> 16-year-olds team up aboard Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4
R Racing will make its Intelligent Money British GT Championship debut this season with an Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 crewed by 16-year-olds Josh Miller and Jamie Day.
The team, which propelled Aston Millar to last year’s Ginetta Junior title, steps up to multi-class competition for the first time since Jamie Ross and Nathan Read founded R Racing in 2019.
And their drivers could re-write several of British GT’s ‘youngest-ever’ records this season.
Miller, who finished eighth in Ginetta Juniors with R Racing last term, and F4 UAE front-runner Day are guaranteed one record at Oulton: on raceday they’ll become the championship’s youngest-ever crew at a combined age of 33 years and 14 days. That smashes the current benchmark held by Will Tregurtha and Stuart Middleton by approximately 18 months.
Miller and Day would take two more of the 2017 champions’ records if they won a GT4 race or the title together, while victory at Oulton or Silverstone would see Miller become British GT’s youngest-ever race winner in any class – an accolade currently held by Sandy Mitchell.
What’s more, Miller might also eclipse Jamie Chadwick’s record for youngest-ever champion in any category. She was 17 years and 95 days old at Snetterton in 2015.
However, he’ll face opposition from former Ginetta sparring partner and new Team Parker Racing recruit Seb Hopkins who is 27 days younger than Miller, while GT4’s entry also features fellow Class of 2021 Junior graduates Tom Edgar, Freddie Tomlinson and Joe Wheeler.
“A lot of my old Ginetta Junior rivals are stepping up to GT4 this year so naturally my first aim is to beat them!” he said. “I know Seb [Hopkins] particularly well from when we were team-mates in 2020 so it’s cool to also be battling him for some of the youngest-ever records, as well as race wins hopefully.
“I first tested the Aston GT4, which was one of TF Sport’s cars, back in November soon after agreeing the deal to continue with R Racing. It was a big jump initially but you learn so much in Ginettas that I was able to adapt fairly quickly. In many ways I was surprised by how much of my prior experience could be carried across and applied to driving the Vantage GT4. I’ve since tested R Racing’s chassis at Snetterton with Jamie [Day] who’s great to work with. Of course it won’t be easy – we and the team are all new to British GT – but a few podiums and maybe breaking one or two of those records would represent a great season. Naturally, we’re hoping for even more than that.”
Co-team owner Jamie Ross added: “Nathan [Read] and I are very excited to begin our first season in British GT. We don’t do things by half at R Racing so after watching the championship closely for a few years our goal has been to find a supportive manufacturer and fully commit to the series with a programme that’s capable of giving young drivers the best possible chance of achieving success, just as we did in Ginetta Juniors. Aston Martin Racing is the perfect partner for that. I’m confident that we can hit the ground running and compete at the sharp end straight away.”
Season 30 of the Intelligent Money British GT Championship kicks off at Oulton Park on April 16 & 18.