Today’s announcement, see final paragraph
Date 11/05/2006: GT3 is Go at Donington Park
The first appearance of the new GT3 cars will take place for round 3 of the 2006 Avon Tyres British GT Championship at Donington Park on Sunday May 21st. Barwell Motorsport is running a trio of Aston Martin DBRS9s and will be joined by three Lotus Exige cars, run by the Lotus Sport Cadena team, and by a single Trackspeed Porsche 997 GT3. The seven GT3 entries swell the provisional grid for round 3 of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship to twenty-nine cars across the three classes, with the possibility of more joining the grid on May 20/21.
A real �David and Goliath� battle is on the cards for the first two-hour race of the year, with the mighty V12 6 litre powered Aston Martin cars and the 400bhp Porsche 997 taking on the lightweight, � 750 kg compared to 1200kg for the Aston Martin � supercharged, 1.8litre powered, Lotus Sport Exige.
“We are very excited about making Barwell Motorsport’s debut in the Avon Tyres British GT Championship, and are delighted to be able to bring all three of our Aston Martin DBRS9s to Donington,� said Barwell Motorsport�s Chris Needell. �As well as fighting for the GT3 Class win, we are hoping to take the fight to some of the GT2 cars for an overall podium finish.”
"We are very much looking forward to Donington, where the Lotus Sport Exige GT3 will debut,� said Barrie Whight from Lotus Sport Cadena. �Lotus Sport have continued to develop the cars during build process and both parties are confident of a strong performance at Donington. It will be very interesting to see how the cars compare to the Aston Martins and Porsches.�
“Also, we are pleased to announce a third car for 2006, to be driven by team owner Paul Whight and experienced Lotus driver, Chris Randall,� Whight continued. �Initially they will drive the prototype Lotus Sport Exige, whilst a brand new third car is completed by Lotus Sport. This is great news for us and Lotus fans, who we hope to see out in force at Donington and throughout 2006.”