Lewis Proctor will join Andrew Howard for the Intelligent Money British GT Championship season finale at Donington Park next weekend.
Beechdean AMR had already confirmed its intention to contest the event but stopped short of naming a driver line up.
Team owner and two-time champion Howard was always likely to feature. However, Proctor’s existing commitments alongside his father, Stewart, aboard Greystone GT’s McLaren makes this an unforeseen pairing.
The Proctors won British GT3’s Silver-Am crown in 2021 but can no longer defend it after Alex Malykhin and James Dorlin sealed this year’s title at Brands Hatch last time out. That, along with Lewis’ desire to experience another manufacturer’s machinery, has prompted an end-of-season switch that also sees the Aston Martin Vantage make its first domestic appearance of the campaign.
“I’m very pleased to join Beechdean AMR for Donington,” said the 26-year-old, who has also raced an Audi R8 LMS GT3 in Europe this year. “They’re one of the most successful teams in the history of the British GT Championship and the combination of Andrew Howard’s team and their relationship with Prodrive makes this a very exciting opportunity.
“This move among many factors is driven by my desire to gain more experience racing front-engined cars. This is a first step in that direction as I’ve almost exclusively raced mid-engined GT cars so far. Although I won’t test the car before Donington, I have total confidence in Andrew and the Beechdean AMR team that they will give me the best possible opportunity to place well in Silver-Am and overall.”
Howard, meanwhile, returns to familiar surroundings following outings with Paddock Motorsport’s McLaren and 2 Seas’ Mercedes-AMG this year. He has also raced the Vantage in Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS but will now make his first British GT appearance in an Aston Martin since the Donington finale 12 months ago.
“I’m excited to bring Beechdean AMR back to the British GT Championship at Donington – a track where we’ve won titles in the past, including most recently in 2019 [GT4 Pro-Am],” he said.
“It’s been an interesting experience trying some of the other GT cars in the field this year, but racing an Aston Martin is special and with Lewis – one of the absolute fastest Silvers in the field – in the car, I think we have every opportunity to do well.
“As a team it’s absolutely our intention to race in a strong GT series next year and a return to British GT on a full-time basis is certainly under consideration, so this will give us a good indication of what we could expect if that’s the way we go.”
Beechdean AMR’s crew is not eligible to score points at Donington where the GT3 and GT4 titles will be decided next Sunday (October 15/16).
Greystone GT, meanwhile, will announce its replacement for Lewis later today.