A championship winner from Ely is gearing up to make his return to the British GT Championship in 2018.
Mark Murfitt is a member of the Fox Motorsport team and will drive an all-new Mercedes-AMG GT4 alongside Michael Broadhurst.
Mark joined Fox Motorsport as a racing rookie in 2017 and made an impressive start to his career by taking pole position and a double-podium in an Allcomers event at Snetterton.
He then teamed-up with professional racer Michael for a full campaign in the GT Cup; the pair finishing inside the top-six spots on four occasions in GT4 machinery from Porsche and Ginetta and taking second place in a one-off outing in the Britcar Endurance Series at Silverstone in June.
Professional driver Michael, who lives in Northampton, wrote his name into British GT history in 2008 by taking GT4 victory on the category’s series debut.
He is also a race winner in the European GT4 Cup and in the Radical Enduro and Ginetta G20 series.
Mark said: “I’m incredibly excited to be moving up to the British GT Championship and can’t wait to get on-track with the Mercedes.
“In terms of prestige cars and driver quality, British GT is the best series in the country.
“While this opportunity presents a personal challenge in only my second year of racing, I couldn’t be in a better environment to make the step up.
“Fox Motorsport are race-winners in British GT4 and have an incredible amount of experience and knowledge.
“Michael’s been a superb teacher too, so I’m delighted to be continuing my driving partnership with him.”
Michael said: “I’ve won in GT4 cars in British GT and in Europe, so I know what it takes to get the job done, and Mark’s driving has come on in leaps and bounds since the start of 2017, so I’m sure we can surprise a few people.”
Fox Motorsport debuted in British GT in 2013, winning the GT3B class in a one-off appearance at Silverstone in a Ferrari run with FF Corse.
They contested the series full-time for two seasons, twice finishing sixth in the Teams’ Championship and becoming winners in GT4.
An outright podium finish followed with a GT3 Ferrari in another one-off appearance at Silverstone in 2016 while the team instead focused on driver development in entry-level categories such as the GT Cup, Ginetta GT5 Challenge and Ginetta Junior Championship.
The Mercedes-AMG GT4, which made its global race debut in last year’s 24 Hours of COTA, will be delivered to Fox in mid-March with a testing plan scheduled to begin immediately afterwards.
The team from Maldon, Essex, have become the first outfit to secure a British GT entry for the all-new car.
The 2018 British GT Championship kicks off at Oulton Park, Cheshire, on Easter weekend (March 31-April 2) and comprises seven rounds with the finale at Donington Park on September 22-23.
Highlights include an overseas event at the legendary Spa-Franorchamps circuit in Belgium in July and a three-hour enduro at Silverstone in June.
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