Macmillan Racing has doubled its commitment for its second season in the British GT Championship, adding a GT3 Aston Martin Vantage V8 entry to its existing GT4 contender, for the 2017 campaign.
“This is such an exciting announcement,” said Team Principal David Macmillan. “Racing at the very highest level in the UK, with just one season of racing behind us may seem like a big step but we are ready for the challenge.
“We said, right from the beginning, that we wanted to create a GT racing ladder, to give drivers and engineers a chance to progress, as they learn their trade. Getting our feet wet in the GT4 class obviously made sense for the first season but now it’s time to step up to mix it with the big boys.
“Adding the GT3 car to our attack shows that we’re serious in our intention to progress all the way in GT racing. Our plan is to learn more in the British GT Championship, then expand further to the GTE class, with the eventual goal of racing at Le Mans and at World Championship level.”
Testing has already begun, with both cars in full 2017 spec and the team will be assessing drivers, over the next few weeks, prior to announcing the line-up for both GT3 and GT4.
“I was very pleasantly surprised at how much positive reaction we had from rival teams and drivers during the season,” said David Macmillan. “The British GT Championship may be super-competitive but it’s also a big family, with a very positive and inclusive paddock. I’m certain that will continue to be the case, as we graduate to GT3.
“We’re not turning our back on the GT4 class – far from it; with the experience of our debut season under our belts, we’re starting the season with one target – to win the title.
“We have a strong testing schedule planned for the next few weeks. Quite a number of drivers have expressed interest in running in both the GT3 and the GT4 cars, so I think we’ll probably head into Christmas with a good idea of our driving line-up for 2017.
“The test sessions also give our engineering team the chance to gather data and gain experience with the new GT3 car… they say it’s much more of a beast than the GT4!
“We’re all eager to get underway with our 2017 campaign. We’re waiting for the season-opener like kids waiting for Christmas. The difference is, we know what our presents are, because we’ve already started playing with them!”