34-CAR ENTRY ANNOUNCED AT BRITISH GT MEDIA DAY

A bumper grid will line up in this year's Avon Tyres British GT Championship. Photo: Jakob Ebrey

This year’s Avon Tyres British GT Championship burst into life at Brands Hatch yesterday during their annual pre-season Media Day.

While several on-track sessions offered the 28 assembled cars an opportunity to test ahead of Oulton Park’s season opener in less than two weeks, it was also a chance for the series to unveil a raft of new partners, teams and drivers.

Chief among the announcements was a bumper 34-car entry list featuring an equal number of GT3 and GT4 cars representing nine manufacturers and run by 27 different teams.

The announcements began early this morning with Motorbase Performance unveiling a third Aston Martin V12 Vantage for BTCC race winner Mat Jackson and Phil Dryburgh. The pair are confirmed for Oulton Park’s Easter weekend date and could enter further rounds thereafter. Hot on their heels was AmDTuning.com who confirmed they would be stepping up to the championship with a Porsche 997 GT4 for Shaun Hollamby and Graham Coomes.

Series stalwarts Rosso Verde will once again feature Hector Lester and Benny Simonsen behind the wheel of their Ferrari 458 GT3, and Preci-Spark’s Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 is also set to return in the hands of Joneses David and Godfrey.

A prior commitment for James Nash sees former LMP2 World Endurance Champion Martin Plowman join UltraTek Racing at Oulton Park, while RLR Motorsport will also be entering the fray with their Ginetta G55 from Rockingham onwards.

The championship also unveiled a new official lubricants partner in the form of Petronas, whose deal compliments the previously announced return of Sunoco as fuel supplier. Equally, series title sponsor Avon Tyres took the opportunity to announce that a new slick compound will be used in 2015 that boasts both improved durability and performance.

The opening round of this season’s British GT Championship takes place over Easter Bank Holiday weekend at Oulton Park (April 4-6).

You can download the entry list at British GT entry list