Looking Ahead – Racing at Silverstone

Following an eventful outing at Oulton Park, the GT Cup heads to Northamptonshire this weekend. The series’ is off to Silverstone for its annual visit with more than twenty cars across four groups lining up on the grid.

Members of three different race groups make up the top points positions in the overall championship table with GTO duo Paul Bailey and Ross Wylie leading the way with 265 points. After some impressive runs in Group GTC, Topcats Racing have snuck into second in the title fight just 28b points behind Bailey and Wylie. J&S Racing’s Sacha Kakad and Hugo Cook have leapfrogged Feathers Motorsport to retain their third position in the table.

Group GTO this weekend sees a couple of entries returning after mechanical issues. Richard Chamberlain’s iconic orange Porsche takes the stage after being sidelined since Brands Hatch. National Motorsport Academy are also back on the scene with a new driver behind the wheel – Jay Shepherd.

It should come as no surprise that as the leader of the Overall Championship, Bailey and Wylie also lead the Group GTO title fight. Woodrow Motorsport’s Chris Murphy sits second in the table with Grahame Tilley and Sennan Fielding in third on 94.

In Group GTC, TopCats Racing remain the favourites thanks to some solid results last time out. Charlotte Gilbert will once again be paired with Gilbert Yates as the pair look to defend the GTC title for the team. Behind the TopCats Lamborghini on 178.5 points is the triple threat of Russ Lindsay, Patrick Collins, and Will Dendy. The trio are improving week on week and remain a team to watch, though Dendy has rescinded driving duties for this weekend. Graham and Dan de Zille also had a good day at Oulton Park and will be bringing their Ferrari 488 Challenge along to Silverstone to bring the fight once again to their peers. For a change though, AF Corse won’t be the only Ferrari in the field as Silverstone locals FF Corse bring an invitational entry in the form of a Ferrari 488 Challenge for James Owen and Tom Fleming.

J&S Racing’s Kakad and Cook continue to improve in their Audi R8 and have maintained their Group GT3 points lead. Simon Orange and Tom Roche have found their way back past Drivetac’s James Wallis and Sam Maher-Loughan following Oulton Park to take back second position in the title fight. G-Cat Racing make a return this weekend with Shamus Jennings and Greg Caton hoping to add to their points tally. Plus, there are a few new faces on the grid this weekend – RAM Racing have an invitational entry with Adam Knight and Euan McKay in a Mercedes AMG GT3 while 7TSix have paired Paul Rogers with James Wallis.

The Mercedes AMG GT4 seems to be the weapon on choice in Group GTH with four of the seven entries running the car this weekend. After skipping Oulton Park, David Frankland and Ed Bridle return for Silverstone with the two Morpheus Racing cars making up the usual Mercedes cohort. Joining them this weekend as an invitational entry is Ram Racing’s Charles Dawson and Seb Morris in their AMG GT4.

Feathers Motorsport run the only Aston Martin on the GT Cup grid and they currently lead the group standings. James Guess and Tom Canning have had consistently good results this season, having only been off the podium once all year. The pair lead Morpheus Racing’s Stephen Walton and Chris Hart - the group’s only pure sporting driver lineup. Third in the Group GTH title fight is Paddock Motorsport’s Tim Docker and Jordan Albert having swapped their McLaren 570S for the new McLaren Artura.

Track action kicks off on Saturday morning with free practice at 10.00. All four races will be broadcast live on Facebook and YouTube across the weekend, and live text coverage will be available on Twitter throughout the event.