Alfa champ Hill to step up a class in new GT
Triple Alfa Romeo champion Tom Hill is set to step up to the series’ Power Trophy class, driving a newly-built Alfa Romeo GT.
Hill became the first driver to win the long-running Alfa championship three times when he added last year’s title to his 2016 and 2018 crowns, each coming aboard Twin Spark Cup-class 156 models. Now he will graduate to more powerful machinery with a new 3.2-litre V6-powered GT built by Roger Evans’s Revs Italia concern.
“It was something we thought quite a lot about – do we stick with Twin Sparks or do we venture out into other things?” said Hill. “And we’d asked ourselves that for at least the last three or four seasons!
“I wanted to develop as a driver and get to grips with a little bit more power, slick tyres – just going that little bit faster.”
Hill tested a Power Trophy-spec 156 at Donington Park before Christmas, but a planned first runout in the new GT was thwarted by the UK’S lockdown measures. Now he plans to treat this season’s shortened schedule as a chance to learn the car ahead of a full campaign next year.
“I’m under no illusion that I’m immediately going to be competitive in a new car,” he added. “This year was always going to be a bit of a testing year for us anyway. I’ve got no doubts in the reliability of the car – it’s more learning for me.”