Kirkaldy and Chris Goodwin, has joined forces with Chris Froggatt’s Sky Tempesta Racing for a two-car GT3 campaign in the 2023 Intelligent Money British GT Championship.
Both entries will be overseen by Garage 59, as they will be for the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS, with Alex West driving alongside Marvin Kirchhoefer in the team’s new McLaren 720S GT3 EVO while the Sky-Tempesta-backed 720S will see Kevin Tse and Chris Froggatt back in the driving seat.
Garage 59 last made a full-season commitment to the British GT Championship in 2017 when it ran the McLaren junior GT4 programme.
28-year-old Kirchhoefer is looking forward to learning some unfamiliar UK circuits in the UK’s premier GT series after making a one-off British GT appearance in 2022, partnering West to a second-place finish at the Silverstone round and finishing just over half a second back from Adam Balon and Sandy Mitchell’s Lamborghini.
“British GT is a new challenge for me,” said Kirchhoefer. “It’s always exciting for a driver to get out on new tracks that you are not familiar with and I will be doing a lot of that as I only know Silverstone and Brands Hatch.
“Alex has shown some very strong performances so I hope we can challenge for wins, I think we showed in the Silverstone 500 last year that we have good pace as we came close to winning that race. I think we should have a good season!”
Froggatt and Tse made selected appearances in the 2022 British GT Championship and the Macanese driver is delighted to be able to commit to full-season programme for 2023.
“I am excited I can finally do a full season in the Intelligent Money British GT Championship, and I am delighted to be driving with Sky Tempesta,” he said, “I have known Chris for many years. We worked well last year with some success, so we will definitely be looking for multiple podiums this year.
“Overall, I am thrilled to be able to join the team for the whole season and looking forward to getting on track.”
Sky Tempesta founder Chris Froggatt is looking forward to a busy 2023.
“We’re excited to announce our participation in the Intelligent Money British GT Championship and Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Endurance Cup in the new McLaren, and to continue our partnership with Mercedes-AMG in IGTC,” said Froggatt.
“Taking on a championship in a new car is always challenging. However, the new McLaren feels great to drive on the track, and we’re thrilled to have the expertise of Garage 59 supporting us for both championships in the new car. Our team has been working hard to prepare for the upcoming season, and we’re looking forward to showing our determination for success this year.”
The 2023 Intelligent Money British GT Championship gets underway at Oulton Park on April 8 & 10.
