Gamble joins Radcliffe for 2024 British GT campaign

Mark Radcliffe embarks on his second full season in the British GT Championship with Optimum Motorsport, this time with none other than McLaren factory ace, Tom Gamble.

The duo battled it out on-track during the winter, competing in rival McLaren machinery run by the Wakefield-based squad in the 2023/24 Asian Le Mans Series, but for 2024, they’ll co-pilot the #27 in the seven round, nine-race British series.

In his first full season campaign competing on home soil in the 720S GT3 Evo, Mark collected three overall podiums. His most significant achievement was a second-place finish in the blazing Portuguese heat at the series’ international round, which this year heads back to Spa-Francorchamps, where his new co-driver took Gold class triumph in last year's CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.

Mark’s efforts in other series alongside his British GT commitments aren’t to go a miss, with an outright victory for the Radcliffe-Bell duo in GT Cup’s 50-minute pitstop race at Snetterton, but most notably, a Pro-Am win in SRO Group’s final race of 2023, The Lenovo Gulf 12 Hours at Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi.

“2023 was my first year racing in both a GT3 and in British GT, it was a steep learning curve,” said Mark. “Thanks to the amazing support from Optimum and Rob Bell, we enjoyed 3 podiums in our first season together. He’ll continue to partner with me in other championships this year, having been with me through the winter in various endurance races. We shared several podiums along with the Gulf 12 Hours win. Tom [Gamble] will join me in British GT to compete in what already looks like a strong field of competitors.”

BRDC Superstar Tom becomes the first driver from the British marque’s roster to be announced on the full season grid. The opening weekend in April marks only his fourth start in the series, but Tom’s recent performance in GT3 machinery at the Rolex 24 at Daytona as well as a duo of four-hour enduros in the Middle East has shown he has the speed and precision that will undoubtedly translate into results throughout the year.

Once again, Optimum will be targeting overall victories and looking to improve on previous results, which saw the team finish the 2023 season in sixth, scoring points in all but one round of last year's campaign.

“I’m really excited to be paired with Mark for the 2024 British GT season and to be returning to some of my favourite circuits,” said Tom. “I’m very thankful for the opportunity, we have a strong chance of challenging for overall wins and for the championship which ultimately, is our main goal! The car feels great, so we have the tools to get the job done.”

This year’s British GT Championship gets underway at Oulton Park with a duo of one-hour races on April 1. You can see the cars in action for the first time during the series’ Media Day at Donington Park on March 12.