Jenson Button has added a dash of extra spice to Angus racer Sandy Mitchell’s Silverstone showdown bid to capture the British GT Championship title.
The 2009 Formula One World Champion has announced his intention to contest the three-hour season finale – a winner-takes-all situation for 20-year-old Lamborghini star Mitchell who sits just a handful of points off the series lead.
Despite the illustrious career which reaped the F1 crown with Brawn, Sky Sports pundit Button will add a number of firsts to his motorsport cv when he joins Jenson Team Rocket RJN co-owner Chris Buncombe behind the wheel of a McLaren 720S GT3 for the Silverstone 500 November 7/8 finale.
British GT drivers’ and teams’ titles will be decided in the showdown which will be 40-year-old Button’s first outing for his own GT team, founded last year with lifelong pal and business partner Buncombe.
It will be the first time he has driven a GT3 car in competitive action and his first race appearance at the British Grand Prix venue since his final Formula 1 outing there in 2016.
Covid-19 restrictions will prevent spectators from attending the event but the event will be live streamed and series organisers hope the big name will pull in viewers on an F1-free weekend.
“It will be lovely to join our team and lining-up in the McLaren 720S with my best buddy Chris Buncombe. “It’s great to come back and race on UK soil again,” said Button.
Black Bull Lamborghini talent Mitchell will, however, view the high profile rival as just another racer to beat in the quest for the biggest title of his career.
The British Racing Drivers’ Club SuperStar scheme driver and teammate Rob Collard sit just six points off the championship lead for the climax of a season which saw them bag a win and the championship lead at Brands Hatch before slipping back at the penultimate Snetterton round.
Crucially, they also have no pit stop success penalty to serve in the all-out fight to the finish for overall British GT and Silver Cup category honours.
“We go there knowing if we win the race, we’re champions,” said Mitchell.
“That’s a prospect which would appeal to every racing driver. It’s all to play for.”
