Introducing: Ross Wylie

Ross Wylie has come a long way in a short time since his car racing debut two years ago. Starting out in the Mini Cooper Cup after a successful karting career, the 22-year-old Scot progressed through the German VW Scirocco R-Cup, British VW Racing Cup and now onto British GT, where he and Beechdean Aston Martin team-mate Jake Giddings have their sights firmly set on the GT4 class title. 

Wylie embarked on the start of his GT journey in 2014 with a 
win first time out at Oulton Park (Credit: SRO Media)

Despite a difficult Snetterton weekend, struggling with a lack of front aero and a penalty for a marginally too short pitstop in the second race, Wylie and Giddings continued their strong run of finishes with a second and a fourth that puts them seven points clear of Aston Martin rivals Andrew Jarman and Devon Modell at the top of the standings with three rounds to go.

“The VWs were a good experience because it helped me learn all the circuits – I was hoping to make it into British GT for this year and now here I am!” says Wylie, who won first time out at Oulton Park and has finished every race inside the top four. 

“Of course it’s easy to say that in the next five years I want to be racing in Formula One, but every driver has to be realistic about their ambitions. Realistically I think there could be a future for me in professional sportscar racing, so fingers crossed! GT racing is about driving sexy cars and proper racing; there’s a lot of respect amongst the drivers and I’m really enjoying it. It’s a big learning curve, but I’m improving all the time.”

Wylie hopes to remain part of the Beechdean Racing setup
and move into GT3 in 2014. (Credit: Lewis Houghton)

With fellow Scotsman and Aston Martin factory driver Jonny Adam also in the Beechdean AMR fold, Wylie has the perfect role-model from which to learn and improve as a driver. He harbours hopes of joining his compatriot in GT3 next year and although he admits he is unsure of team owner Andrew Howard’s plans moving forward, Wylie remains optimistic of a future within the expanding organisation. 

“As up-and-coming drivers, it’s great for me and Jake to have someone with Jonny’s level of experience on board to learn from and relate to the things he’s doing,” he said. “Hopefully I can take that on board next year in a GT3 car, but we’re just looking to get this year under our belts and then we’ll look at where we can go with Beechdean after that. We want to win the championship and there’s no better place to try and do it than with Beechdean AMR, so we’ll give it a good crack and see where it goes. But ultimately this is a learning year, so as long as we keep improving, that’s the main thing.”

Expect to hear a lot more of Wylie in the coming years: on this year's evidence, the future is certainly looking bright.