The 2021 Intelligent Money British GT Championship is set to see a family on family battle with the news that Stuart Proctor is to return to the GT3 category full time. Proctor, a graduate of the Pure McLaren GT Series, made his series debut at the first visit to Donington Park during the COVID-19 reorganised 2020 season. He raced against his son Lewis Proctor in the Optimum Motorsport McLaren, shared with Ollie Wilkinson.
The father and son racers will unite for a full season campaign in the new Silver Am class of the championship, which replaces the Silver Cup class Lewis contested last year. The Proctor owned McLaren GT3 machine will be run and maintained by Grantham based Balfe Motorsport.
It makes the new class a fully family affair, with the Balfe machine the second car to commit to Silver Am. They join Team ABBA Racing who will continue to campaign their 2015 specification Mercedes-AMG GT3 for team owner Richard Neary and his son Sam Neary. Richard Neary is now entering his fifth year in the championship, debuting in the Team ABBA with Rollcentre Racing BMW Z4 GT3 in 2016.
Shaun Balfe, owner of Balfe Motorsport also confirmed that advanced negotiations were underway for further GT3 and GT4 entries into the championship.
“British GT is very competitive so it was important to learn the ropes last year alongside Joe at Balfe,” Stuart Proctor told BritishGT.com. “Obviously there’s continuity with the same team and car, but the new Silver-Am class has provided Lewis and I with an opportunity to be competitive as a pairing while also enjoying racing together.
“Last year it was slightly surreal being in different garages and trying to beat each other. Of course, everyone wants to win but it’s also important that I enjoy my racing. I will certainly get a lot of satisfaction from sharing a car and, hopefully, some success with Lewis every few weeks. Hopefully he agrees!”
Lewis Proctor added, “Racing with my Dad in a full-season assault is something I’ve always wanted to do and I’m really looking forward to it,” he said. “He’s always been my biggest supporter so the chance to race and potentially win some silverware together would be the highlight of my career so far. We both know the car and Dad’s spent plenty of time with Balfe who run a very tight ship. They also understand how to win with the 720S.”
The 2021 British GT season is expected to get underway at Brands Hatch on 22/23 May, after the April Bank Holiday weekend opener at Oulton Park was pushed back to 11/12 September.
