Archie Clark and Oliver Fordham are the latest drivers to sign up to race brand-new Ginetta G56 GTP8’s in the Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT Championship this season.
Clark [pictured above] progresses up the Ginetta ladder to the GT Championship after making his car-racing debut in the Juniors last year. The Leicestershire-based racer, who previously reached the final four of the Junior scholarship, enjoyed a great maiden campaign with two outright podium finishes and multiple rookie class rostrums. He makes the switch to MDD Racing for his GT Championship bow.
Archie Clark: “I’m really looking forward to this year with MDD and I’m excited to learn from Scott and Ben. I’m also really grateful for all the hard work from everyone to get me out on track!”
Fordham is another driver making his GT Championship debut this season meanwhile, linking up with Fox Motorsport. After taking part in numerous track days and test days with the team since the start of 2023, the Essex-based driver made his race debut in the GT Academy season finale last year and impressed with two class podium finishes from three races.
Oliver Fordham: “It doesn’t feel like five minutes ago that I was making my race debut in Ginetta GTAs in a Fox G56 at Brands Hatch, but it’s already five months ago and the lessons I learned that weekend have fuelled my desire to do even more.
“Moving up to GT from GTA is a big step in terms of the car and the increased competition, but with support from the team at Fox Motorsport, I’m confident I can take a big step forwards in speed and consistency as the season continues.”
Paul McNeilly, Fox Motorsport: “It’s great to double our presence in the Ginetta GT Championship. We had a fantastic year in 2024 as we won the overall championship and with two talented rookies in Ollie and James, we’ve set our sights on the Am class title. Ollie’s made good progress in the testing he’s done with us so far so while he’s light on race experience, I expect he’ll learn fast ad be a factor as the season develops.”
An experienced Ginetta contender returning to the paddock this year is Phil McGarty with Xentek Motorsport. Entering his 11th consecutive season of one-make Ginetta racing, the former GRDC and GT5 Challenge driver has enjoyed two partial campaigns in the GT Academy, scoring a best result of seventh overall on two occasions in 2023.
Phil McGarty: “I’ve always enjoyed my time racing with Ginetta and the GT Academy has been a great championship for me to develop my skills. The team at Xentek Motorsport have been fantastic to me over the years and I’m looking forward to going racing with them again.”
Sarah-Jayne McKenna, Xentek Motorsport: “We’ve always enjoyed going racing with Phil [McGarty] and we’re really pleased that he’ll be joining us again in 2025. He’s shown great speed in the GT Academy in the last couple of years and hopefully there will be more positive results together this season.”
Ginetta have introduced a range of enhancements for 2025 to keep every rung of its unique motorsport ladder at the front of the grid for years to come, including the introduction of the Ginetta G56 GTP8 and Ginetta G40 Junior Evo. More information can be found here.
