O'Neill fired up for GT title campaign

9:00am Wednesday 19th March 2008

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THE Avon Tyres British GT Championship kicks off at Oulton Park this weekend.

Mouthwatering machines such as the Aston Martin DBRS9, Lamborghini Gallardo, Ferrari 430 and Dodge Viper are all set to fight for the UK's premier sportscar racing title.

One of the favourites for this year's championship will be Widnes' Paul O'Neill, who returns to full-time racing for the first time since 2003,when he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

Since then he's learned to live with the disease and has secured a drive with reigning champions, Team RPM.

He'll be sharing a 500bhp Dodge Viper with Worcester's Steve Clark as the two drivers battle in a pair of hour-long races, one on Saturday and one on Easter Monday.

Heading into the first round O'Neill is downplaying his chances of victory, but still reckons the car has been much improved on the machine he and Clark took to fourth place on their GT debut last year.

"The car's definitely better than it was last year," he said.

"We haven't had chance to try new tyres yet but I know where we are performance-wise and I'm confident we could be up there.

"The Ferraris and the Lamborghinis should have the pace on a single lap so I think qualifying is something we just need to do and then in the race Steve and I are quite consistent so we should be able to make up places."

One of O'Neill's key rivals will be Liverpool based Tech 9 Motorsport, who have used Porsches to win at British and International level.

This year, however, they switch to using a Lamborghini Gallardo for their drivers Oliver Morley, a former European Ferrari Challenge Champion, and British Touring Car racer Tom Ferrier.

As well as the Avon Tyres British GTs, there will also be action in the first round of the British Formula 3 International Series, as well as racing from Formula Ford, the Volkswagen Cup and Ginetta sports cars.

Tickets are available by calling 0870 950 9000.