Vale duo’s GT challenge in Aston Martin Vantage

Andrew Howard and Jessica Hawkins will race a Beechdean Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the British GT Championship this season (Photo courtesy Beechdean AMR)

Howard, the Beechdean AMR Team Principal, will form a new partnership with the 29-year-old Hawkins from Dorset for 2024, and the duo will contest the British GT Championship Silver-Am category.

Hawkins is set to make her British GT debut in the opening rounds of the 2024 season at Oulton Park on Easter Monday.

Hawkins made headlines last year when she became the first female since 2018 to test a contemporary F1 car with a test for Aston Martin at the Hungaroring track in Hungary, and in addition to her duties for the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team. Hawkins has taken on a new role as head of its F1 Academy programme.

Speaking at the launch of Beechdean's new GT3 car, Hawkins said, “I’m so excited to have the opportunity to race in British GT this year with Beechdean AMR and Aston Martin. British GT is a series I’ve seen close-up while racing in other series in this paddock and it’s made me want to get involved with GT racing on a regular basis.

"To be able to do British GT with a championship-winning team like Beechdean AMR and to be able to combine it with my Aston Martin F1 role means it’s going to be a very busy season. British GT has grown in stature over the past couple of years so it’s very exciting to be a part of that and we’ll certainly be targeting good results from the get-go at Oulton Park.”

Howard is the only Am class driver to have won an overall British GT title more than once, and the boss of the Vale-based team has contested over 100 British GT races, scoring 14 wins and 39 podium finishes during his GT career.

He said: “The 2024 British GT Championship looks like it’s going to be on another level even compared to last year, with both the Pro-Am and Silver-Am classes looking ultra-competitive.

"We enjoyed our comeback season in 2023 so much that it reinforced my opinion that this is the best national series in the world for an Am category driver like me. It’s great to bring Jessica – somebody that’s such an important part of the Aston Martin family – into the team this season.”