British GT Championship
Next Aston Martin British GT Race
Countdown to the next British GT race featuring Aston Martin contenders. Oulton Park is next, with a Monday double-header as the 2026 championship moves into Rounds 2 and 3.
Countdown
Weekend format: Oulton Park hosts two one-hour races. Race 1 starts at 10:05 BST, with Race 2 later the same day at 14:45 BST.
Aston Martin contenders
British GT Championship - Season Overview
The 2026 British GT Championship is a national GT series built around two main classes: GT3 and GT4. It brings together professional, semi-professional and amateur driver pairings in race-prepared versions of high-performance road-car machinery. For the FTP Motorsport Hub, its value is clear: British GT gives us a home-based Aston Martin racing strand to follow alongside the global series such as Formula 1, WEC, IMSA and GT World Challenge Europe.
The 2026 season is made up of eight championship rounds across six race weekends. The season opened with the Silverstone 500 in April, followed by two races at Oulton Park, then rounds at Spa-Francorchamps, Snetterton, Donington Park and Brands Hatch. That format means some weekends carry one longer race, while others, such as Oulton Park and Snetterton, include two separate championship races.
Aston Martin is represented in both GT3 and GT4. The headline GT3 entry is the #7 Beechdean Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, driven by Andrew Howard and Aston Martin works driver Ross Gunn. In GT4, the Aston Martin presence is broader, with the #21 MK Racing Vantage AMR GT4 Evo for Will Orton and Jessica Hawkins, the #27 Grange Racing with FSR Vantage AMR GT4 Evo for Daniel Lavery and Darren Turner, the #40 Townsend Racing powered by Fox Motorsport Vantage AMR GT4 Evo for James Townsend and Joe Wheeler, and the #97 GBR Stratton Motorsport Vantage AMR GT4 Evo for John Hartshorne and Ronan Pearson.
Image © Aston Martin Lagonda. Used for editorial purposes.
British GT Championship - Season in brief so far
The 2026 British GT Championship is only one race old, so the picture is still very early. The season opened with the Silverstone 500, where Optimum Motorsport won overall in GT3 with the #3 McLaren, while Innovation Racing took GT4 victory with the #74 Ginetta. Aston Martin’s strongest opening result came in GT4, where MK Racing’s #21 Vantage AMR GT4 Evo of Will Orton and Jessica Hawkins finished second in class, immediately putting both drivers and the team second in the GT4 championship standings on 27 points.
In GT3, Beechdean Motorsport gave Aston Martin a solid start rather than a headline podium. Andrew Howard and Ross Gunn finished sixth overall and sixth in GT3 in the #7 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, leaving Beechdean fourth in the GT3 teams’ standings on 18 points. Howard and Gunn also sit fourth in the GT3 drivers’ standings after Round 1.
The wider Aston Martin GT4 picture is also worth tracking. MK Racing has started strongly, while GBR Stratton Motorsport has points on the board with its #97 Vantage, Townsend Racing powered by Fox Motorsport has also opened its account, and Grange Racing with FSR will be looking to recover after its Silverstone non-classification. With only one race completed, it’s far too early to draw firm conclusions, but Aston Martin already has a credible British GT story in both classes: Beechdean chasing the GT3 front-runners, and MK Racing beginning the season as a serious GT4 contender.
Next up is Oulton Park on Monday 25th May, where Rounds 2 and 3 give the Aston Martin entries two chances in one day to move the championship picture forward.
Round 01 - Silverstone 500 2026
The 2026 British GT Championship opened with the Silverstone 500, the series’ blue-riband three-hour race. Overall victory went to Optimum Motorsport’s #3 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo of Yasser Shahin and Garnet Patterson, ahead of Century Motorsport’s #44 BMW M4 GT3 Evo and Paradine Motorsport’s #91 BMW M4 GT3 Evo. In GT4, Innovation Racing’s #74 Ginetta G56 GT4 Evo of Thomas Holland and Hadley Simpson took class victory, ahead of the #21 MK Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo of Will Orton and Jessica Hawkins.
For Aston Martin, the strongest GT3 story came from Beechdean Motorsport. Andrew Howard and Aston Martin works driver Ross Gunn brought the #7 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo home sixth overall and sixth in GT3, finishing 13.631 seconds behind the winning McLaren after 71 laps. That gave Beechdean a solid points start to the season and left the team fourth in the GT3 teams’ standings on 18 points after Round 1. Howard and Gunn also sit fourth in the GT3 drivers’ standings.
The clearest Aston Martin highlight came in GT4. MK Racing’s #21 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo, driven by Will Orton and Jessica Hawkins, finished second in class, just 1.290 seconds behind the winning Innovation Racing Ginetta. It was an excellent opening result for MK Racing and immediately placed Orton and Hawkins second in the GT4 drivers’ standings, with MK Racing also second in the GT4 teams’ championship on 27 points.
Elsewhere among the Aston Martin GT4 entries, GBR Stratton Motorsport’s #97 Vantage AMR GT4 Evo of John Hartshorne and Ronan Pearson finished 19th overall and sixth in GT4, scoring useful early points. Townsend Racing powered by Fox Motorsport finished 22nd overall and ninth in GT4 with James Townsend and Joe Wheeler, while the team’s own post-race note described a frustrating but encouraging debut, including a recovery from an early issue and a fifth-place finish in GT4 Pro-Am. Grange Racing with FSR’s #27 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo, shared by Daniel Lavery and Darren Turner, was not classified after completing 34 laps.
From a Fuel the Passion perspective, Silverstone gave Aston Martin a respectable but mixed start to the British GT season. Beechdean’s GT3 result was a solid points finish rather than a headline podium, while MK Racing’s GT4 second place was the standout Aston Martin result of the weekend. GBR Stratton and Townsend both got points on the board in GT4, but Grange’s early non-classification showed how quickly a long race can turn. The key thread now is whether Beechdean can move closer to the GT3 podium fight and whether MK Racing can sustain what already looks like a serious GT4 challenge.
FTP Summary Line
Aston Martin’s British GT season began with a solid GT3 points finish for Beechdean Motorsport and a strong GT4 podium for MK Racing, as Will Orton and Jessica Hawkins finished second in class at the Silverstone 500. It was not a clean sweep for the Vantage entries, but it gave Aston Martin a clear domestic racing thread to follow as the championship heads to Oulton Park.
