> GT4 Pro-Am runners-up unveil 720S GT3 at MTC
Nick Halstead and Jamie Stanley will graduate to the Intelligent Money British GT3 ranks with Fox Motorsport and McLaren this season.
2021’s GT4 Pro-Am runners-up, who unveiled their 720S GT3 at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, make the move following their first year of racing together in multi-class competition.
This will also be Fox’s first full-season campaign in the senior ranks after spending most of its British GT history running GT4 machinery. The two exceptions to that rule came during their 2013 series debut (GT3B) and in 2016 when Marco Attard and Adam Carroll finished third at Silverstone. Both of those outings – with a F430 and 488, respectively – were in partnership with Ferrari specialists, FF Corse.
However, its current driver line-up isn’t short of GT3 experience. Stanley, who won the GT4 crown in 2010, has since contested the class – and raced the 720S – nationally and in Europe over the past decade.
His co-driver Halstead, with whom he shared Pro-Am victories at Snetterton and Donington last year, makes his GT3 bow at Oulton on April 16 & 18 following five seasons with Fox. They include winning 2018’s Ginetta GT5 Challenge Am title and finishing third in the same manufacturer’s Supercup variant before switching to British GT4 with McLaren and Stanley.
“I’m really pleased to continue with Fox Motorsport and Jamie – who’s been coaching me since I started preparing for my first racing season – and to be able to test ourselves against the best teams and drivers in British GT,” said Halstead.
“We did a good job last year in what was my first season in the championship and only just missed the GT4 Pro-Am title at the last round by a couple of points, but now’s the right time to make the step up. I remember how good it felt when I first tested a 720S GT3 at Silverstone last summer and that was the point where I knew now was the time.
“We have a great team around us who are very quick at learning how to understand the workings of a new car and that’s hopefully going to put us in with a shout of some strong results this year.”
Stanley, who made his last British GT3 appearance alongside JMH’s John Seale in 2019, added: “It’s great to be stepping up to GT3 with Nick and Fox Motorsport, but this is just the start. The hard work begins as soon as we hit the track for our first test.
“Last year was our first year with a McLaren race car and a combination of fantastic work from the team and strong customer support from McLaren meant we got on top of things right away and put together a very strong challenge for the GT4 Pro-Am title. While we’re under no illusions that jumping up to the top class will be easy, I think we definitely have the potential to surprise a few people and we’ll be trying to do just that.”
Oulton Park stages the opening round of 2022’s Intelligent Money British GT campaign on April 16 & 18.