CLUB GINETTA SERIES LAUNCHED

Ginetta Cars has created a new championship for drivers to race the Ginetta G20 in aclub-level series.

While the Texaco Havoline Ginetta G20 Championship runs on the prestigious British F3/GT package, this new series will appear in club events run by the British Automobile Racing Club (BARC). The championship will be run over 15 rounds held at a wide variety of circuits, with Ginetta G20s running to older specificiation allowed to compete alongside 2008-spec cars.

The championship will run on Michelin road tyres, as opposed to the high-performance race tyres used in the main series, with the overall champion winning the use of a Ginetta G20 for the main championship in 2009.

Although Speedworks has no plans to appear in the club-level series, Team Principal Christian Dick believes the new championship will be a valuable addition to the world of Ginetta racing.

"While the Texaco Havoline Ginetta G20 Championship continues to appeal to a wide range of enthusiasts and aspiring career drivers, this is a good way to ensure older-specification cars can still run and that drivers with less time to committ can still race them. " says Dick. "That there are enough G20s out there to fill two grids shows just how popular the car is."

SYKES ON TRACK FOR BOTH FORMULAS

Speedworks motorsport's Richard Sykes will contest both the G50 and G20 championships this year. His G50 is in fantastic shape after Christian Dick tested it at Mallory last week and he has just had last year's G20 upgraded to 2008 specification. Richard will race both cars under his usual number of 21!

Richard has an intensive testing schedule planned for both cars in the run up to the first meeting of the season at Oulton Park on March 22/24.

Richard is not the only Speedworks regular to be contesting two championships this year. Neil Merry will race his Sunbeam Tiger in several Historic Masters Series meetings where he will share driving duties with Team Principal Christian Dick.

SUCCESSFUL FIRST G50 TEST

Speedworks Motorsport has completed a successful two day test of the first of its new Ginetta G50s at Mallory Park.

Team Principal Christian Dick took the wheel for the first run of the car Richard Sykes will race in the new-for-2008 Ginetta G50 Championship and was impressed with the speed and the reliability of the car.

"The main aim of the test was simply to shake down the car and make sure everything was as it should be," says Dick. "But it ran absolutely perfectly, which for a brand new car is unusual and credit to the work Ginetta has put into the development and build of these cars.

"We managed to get in a decent amount of running and accumulate some important data which will stand us in good stead for the season. And most importantly we can see that the G50 looks very good in Speedworks red!"

The team plans to continue testing this week with just over one month to go before the season opener at Oulton Park on Easter Monday.

"When you get your hands on a new car you just want to learn as much as you possibly can about it," explains Dick. "The two days we ran at Mallory Park will prove invaluable in building up an understanding of the car and we should only get quicker next time we go out. I have to say it's a fantastic car and I can't wait to get back on track again!"

Speedworks will run a total of three G50s in 2008 for Sykes, Dick and Tony Hughes.

SPEEDWORKS G50 HITS TRACK

Speedworks Motorsport has begun testingthe first of its new Ginetta G50s ahead of the 2008 season.

Team Principal Christian Dick, who will race in the G50 series for Speedworks this year alongside Richard Sykes and Tony Hughes, was impressed on his first shakedown of the car at Mallory Park today.

“It’s absolutely superb,” he says. “We haven’t even scratched the surface in terms of pushing for times but I’m very impressed with the package.”

The team now plans a comprehensive test and development programme ahead of the inaugural Ginetta G50 Cup event at Oulton Park over the Easter weekend.

FIRST G50 ROLLS OFF THE PRODUCTION LINE AT GINETTA

The first Ginetta G50 Cup production car has rolled off of the production line today in Speedworks red! This will be the car that Speedworks regular Richard Sykes will be contesting the new G50 cup in 2008. Most of the Ginetta crew took five minutes out to down tools and get together to mark this milestone in Ginetta’s history book.

The car will be officially handed over to Speedworks team principal Christian Dick at Mallory Park on Thursday 14th February where the car will be put through its paces over the two day exclusive Ginetta test.

Six G50 Cup cars a week will leave the factory to meet the March deadline with the factory operating an evening shift scheme to cope with demand. All 26 produced for the first round of the Championship will be at Croft on March 17th / 18th on two more exclusive Ginetta test days.

SPEEDWORKS TO RUN HISTORIC TIGER

Speedworks Motorsport will expand into historic racing during the 2008 season, running team stalwart Neil Merry’s Sunbeam Tiger in Masters Racing Series events.

Merry plans to race the Tiger, which was most recently raced by Bernado Cescon in European events, in the Gentlemen Drivers GT & Sports Endurances Masters series. Merry will compete in at least four events ahead of a possible expanded season

“It’s a fantastic car and I’m really looking forward to getting out in it,” says Merry. “The Masters Racing Series package is very well run and customer-driven, so it will be good just to be able to get out there and have some fun racing in a less high pressure environment than Ginettas!”

Speedworks Motorsport Team Principal Christian Dick, who will share the car with Merry this year, is looking forward to the challenge of getting involved with historics.

“It’s always good to move the business into new areas and historic racing is growing all the time,” says Dick. “The car is a wonderful piece of kit and I’m sure it’ll be very exciting to be involved with the Masters Racing Series.”

ROSS EDWARDS JOINS SPEEDWORKS

Ross Edwards has joined Speedworks Motorsport for this year’s Texaco Havoline Ginetta G20 Championship.

The 29-year-old former Global GT Lights and Radical racer contested four rounds of the championship with TranzPower Racing last year, winning the heat race in the season-opener at Oulton Park in March.

“At the start of last year I was a bit overconfident,” says Edwards. “I underestimated the challenge. The priori9ty is to get the car sorted and then work on moving up the field.

“Once we’ve got the car right, I’ll be aiming to qualify a bit higher up the order. I was running in the midfield mainly last year where I got caught up in a few incidents, but I’d like to be ahead of that this year.”

Speedworks Motorsport Team Principal believes Edwards will be able to show his true potential this season.

“Ross wasn’t able to run as well as we know he can last year,” says Dick. “He’s a quick driver, and we’re hopeful of him getting some strong results this season.”

To view Ross' website click here