Following a very successful debut British GT campaign culminating in the team championship, Team Hard Racing have announced the second of their pairings of Michael Caine and Mike Newbould.
They feel it is another strong partnership that they’ve managed to put together as they defend their title and look to compete for the pro/am title too in 2017.
Michael is a very successful racing driver having previously raced in the British GT between 2001 and 2007 before moving on to compete in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB where he finished as runner up twice.
Michael was to become the British GT Champion in 2012 and will now return to the Championship in the GT4 category at the wheel of a brand new Ginetta G55 built to the latest specification. Michael added “After 2016 went pear shaped, I’m really looking forward to competing in a championship again.
“Last year was the first time in 26 years of racing that I didn’t have a championship to compete in and then the guys at team hard gave me an opportunity in British Touring Cars that unfortunately didn’t really get started. I think we have a good chance this season and GT4 looks like it’s the future. Mrs Caine is also very happy as it gets me out the house and she has also been told that the end of year bash is in Paris!”
Michael is no stranger to the team having raced alongside them in the Carrera Cup GB as well as competing in the British Touring Car Championship for them in 2016 before an unfortunate injury curtailed his season early.
Tony Gilham said “It is great to have secured the services of Michael for the coming season as he brings so much to the table both on and off track. He is a seasoned professional and can only add strength to the team as a whole. We are very excited to see how he develops his relationship with Mike throughout the season and feel that there is a genuine possibility of the pro/am title.
“Mike hasn’t had much seat time so far but with such an experienced partner to learn from we look forward to seeing how he progresses” Mike joins the team for 2017 after recently sampling one of our BTCC car’s from 2016 and having competed in the Ginetta Supercup last season as well as some seat time in a prototype car. Mike is a very capable driver and will look to work with Michael to further develop his ability as a racer and build on his relative inexperience.
Mike added “I am incredibly excited to be part of Team HARDs British GT campaign for 2017. I can’t thank Tony enough for putting this together, the opportunity to race along side Michael is fantastic for a new driver. I am really looking forward to drawing on Michael’s skill and experience to help me develop as a racer in what is going to be a busy and exciting year ahead in British GT.
The new cars are currently in build at the Ginetta factory and Team Hard look forward to collecting them in the coming weeks to begin their test programme ahead of what they hope to be a very successful second year in British GT.