Beechdean AMR returns to the Intelligent Money British GT Championship full-time this year with its Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 and two former title winners.
Team owner Andrew Howard is back after spending a season in Europe and only making sporadic British GT appearances, while AMR factory driver Ross Gunn returns for his first full-season assault since 2015.
Howard raced Paddock Motorsport’s McLaren and Sky Tempesta’s Mercedes-AMG in 2022 before making another outing at Donington with his own Beechdean squad and Aston Martin – the same combination with which he and Jonny Adam challenged for the title two years ago.
They’re the only drivers to have won multiple GT3 crowns, although Howard’s last championship – and win – came back in 2015.
“We’ve tried other championships and events in Europe and beyond and been title winners, but inevitably we always come back to British GT because it’s a mega series and because racing in front of your home crowd is special,” he said. “Winning the title in 2013 remains one of my proudest moments as a driver and team principal, and seeing us taking GT3 and GT4 crowns – with Ross as one of our GT4 champions – two years later was fantastic. It’s great to have him back in the fold as the Gunn family have been involved with the team for over 20 years.
“Our comeback win in Silver-Am at Donington last year was a toe-in-the-water exercise to see if we were still as competitive as we thought we would be, and we were, so putting our efforts into a full-season campaign was a no-brainer. Our Aston Martins have always been favourites with the spectators trackside and I’m expecting a huge amount of home support this year. We’ll do our very best to give the fans what they want.”
Gunn joined AMR’s factory ranks following his GT4 exploits with Beechdean in 2015. He then joined Howard for what turned out to be a partial GT3 campaign the following season and has only made fleeting British GT appearances since, his most recent with Howard at Spa in 2021.
They also shared a car in 2019 en route to third in the European Le Mans Series.
“It’s great to be back in British GT and with Beechdean AMR,” he said. “I probably first sat in a Beechdean car when I was about five years old when my Dad was racing Minis with them, and I’ll always be grateful to Andrew and Susie Howard for their backing eight years ago that set me on the path to becoming a professional racing driver.
“British GT is one of the most intensely competitive national series in the world and you can see how hard it is to win because so few drivers have done it more than once. My job is simple: work as hard as I possibly can to help Andrew fight for a third Drivers’ title. Podiums are 100 per cent the aim straight out of the box.”
Season 31 of the Intelligent Money British GT Championship gets underway at Oulton Park on April 8 & 10.