Bumper British GT Field for Castle Combe

18 June 2003

The biggest grid of the 2003 season is set to contest round six of the BRDC British GT Championship at Castle Combe this weekend (22 June).

As many as 25 cars will line up for the 60-minute race at the Wiltshire track, with several cars due to join the grid for the first time this year. Set to make its British GT debut is the Ferrari F40 of Richard Jones/Stefano Sebastiani, while the Taylor's Foundry Motorsport team returns with the mighty 6-litre Marcos LM600 of team boss Gerry Taylor and Brian Colwell.

However, the greatest interest is sure to be created by the British GT return of Mike Jordan and Mark Sumpter in the Porsche 911GT3RS that they are racing in the FIA GT Championship this season. This one-off outing has been arranged by John Guest, sponsors of both the Jordan car and the Castle Combe race meeting, and Jordan has pledged to take the fight to the Moslers and TVRs in what is likely to be his only British GT race of the season.

Also sure to create massive interest is the DeWalt Racesport Salisbury team with its pair of TVR T400Rs that raced at Le Mans last week. The team is currently working flat out to get at least one car ready for the weekend, and if they make it, they are assured a hero's welcome from the knowledgeable and enthusiastic crowd at Castle Combe.

However, it is the championship contenders from Mosler and TVR that will head the field. Martin Short will rejoin Tom Herridge in the Rollcentre Mosler MT900R after missing the last three races due to clashing commitments. The return of Short to the championship at a circuit where he has excelled in the past will add further spice to the intense rivalry between the Rollcentre Mosler and the similar car of Shaun Balfe/Jamie Derbyshire.

The new GT Cup class continues to draw superb support from a growing number of teams and drivers and will account for around half of the grid at Castle Combe. While the Porsche 911GT3 Cups and Morgan Aero 8 GTs are expected to set the pace, a pair of Ferrari 360s should offer a serious threat. Alongside the Glenvarigill car of Hector Lester and Tim Bartlett is a second 360 entered by Ferrari regular and GT newcomer John Seale. With the championship gaining ever-more support in both classes, the stage is set for a cracking GT battle at Castle Combe.

Of course, that is only part of the story for the biggest weekend of the season at Castle Combe as two races for the British F3 Championship gripped by AVON Tyres will bring a packed field of international aces to the track. Alan van der Merwe heads the championship but Jamie Green and Nelson Piquet Junior are chasing hard.

Completing a superb line-up of races are rounds of the Carlube TVR Tuscan Challenge, the Powertrain Caterham R400 Challenge, the National Mobile Windscreens Formula Ford 1600 Championship and the Castle Combe Saloon Car Championship.

See series calendar for British GT Championship | British F3 Championship

Related Story 13.06.2003 - British F3/GT Action at Castle Combe