What Makes GT Racing So Popular?

In these tough economic times, where Formula One remains out of reach for all but the very wealthy – GP2 champion Fabio Leimer was unable to secure a seat at Sauber even with a reported $14 million sponsorship package – endurance and GT racing in particular has risen become the destination of choice for young drivers looking to make a career in motorsport. AF Corse’s signing of British GP2 graduates Sam Bird and James Calado are a case in point. James Newbold speaks to an expert panel of drivers to find out just what makes GT such a massive draw.

There can be no doubts about it; GT racing is firmly on the up in 2014. Long held in high esteem by those willing to look beyond Formula One for their automotive thrills, a healthy mix of strong manufacturer representation, capacity grids and vast opportunities for career advancement have duly attracted a steady stream of talented young drivers and heavyweight teams from single-seaters and touring cars alike, lending credibility to a discipline formerly derided by outsiders as the domain of over-the-hill ex pros and gentleman drivers. And this prodigious growth comes in spite of the ongoing spat between the ACO and SRO that has prevented GT3 cars from racing at Le Mans, which shows no signs of being resolved in the near future.

The packed Blancpain Endurance Series grid gets underway at Silverstone.
(Credit: Brecht Decancq Photography)

“It’s on the rise everywhere you look,” says World Endurance Championship racer Alex Macdowall. “Look at the Blancpain championship, it’s got full grids and the WEC is really taking off in its third year. I think GT racing has just got a better career opportunity for younger drivers and now is the time to get into it while it’s on the rise. You just have look at the calibre of teams, there’s a lot more money going into [sportscars] and obviously Le Mans is one of the top three races in the world.”

He’s certainly not wrong. The level of professionalism across the board in both GTE and GT3 is abundantly evident, with works-supported efforts from Ferrari, Aston Martin and Porsche competing for the FIA World Endurance Championship, while across the pond the new-for-2014 IMSA United SportsCar Championship has attracted strong entries from Corvette, SRT (Viper), BMW and Porsche North America. Not wanting to be left out, the SRO’s Blancpain Endurance Series and British GT championship have been boosted by Bentley's long-awaited return to motorsport and Nissan's innovative GT Academy programme, which has enjoyed enormous success in building the careers of Jann Mardenborough and Wolfgang Reip to name but a few.

Given the plethora of manufacuturer seats there to be had, it is perhaps unsurprising that Tom Onslow-Cole should have turned his back on touring cars for a new start in GTs, which he believes will further his credentials as a professional racing driver. Having already won silverware in both his Strata21 Aston in British GT and the mighty 7.0 litre V8 Mosler MT900 in the Spanish GT, his decision certainly looks to be paying dividends.

“Career perspectives are much brighter in GTs; there are hundreds and hundreds of cars racing around the world, lots of manufacturers involved and that makes for great opportunities,” Onslow-Cole enthuses. “Just look at British GT; it’s got an absolutely packed grid, longer races and the cars are just cool. You can’t explain how incredible they are to drive, it really is back to my five year old ambition of driving cool race cars.”

Of course, the allure of the cars themselves cannot be underestimated. For Macdowall, who spent much of his career in a 2.0 litre front wheel drive Chevrolet Cruze, the opportunity to race the glorious-sounding Aston Martin Vantage GTE was one too good to pass up.  

For Macdowall, GT beasts are 'proper racing cars'. (Credit: Aston Martin Racing)

“They sound so sexy, it feels like you’re in a proper racing car,” he says. “The noise just adds to the spectacle, the GT cars have great sounding V8s which is how it should be.”

“It’s massively enjoyable and the cars are the best part,” agrees Aston Martin works driver Jonny Adam, whose intricate knowledge of the V12 Vantage GT3 helped Beechdean Motorsport team-mate Andrew Howard to the 2013 British GT title. “The GT3 market is just huge; take Audi for example, they’ve sold around 100 GT3 cars worldwide and you can take that car and race it in endurance events across the world.”

The upcoming Spa 24 Hours is a case in point. The fourth round of the Blancpain Endurance Series features a mammoth grid of 60-plus GT3 machines from Bentley, McLaren, Audi, Mercedes, BMW, Ferrari and Aston Martin, with several teams from the British championship also lodging entries. For MP Motorsport’s Joe Osborne, this represents an invaluable opportunity to boost his profile outside the UK and test himself against the top names from the continent.

“I’m on the BRDC Superstar scheme so I’m quite well known in the UK, but nobody knows me in Europe, so racing in Blancpain has been really good for me,” said Osborne. “Performing well in that is another shop window for me, so I’ve got to make the most of it.”

“Walking round with these guys I definitely feel like a bit more of a celebrity, if you could call it that,” adds Macdowall. “Jason Plato is at the top of his game in touring cars, but even he would struggle to make the transition into GTs, it’s just completely different. Once you’ve gone down this route, you’ve got to stick at it. It’s a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of money to raise. It’s such a tough ask, you’ve got to keep going.”

Citroen domination has weakened interest in the WTCC, despite the
addition of WRC legend Sebastien Loeb. (Credit: Francois Flamand)

But as the World Touring Car Championship is discovering to its cost in a season where Gianni Morbidelli’s reverse grid win in Hungary remains the only non-Citroen victory all season, top name-drivers, even when they’re called Sebastien Loeb, can do only so much to sell the product to the fans. And if the racing isn’t up to scratch, it won’t take long for interest to wane. 

Osborne is aware of GT’s reputation for cagey, chessboard-like racing dominated by strategy, but rightly points out that the on-track show is far from follow-my-leader. 

“The cars are cool, the cars are sexy, the cars are fast and the racing has got better,” he says. “GT racing has traditionally been quite tactical with not a lot of movement, but we’re driving pretty hard these days, door-handle to door-handle at times.” 

Competition for every position is fierce and success is hard-earned, as Formula Ford champion Dan Cammish is discovering in his first season of GT racing.

“Before I got into GTs I’d never really followed it that closely and I had no idea what it was really about, but people kept telling me how good the racing was and that you had to be in it to understand,” admits the Yorkshireman, who only found himself in a Team Parker Racing GT4-spec Porsche after a lack of funds prevented the planned graduation to the BTCC. “And now that I’m here, I have to say it’s really fierce. You never stop racing with somebody, whether you’re overtaking someone or you’re being overtaken. The races are longer, sure, but it’s still flat-out, I don’t drive any less than 100% from the minute I get in to when I get out.”

Adam's partnership with Beechdean ice cream owner Andrew Howard has been
highly successful, culminating in the 2013 British GT crown. (Credit: SRO Media)

It’s highly gratifying when done right, the result of team-mates working closely to aggregate their strengths and iron out their weaknesses. This philosophy was the bedrock of Howard’s successful 2013 British GT campaign and as Adam reveals, without developing that bond, not only would results suffer but the enjoyment to be had from it too.

“It’s massively rewarding for me to see Andrew’s progression in the last two years; it’s probably been my biggest success,” says the Scot, who has raced with Howard since 2011. “Not only has his pace has improved massively but his consistency as well, he’s so much more relaxed and his racecraft has come on leaps and bounds. And that’s so important because this form of racing is all about the Am; all the pros are within two or three tenths of each other, but the Ams can be separated by two or three seconds, so making sure the Am is in the right situation with tyres and everything is absolutely key. Some guys still don’t get that, but it really is the key to a successful weekend.” 

Indeed, even once the chance to become a professional racing driver, packed grids of exotic machinery and close racing are taken into consideration, perhaps the greatest indicator of GT racing’s success is the fun-factor, as Onslow-Cole explains. 

“I’m very happy in GTs; the atmosphere is relaxed, we can have a laugh and a giggle with the team but yet take it seriously," he says. "It’s been a learning curve for sure, but things are getting better and better every time we get in the car. We have a really good weekend here.”

There’s a lot that other series can learn from GT racing. Maybe it’s about time they took notice.