Former VW Racing Cup champion Aaron Mason will make his British GT Championship debut at Oulton Park after signing a deal with RCIB Insurance Racing.
Mason, a very experienced tin-top competitor, will race alongside Robert Barrable in the #75 Ginetta G55 GT4 after the departure of Wilson Thompson following the Brands Hatch and Rockingham rounds of the 2016 season.
Indeed the two one-hour races at Oulton Park will be the first time the two-time VW Cup champion has sampled rear wheel drive machinery but, thanks to experience in the Creventic 24 Hour Series, he does have experience of multi-class racing – which should come in handy around the twists and turns of the Cheshire circuit.
The deal sees the 35-year-old work with the team owner who fielded some of his closest championship rivals in recent seasons – Tony Gilham. Mason revealed his close links to the Team HARD boss over the last few years: “I know Tony well from the VW Racing Cup and he often let’s me know about any opportunities that might be available, but this was a question of right place, right time. Fortunately there are no clashing commitments so I can really focus on my British GT programme.
“Racing on the same bill as British GT with the VWs means I’ve always kept an eye on the GT4 times. There’s not a huge difference, but having no experience of rear wheel-drive or the Ginetta, as well as going up against a very good field, obviously means we’ll have our work cut out. But I know Oulton like the back of my hand and the team has already performed well this season, so we’ll take it one step at a time.
“I also know what a good driver Rob is having raced against him in VWs, so I think we’ll be looking for a couple of solid results at Oulton.”
The third and fourth of the British GT Championship takes place this bank holiday weekend at Oulton Park with practice and qualifying on Saturday and the two races on Monday.