British GT Championship: Oulton Park
Former Champion and Lamborghini Factory Driver, Scot Sandy Mitchell, fired-up for British GT Championship return with Black Bull and Barwell.
Sandy, heads to Oulton Park this Easter weekend (Mar 30-Apr 1) to launch his bid to win a second British GT Championship. The 24-year-old from Forfar will again pilot his No 78 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, prepared by Barwell Motorsport and backed by Huntly-based Black Bull Scotch Whisky.
Sandy, a member of the British Racing Drivers’ Club, arrives at the superfast and tight Cheshire circuit with a new and experienced co-driver for the 2024 campaign, Alex Martin.
“This will obviously be the first season I’ve raced with Alex,” the Scot explained, “but we’ve already spent a lot of time together carrying out extensive and productive pre-season tests at circuits including Silverstone, Donington and Oulton. It’s Alex’s first year racing in a Lamborghini but he enjoyed GT3 experience racing last season and already he’s proved to be very fast, plus he’s adapted quickly to the Lamborghini. I feel we’ve gelled really well and our times in testing have been quick. That, allied to the experience of everyone in the strong Barwell team, ensures we’ll be on the pace for the opening rounds at Oulton.”
Held over the Easter weekend, the traditional season opener sees qualifying take place on Saturday (Mar 30) ahead of two 60-minute races at the challenging 2.69-mile, 17-turn parkland Oulton Park circuit on Easter Monday. Sandy is eager to get back into GT racing after the winter off-season, but which did include tackling the Daytona 24Hrs back in January.
“This year is promising to be the busiest of my career, racing in both Europe plus the British GT Championship,” Sandy, personally backed by Black Bull Scotch Whisky, continued. “British GT is probably the toughest national title in Europe, and we know we’re going to face some fierce competition over the nine races spread over seven weekends. Again we have a full 36-car grid in the championship this season — 19 GT3 cars and 17 GT4 — plus five overall former champions, including myself, and experienced factory drivers from other manufacturers. So the competition is going to be intense.”
“Our pre-season testing has gone well, but qualifying at Oulton will be the first time all the drivers and teams see the opposition flat-out this year. It’s a session I always look forward to at the start of every year because it’s a true indication of how fast we are compared to our rivals. And as the new British GT season starts, I’d like to thank my sponsors, Black Bull, Tunnocks, Upper Dysart Larder and Alan Davie Transport whose combined support ensures I have the strongest package to mount a full-on bid to win the title again this year.”