Barwell Motorsport will have two former British GT champions in its ranks as the team announces a Pro-Am entry in the Blancpain Endurance Cup onboard a Lamborghini Huracan GT3.
The car will see 2014 British GT champion Marco Attard and 2006 champion Leo Machitski – both of whom won their titles with Barwell – partner with Lamborghini Squadra Corse factory driver Marco Mapelli in the competitive European-wide series.
All the drivers are experienced GT campaigners, Attard’s record in GT racing is undisputed with his title win followed up with second place in 2015. Machitski has previous Blancpain GT Series experience with an Am Cup podium at Paul Ricard and a fourth place Pro-Am finish at last year’s Spa 24 Hours.
Mapelli also brings a lot of experience to the team as well, with experience racing for Porsche in the World Endurance Championship and claiming race wins on the way to second place in the 2015 Italian GT Championship.
However, Machitski is the only driver in the team with experience of the Blancpain GT Series with both the Marcos set to get their first taste of the series in one of the newest cars on the grid.
That said, they’ll have a very handy addition at the Spa 24 Hours in July when three-times 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Tom Kimber-Smith joins the team and provides a fourth dose of fire power for what already looks like a very capable line-up.
Needless to say, the team is already looking forward to the coming season. Attard especially is looking forward to his first season racing in Europe: “2016 will be my fourth year with Barwell, but my first contesting a full European series and superb events like the Spa 24 hours, so it’s a real step into the unknown. But I’m hugely excited about driving the Lamborghini Huracan, and hopefully soon we’ll be repeating the great success we’ve enjoyed during the last three years of British GT!”
Machitski, who raced under the Team Russia By Barwell banner last year, said: “Obviously I’m very excited to be back driving for Barwell again, and am especially excited about our great driver line-up. I’ve followed and tested alongside Marco Attard and seen him grow into a Champion. I’m looking forward to working with Marco Mapelli, for what is a very promising 2016 season ahead. We’ve been trying to make a deal happen to drive with Tom for a long time and it’s great that this has finally come true. Many thanks to all our partners for their support and also to Lamborghini Squadra Corse for their support and belief in our squad.”
Also looking forward to the season is Barwell Motorsport team boss Mark Lemmer, who already has one entry in the Endurance Cup with Mark Poole, Richard Abra and Joe Osborne behind the wheel. He said: “It’s great to have two of our longest-standing and most successful GT customers, Leo and Marco (Attard), united together in one of our fantastic Huracan GT3s. We have to thank Lamborghini Squadra Corse for providing us with Mapelli, one of the rising stars of the world GT scene. It’s also great to have TK-S completing our talented Spa line-up. Pro-Am is always tough but we have a great package and will give it everything as always!”
