Sportscar squad Preptech UK will expand into single-seater racing next year, running two cars in the Formula 4-spec GB4 championship.
The team is based in Oakhanger, beween Jane Austen’s house and the Top Gear test track, was founded in 2006 by Oliver Barnard to run him in touring car racing. He competed in the MG Trophy championship, and after much success there he took his team to endurance racing in 2015 alongside continued MG committments.
In 2020 there was another change, with Preptech’s joining the entry-level Ginetta Junior sportscar series on a part-time basis. A year later the team stepped up to the Ginetta GT4 Supercup and also Britcar. Zac Meakin took Preptech’s first Ginetta Junior podium last year, and a fourth place is the team’s best result this season.
At the end of last month they shook down the first of the two Tatuus T-014 cars they have bought to race in GB4, doing a test day at Bedford Autodrome with their 14-year-old Ginetta Junior racer Henry Joslyn.
“We spent a lot of time evaluating possible additional options as a team for 2024 and highlighted GB4 as a sensible single-seater option within the UK,” said Barnard.
“We feel the series is continuing to grow as a formula that really offers drivers great experience of single seaters on a fantastic platform. We have completed a very successful shakedown with our first car and evaluating possible drivers for an entry into the 2024 championship but welcome any new enquiries.”
Preptech is the latest Ginetta Junior team to be attracted to GB4, following the likes of Elite Motorsport and Fox Motorsport, and there have also been teams that have moved to the series from Formula Ford 1600 such as Kevin Mills Racing.