> Watch both 60-minute races live this Sunday from 12:45 BST
> Entry list: Pro | Silver
Several Intelligent Money British GT Championship teams and drivers – including three former title winners – will line-up at a virtual Silverstone this Sunday for the opening round of 2020’s SRO E-Sport GT Series.
The six-event championship pitches the world’s best GT and sim drivers against one another using the official game of GT World Challenge Europe and Intercontinental GT Challenge: Assetto Corsa Competizione.
Two 60-minute races – one for real-world drivers (known as Pro) and another for esports aces (Silver) – take place from 12:45 BST on Sunday, and both feature British GT interest.
The first features 2017 champion and newly promoted Bentley factory driver Seb Morris who pilots one of M-Sport’s two Continental GT3s. Meanwhile Team Parker Racing, with whom the Welshman claimed the crown three years ago, will rely on its new real-world British GT3 recruit Scott Malvern, who won the GT4 Pro/Am title in 2018.
They’re joined on the 49-strong Pro entry by 2012 British GT4 champion Jody Fannin (Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW).
“It’s absolutely fantastic to be representing Bentley Motorsport’s official entry in the SRO E-Sport GT Series, I’m really looking forward to seeing what we can do against all of the other manufacturers,” said Morris. “Make no mistake, this is all very serious stuff. The top sim racers are mega competitive so the pros from real-world motorsport definitely won’t have things easy.
“There’s a lot of very hard work going into all of this behind the scenes and I’ve been working closely with the engineers from Bentley to prepare as well as I can. Everyone is every bit as serious about this virtual championship as we are when we’re physically at a race track. As in real-world racing, I intend to fight as hard as possible and do the absolute best we can for Bentley Motorsport.”
The also plenty of British GT interest amongst McLaren’s entries. 2 Seas Motorsport enter a pair of 720S GT3s for Isa Al-Khalifa and Ben Barnicoat, Balfe Motorsport call on Benjamin Tusting, and Michael O’Brien represents McLaren Customer Racing with the traditional red livery associated with his real-world team, Balfe Motorsport.
Elsewhere, in the Silver class, Will Tregurtha – who won the British GT4 Championship with Stuart Middleton in 2017 – joins a star-studded field of esports exponents, including Team Parker’s Josh Martin.
Watch both races live in the company of David Addison, John Watson, Jack Nicholls and Ben Constanduros this Sunday from 12:45 BST on British GT’s Facebook page, as well as SRO’s Twitch and Youtube channels.
Live Coverage Schedule
13:45CET on air
14:00CET Pro Series race
15:15CET Silver Series race
16:30CET off air
2020 Calendar Pro & Silver Series
Round 1 - Silverstone - 26 April
Round 2 - Total 24 Hours of Spa - 10 May
Round 3 - Nürburgring - 17 May
Round 4 - Barcelona – 31 May
Round 5 - Track to be decided by public vote – 14 June
Grand Final TBD
Photo: Xynamic Motorsport Photography