British GT: Transmission's Top 20: The Return of Star Quality

Predictable is a word that is seldom used in British GT vocabulary.

Actually, that’s wrong, for such is the draw of this fantastic championship that one thing that can always be relied on is the depth of massed talent that will shortly assemble at Oulton Park to commence battle for honours that are now amongst the highest in Europe.

A quick look through the entry list shows that as well as local and home-grown heroes, there are drivers from Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Hong Kong, the USA, and Canada; and cars from BMW, McLaren, Aston Martin, Mercedes, Lamborghini, Audi, Ford, Lotus, and Ginetta: It’s a Smörgåsbord of champions, upstarts and pretenders; the cream from a pool of factory-backed professionals, partnered with fast-paced amateurs, as capable and incisive behind the wheel as they are in the boardroom. Whilst in GT4, we not only have more of the same, but also many of our brightest young stars, building their careers and hoping to prove their worth as they rise through the ranks.

Yet despite all this, the irony is that seldom is it a championship that is won; mostly, it is lost. This doesn’t take anything away from those who are eventually crowned after sixteen hours of racing across nine gritty weekends at some of the most challenging and punishing circuits we know. Simply, that consistency counts, and just one wayward moment (often from an errant ‘am’) will most likely make the difference come the Brands Hatch decider.

Here are twenty of our favourite shots from the Media Day test. We can’t wait to see and hear these fantastic beasts roar into action in just a few days’ time:

Images by Howard Fielding and Steve Hindle