Matt Chapman will step up to the Ginetta GT5 Challenge next season following two years in the Ginetta Junior Championship, continuing his partnership with Total Control Racing into a third season.
Chapman established himself as a front-runner in the BTCC-supporting Junior series this season, improving throughout the campaign before impressively securing seven top ten finishes in the final eight races en-route to a top ten championship finish.
The 16 year old capped off the season with a third place finish in the final race of the year at Brands Hatch GP, a result that fills him with confidence heading into next season where he’s set to spearhead TCR’s charge for a third straight Challenge title.
“I’ve learnt so much with TCR over the last couple of years. The team have all done a great job and winning the Ginetta GT5 Challenge for the last two seasons speaks for itself,” said Chapman.
“Now we’ve got the deal for next season in place so early, I can really start to focus and prepare as well as possible for our move into the GT5 Challenge.”
While the move will see Chapman remain in Ginetta G40 machinery, the Challenge-spec car utilises more power as well as slick Michelin tyres, which he got acquainted to during a test at Donington Park earlier this month.
“The Donington test went really, really well,” Chapman added. “Having Jonny [Adam] there to give his feedback was fantastic and he was very complimentary about my driving.
“That is obviously a huge confidence boost for my first time on slicks. It’s always a great feeling when a multiple car racing champion is so positive about what you’re doing! We’re confident we can mount a strong title bid in 2016.”
Total Control Racing head into the 2016 Ginetta GT5 Challenge looking for a third consecutive drivers title in the British GT support category, having seen James Kellett succeed George Gamble as champion with the team.
“Matt was much quicker in Juniors this year than the end results showed, he had some bad luck but his race pace was fantastic,” said team boss Lee Brookes.
“When we tested him in the Challenge car he was quicker than we expected actually, so that has given us all a lot of confidence we can go for the championship win for a third straight year. We’ll be doing everything we can to make it happen.”