After competing in the final two weekends of the 2013 season drivers Andy Schulz and Paul Bailey are to return for a full season of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship, stepping up to the premier GT3 class in the process.
The pair raced at Zandvoort and Donington Park in a Ferrari 458 Challenge in the GTC category of the series, but will bring their Aston Martin Vantage GT3 to the 2014 paddock, having debuted the car in the British Endurance Championship (BEC) during the 2013 season.
Though their entry will run – as did the Ferrari – under the Horsepower Racing banner their entry will be supported by a new team led by Tom Ferrier, who has split from the Scuderia Vittoria, to start TF Sport though behind the new name lays a majority of the personnel from the Scuderia Vittoria team that have a pair of British GT race wins and finished third in the championship in 2011.
“After three good years with SV I am looking forward to 2014,” said Ferrier, who has followed former Scuderia Vittoria partners Piers Masarati and Danny Buxton in moving on from SV. “The new team are all really excited about getting stuck into GT racing with Aston. We are very lucky to have already secured a great programme with Paul and Andy, but this is only the beginning of TF Sport.”
Ferrier is planning to field a second GT3 Aston alongside Schulz and Bailey’s entry while the 458 GTC seen last season will remain part of the team as Bailey continues his sports car racing development.
“We also have a second Aston available,” said Ferrier, “along with a spare engine and box and a great spares package, and are currently in the process of finding drivers for this. British GT is the favourite option for the second car, but we’re open to anything. I know my budget is very competitive and I want to run a race-winning pairing and will do whatever I can to achieve that. I am confident of filling it.”
The 2014 Avon Tyres British GT Championship begins with the traditional Easter Weekend meeting at Cheshire’s Oulton Park circuit.
