+ New season officially begins with joint Ginetta event
+ All 3,000 free tickets snapped up ahead of time
+ Provisional full-season British GT entry list
British GT 2026 is officially GO! Season 34 kicked off this morning at Silverstone where the majority of this year’s teams, drivers and cars have gathered for the championship’s annual media day.
They’re joined in the paddock by Ginetta’s UK series, which are now also managed by SRO Motorsports Group. The newly combined GT Academy and GT Championship plus world renowned Juniors launch their own 2026 campaigns today before the latter’s season begins in earnest at Donington on April 11-12.
Collectively, the championships comprise more than 75 entries. Add to this number expected grids of 20+ GB3 and GB4 cars, and the package as a whole continues to offer UK motorsport fans incredible bang for their hard-earned buck.
Indeed, their enthusiasm was proven by all 3,000 media day tickets – 1000 more than last year – being reserved long before the event.
British GT’s provisional full-season entry list currently totals 26 cars. 15 of them will battle for overall victories, suggesting GT3 remains a popular destination for amateurs and aspiring pros alike, while GT4 is trending upwards following a lean season by the championship’s traditional standards.
Just three of the entries had remained unannounced prior to this morning: GT4 Endurance Cup champion and GT3 debutant Ed McDermott shares Mahiki’s second McLaren 720S with Luke Garlick, Toro Verde’s Porsche sees Ian Duggan teaming up with Tom Bradshaw, and the same team’s G56 will feature reigning Ginetta GT Championship Am title winner Luke Shaw alongside 2018 GT4 champion Jack Mitchell. Other cars might still materialise before the Silverstone 500, which already has two additional guest entries – and more to come – courtesy of Paradine Competition.
Significantly, GT3’s Silver-Am class features a very encouraging seven full-season pairings, while six aspiring pros – Charles Clark, Hugo Cook, Luke Garlick, Josh Rowledge, Jarrod Waberski and Aaron Walker – are eligible to win SRO GT Academy’s prize drive at the 2027 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa. Open to FIA Silver-graded drivers under the age of 30, the competition is designed to pinpoint talent without solely relying on race results that could be skewed by external factors.
Reigning drivers’ champions Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss have remained within the SRO family by graduating to GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS, which leaves Andrew Howard and Rob Collard as the grid’s only active former British GT3 champions. Both have two titles to their names, while current GT4 champions Marc Warren and Jack Brown plus 2015 victor Ross Gunn complete an exclusive list contesting this year’s GT3 class.
The category does still contain a large proportion of last year’s title contenders, however. Runner-up Cook again partners Collard at Barwell, Kevin Tse is joined by Ben Green in 2 Seas’ lead Mercedes-AMG, and Alex Martin is also back aboard a Huracan.
GT4’s 11 cars are split almost equally between Pro-Am and Silver. The latter’s increase over 2025, balance between classes and swathe of new teams vindicates changes implemented by SRO over the winter. Indeed, Grange Racing with FSR, GBR Stratton, Innovation Racing and BTCC heavyweights WSR Flexifly all make their debuts this season, while Fox Motorsport and Toro Verde GT return after at least two years away.
On the driver front, Colin Turkington has an opportunity to re-write history by becoming only the second driver after Chris Hodgetts 31 years ago to win British GT and BTCC crowns. He’s joined on the grid by fellow domestic tin top race winners Ronan Pearson and Darren Turner who is now far better known for his GT exploits as an Aston Martin factory driver.
The same manufacturer, albeit through its F1 operation, is also associated with Jessica Hawkins who could become only the fourth woman to win a British GT overall or class title after Jamie Chadwick, Flick Haigh and Mia Flewitt.
And then there’s Luca Hopkinson who will be eager to upgrade from Silver class to overall British GT champion.
British GT’s eight-race season begins in earnest with the three-hour Silverstone 500 next month.
