Andrew Howard returns to try for a third British GT Championship title at the wheel of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage AMR GT3. Joined by Aston Martin factory driver Ross Gunn, who claimed his British GT4 title in a Beechdean AMR Aston, Howard is keen to get back to the UK’s top GT racing series.
The pair will share the Aston Martin run by Howard’s own team, Beechdean AMR. It marks the return of the British built marque to the championship after a year out racing in the Fanatec GT World Challenge powered by AWS and in ACO rules racing.
“We’ve tried other championships and events in Europe and beyond and been title winners, but inevitably we always come back to British GT because it’s a mega series and because racing in front of your home crowd is special,” Howard told BritishGT.com. “Winning the title in 2013 remains one of my proudest moments as a driver and team principal, and seeing us taking GT3 and GT4 crowns – with Ross as one of our GT4 champions – two years later was fantastic. It’s great to have him back in the fold as the Gunn family have been involved with the team for over 20 years.
“Our comeback win in Silver-Am at Donington last year was a toe-in-the-water exercise to see if we were still as competitive as we thought we would be, and we were, so putting our efforts into a full-season campaign was a no-brainer. Our Aston Martins have always been favourites with the spectators trackside and I’m expecting a huge amount of home support this year. We’ll do our very best to give the fans what they want.”
Ross Gunn is also excited to return to the championship after making his GT debut in the series in 2016, sharing with Jamie Chadwick.
“It’s great to be back in British GT and with Beechdean AMR,” he said. “I probably first sat in a Beechdean car when I was about five years old when my Dad was racing Minis with them, and I’ll always be grateful to Andrew and Susie Howard for their backing eight years ago that set me on the path to becoming a professional racing driver.
“British GT is one of the most intensely competitive national series in the world and you can see how hard it is to win because so few drivers have done it more than once. My job is simple: work as hard as I possibly can to help Andrew fight for a third Drivers’ title. Podiums are 100 per cent the aim straight out of the box.”
The team will return to action at Oulton Park in Easter. The media day test for all entrants is at Donington Park in March.
