Turner to lead Beechdean’s Brit GT return
DARREN TURNER WILL BECOME THE fourth w0rks Aston Martin World Endurance Championship driver competing for British GT3 glory in 2018.
Le Mans GTE Pro winner Turner will co-drive a sole Beechdean AMR Vantage GT3 with team boss, 2013 and 2015 British GT champion Andrew Howard.
The team had been a fixture in
British GT since 2006, but left the championship last season to concentrate on its European Le Mans Series effort.
Turner has only contested one British GT event in his career – Silverstone in 2010 – sharing a DBRS9 with Howard.
“I’m really excited to be doing British GT this year as it’s a completely new programme for me,” said Turner. “Andrew wanted to go back and have a shot at a third title as he loves the championship, and we’ve driven together in the ELMS so it made sense to share with him.
“Although I’ve not been in the championship I’ve been aware of it and the level of competition there – particularly in the past four or five years – has increased hugely. The teams are all properly professional outfits and the list of professional drivers this year is huge. It’ll be a real challenge.”
Turner is the fourth AMR factory driver to join the British GT ranks, following Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen (driving separate TF Sport entries) and his WEC team-mate Jonny Adam (Optimum Motorsport).
The WEC’S move to its superseason format, spread across 2018-19, has enabled many drivers to commit to a broader spread of programmes.
“There’s definitely a lot of pride at stake in British GT up against the other AMR boys,” added Turner. “Nicki and Marco haven’t done too much in the UK, but TF is a brilliant team. Jonny is perhaps the most experienced driver ever in the Vantage GT3, but on my side Andrew is a hugely talented and experienced amateur driver and I know my way around the GT3 too. I reckon we’ll be in with a shout.”
Howard added: “British GT is too competitive to do just for fun, so we’re out for the title. We’ve probably got the oldest car and driver pairing on the grid this year, but we’ve definitely got the hunger to take the fight to the young whippersnappers.”