British GT’s all-new GT4 entry tested their pair of Aston Martin Vantages at Donington Park this week, marking a momentous occasion for the new squad.
GBR Stratton Motorsport is led by team manager, Craig Brunton, and team principals Roger and Graham Bennington, whose combined passion and experience stretch back to the 1960s. The MotorPost spoke to Brunton in the garage as the team prepared and ran their machines to gather data and experience ahead of its inaugural season.
The two-car entrant, with drivers yet to be confirmed, is a joint venture between GBR, a Scottish single-seater racing team and academy, and Stratton, a popular and successful Aston Martin customer team.
Brunton said “we knew of Stratton from the Aston Martin links, and we’ve looked at GTs for a long time and tried to get into it. It’s always where we wanted to be, and we were introduced to Roger [Bennington] through AMR as a potential partner.
“He owned the cars and had them for sale. Then we got speaking to him and we decided that we could work a partnership to run the cars he had.”
The team had already performed a shakedown at the Lotus test track in January, but the first of three confirmed testing dates arrived this week at Donington Park. When asked about the key differences between the two exercises, Brunton said: “Coming from single-seaters, we don’t do shakedowns – we do an install lap – and a shakedown is just a longer-winded process. This is an actual test where you’re testing the driver, different things, different stint lengths.
“That’s the difference, really: a shakedown is just checking the car rolls, and all the systems, [whereas] a test is one step closer to racing.
“It’s a good exercise to get the mechanics up to speed. They’ve had a long winter as well as us!”
British GT rivals, Full Send Racing, likewise will run two Aston Martin Vantage GT4s. When asked about what will competitively set them apart, Brunton said: “The thing in GTs is all the cars are the same.
“There’s a lot more strategy involved in the races – there’s a lot more as a race team, too. You have different people to do different jobs: strategies, pit stop guys, and that’s the difference.
“You look at other teams, no one’s doing something different with the car on track, necessarily. It’s about how you win it behind the scenes. We will be strongest with the right people doing the right jobs to make the advantage.”
Brunton was considerate not to overestimate their new entry’s competitiveness in its inaugural season: “I’m not really a guy who likes to set goals, but I’d love to have a good, strong showing in British GT.
“We want to do a good job for the customers, make sure they enjoy themselves. We do a good job and we’re happy at the end of the day, and the good results should come from that.”
Although the team consists of vastly experienced personnel and manufacturer backing, setting up a new outfit on this scale is a significant challenge. “You have to get the right people to do the right job,” Brunton explained, “people who have got experience, you have to get them because it costs your lap time to learn in our sport, not just money, so you have to keep an eye on that, making sure you’re efficient.”
GBR Stratton Motorsport are also due to participate in the GT4 Winter Series and GT Cup championships this year, with lineups yet to be confirmed.
The team concluded Thursday’s testing at Donington Park with no issues. Further testing is scheduled for Snetterton Circuit on 24th February and Silverstone on 26th February.
Photo credit: Kip Morgan / The MotorPost
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