BRDC SUPERSTARS ANNOUNCE CLASS OF 2020

11 February 2020

Silverstone, Northamptonshire

The BRDC SuperStars programme, which represents the upper tier of the British Racing Drivers’ Club’s efforts to nurture home-grown elite motor racing talent, has announced its driver line-up for this coming season. The class of 2020 includes three of last year’s Champions from high profile motor racing categories, three winners of the coveted Young Driver of the Year Award, four drivers with either a Full or Junior GT Factory programme, and two Formula 1 Juniors Drivers.

Created by Damon Hill OBE in 2008 and in recent years closely overseen by Derek Warwick, both of whom are former BRDC Presidents, the programme has a strong record of results with SuperStars chalking up an impressive total of wins and podiums. Andy Meyrick, who took over the role of SuperStars Director from Tim Harvey at the end of 2018, is delighted to be continuing with the day-to-day running of the programme. After a successful 2019 season in which the SuperStars programme expanded its network of trusted specialists to give tailored support to specially selected drivers, there is a lot to look forward to in 2020.

Four new drivers will become BRDC SuperStars in 2020: Reining Porsche Carrera Cup GB Champion and recently signed BMW Motorsport Junior Daniel Harper, British Touring Car Championship race winner Jake Hill, last year’s Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award Winner Johnathan Hoggard and Lamborghini Squadra Corse GT3 Junior Driver Sandy Mitchell.

Making their returns to the BRDC SuperStars programme in 2020 are: Japanese Formula 3 race winner Enaam Ahmed, Aston Martin Factory Driver Charlie Eastwood, former McLaren Autosport BRDC Award Winner Tom Gamble, reining Asian Le Mans Series Champion and sports car ace Philip Hanson, Ferrari Academy Driver and FIA Formula 2 Championship front-runner Callum Ilott, BRDC British Formula 3 race winner Kiern Jewiss, Bentley Works Driver Seb Morris, former British Touring Car Champion Ash Sutton and former McLaren Autosport BRDC Award Winner, double Macau Grand Prix winner and William Racing Development Driver Daniel Ticktum.

19-year old Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award winner Johnathan Hoggard took seven victories during his maiden BRDC British Formula 3 Championship campaign last year, which was more than twice the number of race wins achieved by his competitors. He also earned an opportunity, through the Sunoco Whelen Challenge, to compete in the 2020 24 Hours of Daytona and further season plans will be announced in due course. One of Johnathan’s opponents last year was Kiern Jewiss who finished fourth in the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship standings with nine podium finishes including one race win. Kiern will again challenge for the BRDC British Formula 3 title in with Douglas Motorsport in 2020 while proudly displaying the BRDC SuperStars badge.

From the world of single seaters, Enaam Ahmed who finished third in the Japanese Formula 3 Championship with eight podiums including two wins, returns to the programme for a second year. He also made an impressive GT race debut in the 9 Hours of Kyalami at the end of last season where his R-Motorsport Aston Martin qualified third on the grid. His 2020 plans will be announced in the coming months. In the FIA Formula 2 Championship, two BRDC SuperStars will be competing against each other following their impressive Formula 1 test outings in 2019. Ferrari Academy Driver Callum Ilott will make a Formula 2 return with a switch to UNI-Virtuosi Racing and will hope for more Formula 1 test opportunities after he completed 41 laps in the Alfa Romeo C38 last year.  Williams Racing Development Driver Daniel Ticktum will be a full season entrant in Formula 2 with DAMS and will be looking to make inroads to his goal of Formula 1 and build on his 200 lap experience of driving Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s RB15 on two outings in 2019.

Philip Hanson will look to build on last year’s Asian Le Mans Series success by challenging for honours in the LMP2 category in the remaining rounds of the 2019-2020 FIA World Endurance Championship season, as well as a fresh title campaign in the European Le Mans Series. Philip is joined at United Autosports by fellow BRDC SuperStar and McLaren Autosport BRDC Award Winner Tom Gamble who will complete the driver line-up in one of the team’s European Le Mans Series LMP3 challengers.

Four of Great Britain’s most promising GT drivers prospects will also be representing BRDC SuperStars in a wide range of championships in 2020. Former Porsche Carrera Cup GB Champion and current Aston Martin Factory Driver Charlie Eastwood will look to continue on from his fantastic form in 2019, a season in which he secured the Pro-Am Championship in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup and also achieved two GTE Am class wins in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Fellow Northern Irishman, reining Porsche Carrera Cup GB Champion and recent BMW Motorsport Junior recruit Daniel Harper will set his sights on the Nürburgring Langstrecken Serie (Nurburgring Endurance Series - formerly VLN) as well as the Nürburgring 24 Hours Race after a fantastic Carrera Cup season in 2019 in which he recorded race wins at all but one of the circuits he visited. Following a competitive campaign in the North American Lamborghini Super Trofeo and a Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup campaign in which he achieved a Silver Cup class win in the iconic 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, Sandy Mitchell retains his place as a Lamborghini Squadra Corse Junior Driver and will be announcing his driving programme in the coming weeks. Former British GT Champion Seb Morris, who was recently confirmed as a part of Bentley Motorsport’s Factory line-up, will compete in the Intercontinental GT Challenge in the M-Sport prepared Bentley and for French team CMR in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.

Finally, two of the brightest young talents in the British Touring Car Championship complete the 2020 SuperStars line-up, with both making their debuts in new cars for the coming season. 2017 series Champion Ash Sutton, who has enjoyed a successful run of three seasons in the Subaru Levorg with a total of 29 podium finishes including 13 wins, makes a switch to a Laser Tools Racing Infinity for his fourth consecutive BTCC season.  Meanwhile Jake Hill, a Touring Car race winner last year in the Trade Price Cars prepared Audi S3 Saloon, signs for AmD Racing and is a favourite to be fighting at the front of the grid in 2020 in a Honda Civic.

BRDC SuperStars forms part of our three-tiered Young Driver Programme alongside the introductory BRDC Rising Star scheme and the Club’s involvement with the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award. The BRDC’s long-established support of young talented drivers has only been made possible thanks to the generous support of the Club’s Young Driver Patrons: A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ltd, Immun’Âge, Magnitude Finance, Sloane Helicopters, Tysers International Insurance & Reinsurance Brokers, Winged Boots and Zurich Insurance.

The full list of BRDC SuperStars is as follows:

Enaam Ahmed – FIA Formula 3 Championship

Charlie Eastwood – FIA World Endurance Championship

Tom Gamble – European Le Mans Series

Philip Hanson – FIA World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series

Daniel Harper – Nurburgring Endurance Series and Nurburgring 24 Hours

Jake Hill – British Touring Car Championship

Johnathan Hoggard – Porsche Carrera Cup Asia

Callum Ilott – FIA Formula 2 Championship

Kiern Jewiss – BRDC British Formula 3 Championship

Sandy Mitchell – British GT Championship

Seb Morris – Intercontinental GT Challenge and GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup

Ash Sutton – British Touring Car Championship

Daniel Ticktum – FIA Formula 2 Championship

For current information and news on BRDC SuperStars, please follow our Twitter and Instagram channels, @BRDCSuperStars and @brdcsuperstars.

-ENDS-