Summer Loving - GT Cup serving summer sportscar spectacular at Silverstone

A bumper 21-car grid sets its sights on the home of British motorsport, Silverstone GP circuit, for the fifth round of the 2024 GT Cup Championship.

It was all change at the top of the overall standings after a busy day at Oulton Park towards the end of June. Topcats Racing fought their way to the top of the table after two second-place finishes for Charlotte Gilbert and Tom Rawlings, leapfrogging their rivals in the process and maintaining the GTC group advantage in the first of its two Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeos.

Climbing the order also is the Abba Racing Mercedes-AMG of Richard Neary and Ian Loggie. Both have enjoyed a stellar season since turning from rivals to a single-car partnership, and trimmed the gap up top to just 16 points behind Topcats, as well as holding the edge in the competitive GTO group.

GTH is still topped by the #9 Forsetti Motorsport duo of Mikey Porter and Matthew Higgins, which slipped to third in the overall points after skipping Oulton Park. Both remain serious title contenders in the first of the squad’s two Aston Martin Vantages, with eight wins already.

Michael Orant charged to a double GTH group win at Oulton to close in on both Forsetti Aston Martins. The Paddock Motorsport driver’s triumphs in Cheshire bumped the McLaren Artura up to third in the group as a reward. GTA is still firmly in the hands of rookies Jolt Racing in their McLaren 570s, after a 100 per cent record thus far for both Rupert Williams and John Ingram.

The trip to Northampton-based British Grand Prix circuit marks a return to GT Cup of Beechdean Racing. Andrew Howard gives the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 its series debut, sharing with former Le Mans 24 Hours class victor, Darren Turner. They will take on the GT3 Porsche of G-Cat Racing - unbeatable thus far with group leaders Shamus Jennings and Greg Caton - and the familiar Greystone duo of Andrey Borodin and Ed Pead in a McLaren 720S.

Among more familiar faces include Oulton Park winners Tim Grey Motorsport and Steve Burgess who took the Radical’s first win of the campaign in a thrilling second contest, plus old favourite Richard Chamberlain in his mighty Porsche 935. Both participate for GTO spoils, alongside the spectacular Brabham BT62 of Paul Bailey and another ex-Le Mans winner, David Brabham.

Newcomers include Nathan Wells in a second Woodrow Motorsport BMW M3 GTR - one of four cars entered by the squad alongside regular Chris Murphy, plus Jasva Sapra (BMW E46) and Kevin Clarke (Lamborghini ST) as two invitational entrants for Sprints only. Team Trofeo Racing is another newbie meanwhile, running a Porsche 911 Cup in the capable hands of James and Bill Caley.

The weekend returns to its standard four-race format at Silverstone, featuring a 25-minute Sprint and an Endurance of 50 minutes - the latter featuring a driver change - on both days.