Phil Keen has swapped Barwell Motorsport for fellow Intelligent Money British GT Championship outfit WPI Motorsport ahead of the 2021 season.
The 37-year-old finished third in the 2020 standings alongside Adam Balon in Barwell’s #72 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo, having finished fourth the season before. Keen previously finished as British GT runner-up four times alongside Jon Minshaw while at Barwell.
Barwell team-mates Rob Collard and Sandy Mitchell took the #78 Black Bull Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo to the title at Silverstone in November, while 22-time race-winner and Lamborghini factory driver Keen remains without a British GT championship crown.
Though line-up registrations for 2021 open in January, WPI have moved quickly to announce Keen. He joins 32-year-old Michael Igoe at WPI and will be familiar with their machinery. WPI ran the #18 Huracan GT3 Evo which won Race 1 at Donington Park in August.
Igoe was partnered by Lamborghini factory driver Andrea Caldarelli in Leicestershire and has also driven alongside Marco Mapelli, 2016 Super Trofeo champion Dennis Lind and Franck Perera in British GT since the start of 2019.
Perera raced in Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup (now GT World Challenge Europe) from 2016 to 2018, while Mapelli won the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup alongside Caldarelli for Caldarelli’s Orange1 FFF Racing Team, again running the Huracan GT3 Evo.
Igoe highlighted the importance of having a permanent team-mate for a full season to britishgt.com.
“We’ve driven with all the factory drivers and chosen the one we’ve never driven with!
“I think we’ve made a good impression in the championship and considering the inconsistency of having different drivers this year, I think we’ve still delivered well as a team.”
On joining one of the younger teams on the British GT grid, Keen told britishgt.com:
“It’s not going to be a five-minute process and I’m sure next year will be a learning year for us all to get everything all right, but we’re still looking to win the championship.
“This is the first time I think I’ve ever driven with somebody younger than me as an Am!… I think it’s going to be good fun and Michael wants to do well for sure. Foremost it’s a hobby for him, he wants to enjoy his racing and the people he spends his time with.”
