British GT Champions Head to Portugal for ELMS Finale

Howard’s last foray into the ELMS arena was in LMP1 when he masterminded the Mansell Motorsport entry in 2010 that saw British motorsport legend Nigel Mansell join sons Leo and Greg.  They tasted success that year winning the LMP1 class at Hungaroring.  After that one season Andrew Howard returned to the race seat in British GT, winning the British championship in 2013 and this season with Aston Martin works driver Jonny Adam, who is currently competing in the World Endurance Championship for the British manufacturer.

Andrew Howard said: “In 2010 we competed as a race team not as a driver and in 2012 I did the World Endurance Championship round at Silverstone.  My intention has always been to compete at Le Mans as a driver and I have been very open and honest about that. Having won the British title again the time is now right to look to do Le Mans again and you have to follow the process and that is to compete in the ELMS or WEC.  We feel for us the ELMS is a better option and we hope to be on the grid in 2016. So as a first step we thought we had better go and test it and that is the reason we are competing this weekend.

“We tested the car at Estoril and the car went well, I just have to get used to racing a car with no ABS and one that is a lot more sensitive on brake bias.  You appreciate how much easier the GT3 cars are to drive.  I certainly not expecting anything spectacular this weekend, it will take me a while to get used to the GTE again but I am looking forward to racing the car in Portugal.   I am racing with Jonny Adam and I am with a driver with a lot of GTE experience.

“For those who have asked the question, unfortunately there wont be any Beechdean Ice Cream in Portugal because the truck has been on the road between different events for about a month but if we do the ELMS in 2016 there will definitely be ice cream at every event.”

Jonny Adam said: “It’s been a personal long term goal for Andrew (Howard) to race in the European Le Mans Series since he ran the Mansell programme in 2010 and from a driving point he has always wanted to get back into the championship.  We looked at it this year as well with a GT3 car but he wanted to focus on British GT.  When he purchased the GTE car earlier this year, the plan was to do the Goodwood Festival and then if there was enough budget left over to compete in the final ELMS race at Estoril.  We tested last week and it was good to get some seat time.

“The LMGTE Aston Martin will be a good car to have in Estoril as Stuart Hall put his Aston Martin on pole last year.  The car is quite kind to the tyres and Estoril has a bit of an abrasive surface. It should be good and the balance of performance looks quite fair for the Aston as well but it is going to be quite hard to race against the Ferrari.  I think having done the test, giving Andrew some seat time and having run on the Dunlop tyres for the first time, it’s given us a better understanding before we arrive in Portugal.  We’re looking forward to it, it has been a great year, this is just to see where we fit in ahead of the 2016 season.”

The 4 Hours of Estoril will be the title decider for the LMGTE class, as well as LMP2 and GTC, with six teams capable of winning the 2015 crown.  However the no60 Formula Racing Ferrari of Mikkel Mac, Johnny Laursen and Andrea Rizzoli currently have a comfortable 19 point advantage over the chasing pack led by the no52 Team BMW MarcVDS BMW Z4 of Henry Hassid, Jesse Krohn and former FIA World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx.  

The 4 Hours of Estoril will take place on Sunday 18 October in Portugal. CLICK HERE for more information on the event.