“I’m convinced, without fail, I have the best driver in GT racing with me.” It’s quite a statement to make about your team-mate, but John Ferguson has every reason to believe just that about the driver he’ll be racing alongside in this season’s British GT3 Championship, which kicks off at Oulton Park this weekend.
Regarded as one of the fastest if not the fastest GT3 driver in the world, Raffaele Marciello is a man who knows how to win titles. The Mercedes factory driver, who is reigning GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and ADAC GT Masters champion, has clearly made his mark on the world of GT racing since switching his focus from single-seaters in 2017.
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The former Ferrari Driver Academy member is just one of eight factory drivers who will compete in British GT’s top division this season, making it arguably the most competitive in the championship’s history as 16 full-time crews have been confirmed.
Over the past 12 months, Marciello has gradually become aware of British GT’s growing reputation, in part due to the success of fellow Mercedes works driver and team-mate Jules Gounon last season.
“I think last year I started to follow a bit more because in the past I never really followed [the championship],” admits Marciello. “I know the tracks are mega from TOCA in the past when I was playing [video] games, so I always wanted to drive here. I spoke with Jules, he loves this championship. I loved when I came to Brands Hatch and Silverstone [in other series], [it was] always full of fans and people.”
The Swiss-Italian came close to a one-off outing in the championship last year but prior racing commitments meant he was unable to enter a round. However, it instigated a dialogue with Ferguson, which continued for nine months and ultimately led them to partner together at RAM Racing sharing a GT3 Mercedes in 2023.
Despite having never raced in British GT before, Marciello is all too aware that his Am driver will be the one who can make the difference come the final results and that consistency will be crucial if they are to challenge for the crown.
“In this championship, I think more than to be quick you need to score points,” he says. “Even if you finish every time in fourth then you can win the championship, so more than the pure pace it’s important to stay out of the gravel. With so many GT4 [cars] it’s really easy to have contact so we need to be safe.”
For Ferguson, having a driver of Marciello’s calibre alongside is a firm sign of his intention, and ahead of the season he’s been putting in the work behind the scenes – losing 15kg over the winter, as “you can’t get Mr Marciello and not make an effort”.
This year will be just Ferguson’s third in endurance racing, having made his British GT debut with a Toyota GR Supra GT4 in 2021 – taking a best result of two third places – before moving up into the GT3 division with RAM last year. A maiden win came at the second Snetterton race with Ulysse de Pauw, but Ferguson’s season came to an abrupt halt after he damaged the car in practice at Brands Hatch and missed the final two rounds.
Ahead of the 2023 campaign – which begins with the traditional Oulton double-header – the 49-year-old already knows the areas he needs to improve upon to give himself and Marciello the best possible chance.
“I struggled with new tyres in qualifying, that was my biggest downfall, and a heavy fuel load at the start of a race,” says Ferguson. “But the Mercedes is a very good car. It holds its tyres so it’s just a matter of trying to keep myself in the mix at the start and, by the end of the stint, the car really comes into its own.”
Last year was the perfect campaign for RAM. It secured the GT3 drivers’ title with Ian Loggie as well as the teams’ championship, but the squad has undergone significant changes over the past 12 months. Team founder Dan Shufflebottom departed at the end of 2022, with British Touring Car race winner Tim Sugden now team manager after Ferguson bought the squad in February last year. The personnel changes were one of the reasons Loggie has moved to 2 Seas for the upcoming campaign, where he will look to defend his title alongside Gounon.
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“RAM was a great team, but a bit of politics was going on – as there always is in motorsport,” says Loggie, who spent four seasons with the team. “I’m here to drive rather than get involved in politics, so I think I’ve done the right thing – 2 Seas will do a great job.”
The Scot is certainly no stranger to the Anglo-Bahraini squad, having driven with the team before, including taking a class podium at the Gulf 12 Hours last January, while the outfit has recorded wins in British GT.
“Pretty high I would say,” says Loggie on his chances of defending the British GT3 crown. “I think we’ve got a decent driver line-up. That said, the grid is full of amazing drivers, so this year is going to be tougher than last year but, like always, I don’t think you have to be the fastest, I think you have to be the most consistent.
“Don’t make mistakes and use that experience. I’ve been doing it for God knows how many years now but a lot of last year was down to not making mistakes.”
Loggie recorded just one retirement last season after being the innocent victim in an opening-lap crash at Silverstone but, perhaps more ominously, he achieved a podium in all four races that Gounon competed alongside him. With the Frenchman returning for a full-time campaign in 2023, there’s every reason to believe that a second title could be heading Loggie’s way.
One of the biggest threats on the grid, though, could well come from the other side of the 2 Seas garage. James Cottingham remains with the squad having finished fourth in the 2022 standings despite not quite managing an overall victory. He will be joined by four-time British GT champion Jonny Adam, the current Aston Martin factory driver having raced with 2 Seas at two rounds last year. Clashes with the European Le Mans Series mean Adam will miss the three-hour race at Silverstone as well as the Donington Park decider, but his experience could well guide Cottingham to within a shot of the title come the final round.
Adam’s former team-mate Andrew Howard will once again embark on a full-time campaign, the Beechdean team owner and double GT3 champion (2013 and 2015) this time alongside factory Aston Martin driver Ross Gunn – the GT4 champion from 2015.
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Other factory drivers on the roster this season include Rob Bell, who will drive a McLaren 720S Evo alongside Mark Radcliffe for Optimum Motorsport, and Marvin Kirchhofer, who will partner Alex West in a Garage 59-run 720S Evo.
Dan Harper, the 2019 Porsche Carrera Cup GB champion, is another factory driver who will make his debut in the series having spent the past three years racing with BMW in the Nurburgring Endurance Series and GT World Challenge. He will race a Century Motorsport-run BMW M4 GT3 alongside Darren Leung, the Am driver having won on his British GT debut in the Donington Park finale last year alongside Alexander Sims.
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One of the strongest driver line-ups on paper comes in the form of Sandy Mitchell and Shaun Balfe at the wheel of a Barwell Motorsport-run Lamborghini Huracan EVO2. Balfe has become a nearly-man in British GT, finishing runner-up in 2003 and taking third in 2019, losing out on the title by just five points on that occasion despite missing the first two races at Oulton Park.
He and team-mate Adam Carroll won the opening round of last season at Oulton Park in an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, but they departed the championship after a puncture caused a non-score in the three-hour race Silverstone and the duo finished a disappointing eighth at Donington.
Outside of the teams with factory drivers, there are some familiar faces who could well challenge at the front. Among them are Marcus Clutton and Morgan Tillbrook, the Enduro Motorsport pairing having taken two wins last season aboard their 720S before finishing third in the final table. With the new 720S Evo model at the duo’s disposal, victories are highly likely again, even against the numerous factory drivers that are on the grid this season.
Reigning GT Cup champion Simon Orange also graduates full-time into British GT alongside Michael O’Brien, having impressed in the Donington decider last season, again at the wheel of a 720S.
Ferguson’s belief that Marciello is the best GT driver will certainly be Source: Autosport