“It’s going to be tough,” states Jonny Adam. “With 19 cars in GT3, good line-ups, the quality I think has gone up another level from last year. And there’s good returning teams that know their baseline of where they should be.”
With Darren Leung, one half of Century Motorsport’s 2023 victorious pairing, switching to the international scene, the path is open for a new combination to seize the initiative in the British GT Championship, which kicks off this weekend at Oulton Park. But, as four-time champion Adam attests, any would-be title-winner needs to see off a stacked field that has no shortage of serious contenders – including six previous champions.
After racing a Mercedes last year, Adam is back in an Aston Martin, run by series newcomer Blackthorn, alongside Giacomo Petrobelli. The heavily upgraded Vantage he was integral in developing is, Adam reckons, “for the Ams a lot easier to drive, very good on consistency”. That will help GT4 graduates Josh Rowledge and Matt Topham acclimatise to GT3 in Blackthorn’s second car, entered in Silver-Am.
“Ultimately, under the skin of it, it drives like a new car,” explains Adam, who points out that he won on his first outings with TF Sport (2016) and Optimum (2018). “Hopefully from the Ams’ side, it’s going to be a lot easier for them to get closer to the lap time of the Pros.”
Andrew Howard won both of his titles alongside Adam in 2013 and 2015, and is back for another crack with his Beechdean AMR team alongside GT3 rookie Jessica Hawkins. “This is my fourth year with them, so I think it’s about time I actually got to race one!” Aston Martin brand ambassador Hawkins quipped at media day. “I’ve got so much to learn, I’m very aware of that, but I think once I’ve learned my trade we’re going to be very competitive.”
Howard reckons his 2023 was “probably the best Am side of racing that we’ve had for quite a few years”, but stresses he’s not putting too much pressure on his new co-driver, whose busy schedule attending grands prix will limit opportunities to test. “I’ve always said it takes two or three years to win a championship,” he says. “Do we expect to win? No. Do we think we have the ability to win? Of course we do.”
Source: Autosport