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British GT
Chadwick, Gunn join Beechdean
JAMIE CHADWICK AND ROSS
Gunn will team up for an assault on the
British GT Championship’s GT4 class
with Beechdean Motorsport.
The reigning class champion team’s
Aston Martin Vantage will be entrusted
to one of the youngest line-ups in the
championship’s history; Chadwick is
16, while Gunn recently turned 18.
Chadwick, who took five podium
finishes in two seasons of Ginetta
Juniors, was surprised how easily she
was able to adapt to the considerable
step up in power during testing.
“To get the best out of the [Ginetta]
G40 you had to be on the ragged edge,”
Chadwick explained. “But the Vantage
needs a more balanced style and has a
lot of electronic aids. I want to be fighting
for wins and podiums.”
BRDC Formula 4 race winner Gunn
was forced to sit out 2014 due to a lack
of funds, but has been testing in Spain
in preparation for his racing return.
“Many single-seater racers move
to GTs and drive too harshly; I’ll need to
change my mentality and learn how to
be smooth and consistent,” he said.
“I hope this is the start of a long career
in GT racing for me.”
MSA Formula
Academy is now an
official Aston Martin
partner team
Collard, Ticktum
set testing pace
British GT
Academy in Aston switch
LONG-TIME GINETTA TEAM
Academy Motorsport will switch
to Aston Martin machinery for this
year’s British GT campaign after
becoming an official partner team
to the famous British marque.
Academy will run a pair of GT4class Aston Martin Vantages, with
Will Moore and Dennis Strandberg
sharing one and Chris Webster and
James Harrison partnering one
another in the second.
Academy also plans to compete in
the Le Mans 24 Hours-supporting
Aston Martin Festival, as well as the
end-of-season endurance events in
Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Team boss Matt Nicoll-Jones said:
“This is a great way of celebrating the
team’s 10th anniversary.”
RICKY COLLARD AND DAN
Ticktum set the pace during MSA
Formula’s first two pre-season tests.
Arden driver Collard, son of British
Touring Car race winner Rob, topped the
timesheets at the wet opening test at
Brands Hatch last Thursday, lapping the
Indy layout of the Kent circuit in 52.574s.
Daniel Baybutt was second quickest
for JTR, less than a tenth of a second
behind, with Colton Herta, Ticktum,
Sandy Mitchell and Lando Norris next up.
Ticktum set the pace for Fortec in
Monday’s second test at Snetterton,
leading the way with a best lap of
1m51.916s, almost seven tenths
up on nearest challenger Norris.
Herta was the only other driver to lap
within a second of Ticktum’s time, with
James Pull, Baybutt and Collard
rounding out the top half-dozen.
Wooder in Juniors move
Karting star Dave Wooder will make
the step up to car racing after signing
for Total Control Racing to contest
this year’s Ginetta Junior season. The
15-year old, who won the Kartmasters
British Grand Prix and took the British
Open title in 2014, joins Cameron
Roberts and Matt Chapman at the
West Midlands-based team.
Wenhams’ new recruit
Brother-and-sister Fun Cup duo
Zoe and Guy Wenham have added
series regular Stephen Johansen to
their 2015 line-up. 2012 Fun Cup
runner-up Johansen replaces Tom
Pattle, who has been sidelined by
his university studies, alongside
the Wenham siblings.
Carvells to Silverstone
Former British Touring Car driver
David Carvell will contest April’s
Britcar 24 Hours at Silverstone in
his factory-built Jaguar XF alongside
sons Rob and Ian. “It’s a diesel, so it
will be a tortoise-and-hare game, but
I’m looking forward to competing with
the boys rather than against them in
VWs,” said Carvell Sr.
Britcar champ returns
Britcar Endurance champion Calum
Lockie will return to the series in
2015 in FF Corse’s Ferrari 458 GTC
alongside David Mason. Lockie – who
will also contest a variety of historic
races this year – and Mason have
lined up further endurance outings
together in the team’s GT3 car.
Porsche Carrera Cup GB
GRIFFITHS
Rees partners with Zamparelli at Parr
Rees hopes to mount
title challenge in ’15
PORSCHE CARRERA CUP GB
race winner Paul Rees will return to the
series this year with Parr Motorsport.
The 28-year-old, who placed third in
last year’s Carrera Cup standings in his
debut season in the category for the
In2Racing squad, joins GP3 convert
Dino Zamparelli at the Crawley team.
“I’m really looking forward to working
with Parr,” said Rees. “I’m hoping to get
some wins and challenge for the title.
“It will also be great to work with Dino
too – he is a quick driver and hopefully
we will be able to push each other
WorldMags.net
throughout the year.”
R ees and Zamparelli take on the
most-competitive Carrera Cup field
in years, with Josh Webster, Michael
Meadows, Stephen Jelley, Dan
Cammish, Nicholas Latifi, Josh Files
and Tom Sharp among the entries.
MARCH 5 2015 AUTOSPORT.COM 101
101
EBREY
Chadwick has adapted
easily to the Vantage
The Masters Historic Racing series
will feature on the support bill for
October’s United States Grand Prix
at the Circuit of the Americas in
Austin, Texas. Organisers are hoping
to attract entries from both sides of
the Atlantic for the race, which will
be the sole occasion historic grand
prix machinery will race as part of a
Formula 1 race weekend in 2015.