Balfe joins Barwell team ahead of his British GT championship campaign
FOR the first time since early in his motorsport career, Leicestershire racer Shaun Balfe will be competing with another team in this year’s British GT Championship, writes Peter Scherer.
Although he appeared in the British GT3 championship in 2001 with a Paragon/Eurotech-run Porsche GT3, the majority of Shaun’s racing has been under the Balfe Motorsport banner.
During his time in the European GT Open, British GT, FIA GT and European Le Mans Series Championships, he has had spells with Rollcentre and Eclipse Motorsport in a Mosler, plus a one-off Le Mans Series drive in an Oreca with Murphy Prototypes.
But the familiar red of the familyrun team has been evident on the cars for the last 10 years, firstly with a Ferrari, then McLaren and, more recently, Audi, as well as running customer cars in GT3 and GT4.
The team may have been disbanded, but Balfe continues to fly the family business flag of T. Balfe Construction on his car in his new venture.
“I wasn’t planning to do the British GT initially this year, but then I got offers to drive for other teams,” said 50-year-old Balfe, who won the opening round of the 2022 championship at Oulton Park.
He will now be on the grid with Barwell Motorsport in a Lamborghini Huracan GT3, sharing with 2020 champion Sandy Mitchell, who was second last year and third in 2021.
Balfe tested the car at Donington Park for the first time last week and is stepping up his time in the car over the next week or so, prior to his seasonal debut in the car on Easter Monday at Oulton Park.
“It was a baseline Barwell set up, which meant it was a very workable car from its starting point,” he said.
“Sandy did the systems and operations checks and then I had my first drive of the car.
“Due to the weather and track conditions I went out on wet tyres, before changing to slicks in the second session.”
It was the first time Balfe had been in a Lamborghini, but he soon felt at home. I was pleased as it seemed to feel familiar much sooner than I expected,” he said.
“There is still a lot to learn, but I am coming back feeling positive.”
Barwell have tasted success both at home abroad with Lamborghini for a number of years.
“There are some subtle differences in these cars and a lot of it is from the engineering side at Barwell,” explained Balfe.
“They have well-tuned engines which are very responsive and a strong gearbox that makes the car aggressive in a positive way.
“I’ve already enjoyed my time with the team and very much looking forward to racing with Sandy at Easter in the opening round.”
If time permits, Balfe also hopes to be out again in his Historic Lotus Elan and Cortina, but his GT campaign takes precedence.