Drivetac, the stunt driving school, and Track Focused have teamed up to run a Mercedes-AMG GT4 in the Silver class of the 2023 Intelligent Money British GT Championship. James Wallis will share the new Merc with Sam Maher-Loughnan for a full season after making his debut in a one off last year.
Willis made that debut in a McLaren 570S GT4 care of Motus One at the Spa-Francorchamps round of the championship. The announcement of the Drivetac powered by Track Focused entry puts the 17 year old directly against the team with whom he made his British GT4 debut. One Motorsport will run a Mercedes this year as well.
Both James Wallis and Sam Maher-Loughnan drove in the GT Cup last year, racing a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 to victory in Group GTH and third in the overall GT Cup Championship.
“I can’t wait to join the British GT grid this year; the new Mercedes-AMG should be amazing to drive,” Wallis told BritishGT.com. “GT Cup gave Sam and I the ideal platform to hone our race craft but we know this year will be a step up – something I saw for myself at Spa last season. However, although there are crews with more experience than us, I firmly believe we can make our mark on the championship.”
Co-founder of the title sponsor on the effort, Drivetac, Maher-Loughnan brings a different skillset to the racetrack. A professional stunt driver, Sam uses the same car control methods alongside his racecraft to find maximum performance. Though originally conceived to train stunt drivers, the company now trains a number of race drivers in stunt driving techniques.
“Speed is nothing without car control, and that’s something more and more racing drivers are realising,” said Maher-Loughnan. “We definitely bring something a bit different to the paddock but ultimately want and expect to be mixing it with the established teams and drivers. The Mercedes-AMG has a reputation for being one of GT4’s best cars – something James and I hope to prove this year.”
Track Focused meanwhile are no strangers to the championship having run the KTM X-BOW GT4 in previous years along with cars in the Funcup championship, Radicals, GT Cup and the British Endurance Championship.
The team and drivers will both appear at Media Day on Tuesday ahead of their competitive debut on Easter Weekend at Oulton Park.
