Balfe Motorsport’s McLaren 650S GT3 will skip British GT’s upcoming Snetterton round following its heavy accident at Rockingham three weeks ago.
Instead, drivers Shaun Balfe and Rob Bell will re-focus their efforts on Silverstone, which stages the championship’s blue riband three-hour race on June 9/10.
However, the team will still be at Snetterton next weekend to run its McLaren 570S GT4 on behalf of PMW Expo Racing duo Graham Johnson and Mike Robinson, who currently lead the class’ Pro/Am standings.
Balfe confirmed his 650S GT3 had been repaired but that the team’s senior class focus had switched to Silverstone onwards.
“The crash at Rockingham was unlucky in terms of achieving a potential podium but also the impact itself was quite heavy on the car,” he said.
“Both the team and McLaren have been brilliant with the rebuild and it would have been ready to race at Snetterton. But we have decided to prepare for Silverstone onwards in an effort to hopefully gain some momentum and achieve our goals over the second half of the season.
“I’m looking forward to Silverstone - Rob and I won International GT Open’s Pro/Am class there last year and we are both proud BRDC Members so want to do a good job at the championship’s biggest event.
“Snetterton will see all of our attention switch to Graham and Mike’s GT4 entry,” he added. “The team’s priority is to ensure those guys get the best results possible.”
British GT stages two 60-minute sprint races at Snetterton on May 26/27.
2018 British GT Championship Calendar
3 Snetterton, May 26-27 >> TICKETS
4 Silverstone 500, June 9-10 >> TICKETS
5 Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium), July 21-22 >> TICKETS (FREE ENTRY)
6 Brands Hatch, August 4-5 >> TICKETS
7 Donington Park, September 22-23 >> TICKETS