British GT Update

There was plenty of pre-season gossip on offer at the British GT awards dinner, some of it even printable!

The entire Masarati clan were in situ with Chad Racing team manager Piers happy to chat about their plans for 2010.

Plans are coming together for a two car Ferrari 430 entry though the team aren't yet ready to confirm their driver line-up just yet.  The team have acquired one of the ex CRS Racing Ferrari 430 Scuderias and testing with the car has (in the hands of Matt Griffin) gone well.

News elsewhere of a second Lotus 2-11 entry joining the Piranha Motorsports entry seems to have been a little premature, Martin Donnelly is still looking for the required budget that will bring the ex Lotus F1 man back to the Championship he made a one-off appearance in in 1993.

Richard Dean's new outfit United Autosports will make their race debut on home ground with their brace of factory assisted Audi R8 LMS racers in Easter Monday's opening rounds of the British GT Championship.  It will be the first appearance in the British Championship of the R8 LMS.

"Our plans for 2010 centre on the FIA GT3 European Championship, and Oulton Park will be an ideal warm-up event for us," says Dean. "The competition in British GT is always fierce and Oulton is the sort of demanding circuit that will provide the ideal test for United Autosports' maiden outing. Hopefully we will be able to slot further British GT meetings into our schedule over the course of the year."

Zak Brown and Pablo Perez Companc are already confirmed on United's driver strength.

"The Audi proved itself as a major contender in Europe last season and we have every reason to believe that it will be a race winner again in 2010," says Dean. "United Autosports may have a very American flavour but the team is Yorkshire based and it will be great for a British-based team to give the Audi its maiden outing in the British GT Championship."