Following on from his hugely successful debut in the British GT Championship at Rockingham in September last year, James Gornall from Werrington has secured his place in the super competitive world of sports car racing, supported by his 2008 Championship challenging team, Team Trimite- Brookspeed International Motorsport, and Lloyds TSB Commercial. James is no stranger to motor racing success, with the BARC Formula Renault British Championship to his name and several British Karting championships.


Photo: Steven Nesta

23-year-old James stepped back into his now familiar GT racecar at the Championship press and launch day at Silverstone on Thursday. The awesome 8.3 litre 550hp V10 Dodge Viper. Capable of speeds in excess of 200mph and 0-60 in 3 seconds!

All the teams, cars and world famous drivers, together with the worlds press and TV were at the event, and James was soon the focus of attention when, after the team had fitted a second seat to the race car, he invited a few selected guests to experience some flying laps around Silverstone International circuit. One of those guests was Hereward Radios’ very own Kev Lawrence. Kev is to run his experience on his morning breakfast show on Monday, and the Hereward radio website. And it was some experience!!

James was also joined on the day by many of his supporters and friends. Their support is essential and James is very grateful.


Photo: Kev Lawrence -Hereward Radio Presenter - takes his life in his hands, and joins James for a spin round the circuit!
www.hereward.co.uk 


In the afternoon, official testing took place and James in the number 40 car was for the majority of the session the second quickest car overall. He finished the day 3rd overall of some 20 or so cars, including the works Ferrari’s & Aston Martins. A remarkable performance given that he had not been in the car since November last year, and many of the other teams had been testing for much of this year already. Underlining the enormous talent this young driver has, and how much more he still has to give, as he gets more familiar with the car.

James’ comment at the days end, “Wow, I’d forgotten just what a machine this Dodge Viper is. It has huge power delivery, and will spin those massive rear wheels in every gear if you don’t deliver the power correctly. This has been a great day for me and the team for publicity, we’ve had some good testing time as well, and I’ve been able to try a few things out with the car. This bodes well for the Championship. I can’t wait."

Apparently Scalextric are to be making a scale model of Jame’s racecar soon for those budding racers!

'Launch Day' gallery