GT Cup launches at Donington Park with wide variety of exotic machinery

19th April 2018


Now entering its 11th season, the GT Cup Championship continues to provide an attractive balance of close racing and track time for competitors. With 20 entries for the season opener, action will be tight.

Expect to see the HUD Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 at the front of the field, as Nigel Hudson and Adam Wilcox press for the Championship title. The duo has finished third in 2016 and second in ’17 but will be chased hard by fellow Group GTO runners.

New for this season is Group GTH, featuring homologated GT4 machinery. Whitebridge Motorsport’s Chris Murphy quickly signed up youngster Adam Hatfield to share his Aston Martin Vantage GT4, while experienced team JMH Automotive is preparing Steve Ruston and John Whitehouse’s Ginetta G55 GT4. Joining the fray are Sam Randon and NASCAR Euro Series star Freddie Nordstrom in a Maserati GT4.

Keep an eye on Michael Igoe in Group GTC. He made an appearance at Snetterton last season, qualifying on pole and finishing third in GTB and in a brand-new Gen 2 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup could be a dark horse. He’ll be up against two GT Cup Champions in John Seale and Paul Bailey, who’ll push him hard in a pair of Ferrari 488 Challenges.

There’s experience in GTB, as Welch Motorsport and G-Cat both enter Gen 1 Porsches but they’ll be up against the mighty V10 in Saxon Motorsport’s BMW 150 GTR and Mike Saunders’ GT Cup race-winning TVR Cerbera.

2016 Champions Tom and James Webb are back in their BMW M3 GTR to battle with Andy Robey in Group GTA. After scoring two Group wins in 2017, Gary Smith takes his G55 to Topcats Racing with James Reveler to compete against the BMWs.

The unique structure of GT Cup means anyone can challenge for the Overall Championship, so battles up and down the entire field are worth keeping an eye on. Last season’s battle went to the wire between competitors from Groups GTO and GTA…