The 2026 British GT Championship kicked off its season in official style yesterday at Silverstone, as teams, drivers and cars gathered for the annual media day - a joint event this year with Ginetta’s newly SRO-managed UK championships.
Silverstone played host to one of the busiest media days on March 31st, as the British GT officially opened its 34th season. The 2026 grid assembled at the Grand Prix circuit for three test sessions, with 3,000 free tickets reserved in advance, a figure up from 2,000 last year. The event drew a strong fan contingent to the paddock, underscoring the appetite for British motorsport.
The provisional full-season entry list stands at 26 cars. Fifteen entries will contest the GT3 class, with the remaining eleven lining up in GT4. While the headline number falls slightly short of the 27-car grid seen in 2025, the comparison is not straightforward. Last year’s provisional entry included four GT4 Endurance Cup-only cars, a format that has since been shelved. This year’s list is composed entirely of full-season competitors, and SRO’s off-season efforts to strengthen the GT4 class appear to have paid dividends.
GT3: Experience Meets Ambition
GT3 presents a familiar split for 2026, with eight Pro-Am pairings joined by seven Silver-Am entries. McLaren leads the manufacturer count with seven GT3 Evo machinery across four teams: Optimum Motorsport, Paddock Motorsport, Orange Racing by JMH, and Mahiki Racing. Aston Martin, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Mercedes-AMG complete the manufacturer spread, with Barwell Motorsport fielding no fewer than three Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2s.
Three entries were confirmed on the morning of the media day itself. GT4 Endurance Cup champion Ed McDermott steps up to GT3 for the first time, sharing Mahiki’s second McLaren with Luke Garlick. Toro Verde field a Porsche for Ian Duggan and Tom Bradshaw, while the same team’s Ginetta G56 entry pairs reigning Ginetta GT Championship Am title winner Luke Shaw with 2018 GT4 champion Jack Mitchell.
The Silver-Am class carries particular narrative weight this season. Six young drivers - Charles Clark, Hugo Cook, Luke Garlick, Josh Rowledge, Jarrod Waberski and Aaron Walker, are eligible to compete for SRO GT Academy’s prize drive at the 2027 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa. The competition is open to FIA Silver-graded drivers under 30 and is designed to identify talent through consistent racecraft.
Among the headline names returning to the grid, Andrew Howard and Rob Collard stand as the only active former British GT3 champions, both holding two titles. BTCC stalwart Colin Turkington arrives with a genuine shot at history: only Chris Hodgetts, 31 years ago, has ever held both the British GT and British Touring Car Championship crowns simultaneously. Jessica Hawkins, whose F1 Academy connections link her to the Aston Martin F1 operation, could become only the fourth woman to claim a British GT overall or class title if she can deliver on her undoubted pace.
Reigning champions Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss have stepped up to GT World Challenge Europe, leaving the door open for a new champion. Luca Hopkinson, who impressed in the Silver class last season, will be among those hoping to make that step.
GT4: Fresh Faces and a Revitalised Grid
GT4’s 11 entries are split almost evenly between Pro-Am and Silver, with the growth in Silver entries in particular reflecting the structural changes introduced by SRO ahead of this season. The class welcomes a number of new and returning outfits: Grange Racing with FSR, GBR Stratton, Innovation Racing and four-time BTCC teams’ champions WSR Flexifly all make their British GT debuts, while Fox Motorsport and Toro Verde GT return after absences of at least two years.
The GT4 manufacturer spread covers Aston Martin, BMW, Ginetta, McLaren and Porsche. Reigning GT4 champions Marc Warren and Jack Brown are stepping up to GT3, while former champion Ross Gunn, title winner in 2015, also makes the move. Darren Turner, better known for his long Aston Martin factory career, and Ronan Pearson, another BTCC race winner, complete a GT4 field that offers real depth.
A Bigger Picture: SRO Takes the Reins at Ginetta
Yesterday’s media day was notable not just for British GT, but for the formal launch of a structural shift that will shape UK motorsport for years to come. Ginetta’s three UK championships, the Juniors, GT Academy and GT Championship, are now under the operational control of SRO Motorsports Group following a strategic partnership announced in February. The combined event at Silverstone served as the public launchpad for both organisations’ 2026 campaigns.
The arrangement allows Ginetta to focus on scaling its race car manufacturing operation in response to growing global demand, while SRO brings its professional sporting infrastructure and broadcast reach to the UK’s longest-running junior sportscar series. Across the combined British GT and Ginetta grids, more than 75 entries were present at Silverstone yesterday, with GB3 and GB4 grids of 20-plus cars expected to further swell that figure when the season proper begins.
The Ginetta Juniors, a championship with alumni including Lando Norris and Jamie Chadwick, will benefit from extended broadcast coverage on Sky Sports F1 under the new arrangement, while both the GT Academy and GT Championship will gain additional exposure through SRO’s GT World YouTube channel. The Juniors get their season under way at Donington Park on 11–12 April.
What Comes Next
British GT’s 2026 season gets under way with the three-hour Silverstone 500. The entry list remains provisional, with SRO confirming that additional guest entries beyond the two already confirmed for Paradine Competition could still materialise ahead of the season opener.
Images courtesy of ©Jack Lane
