29th April 2007
Reigning Formula Palmer Audi Champion Jon Barnes has secured a drive in the 2007 FIA GT3 European Championship with the front-running Damax team. Twenty-three year-old Barnes, who took a podium finish in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB last month, will partner Jimmy Brodie in an Ascari KZ1R in the six-round championship which kicks off with the prestigious Tourist Trophy at Silverstone next weekend.
“I'm absolutely delighted to be running with a team of such high pedigree. The Damax team has been running for many years and has enjoyed considerable success in British and European racing and I'm looking forward to working with Robin (Ward) and the rest of the Damax team as we work towards race wins and hopefully the GT3 title.
“I had a brief run in the car two weeks ago and it was brilliant. It's so predictable to drive and I immediately felt very confident in it. This deal has come together very late, so there are a lot of unknowns at this stage. There'll be a 45 car grid at Silverstone, with a lot of very quick drivers out there, but we will still be aiming for at least a top ten finish.”
The FIA GT3 Championship is open to non-professionals only and all drivers have now been classified by the GT Bureau of the FIA into Gold, Silver and Bronze categories. Despite Jon's relative inexperience in racing at International level, he has been classified as a Gold driver, which means he can only share a car with a Bronze category driver.
For the McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver Finalist, who has only had 15 laps in the Ascari so far, Thursday will see him take part in a shakedown test at Donington Park before embarking on his GT debut on Silverstone's full Grand Prix circuit on May 5/6.
Damax team owner Robin Ward was equally pleased with the announcement. “I'm delighted to have Jon on board as part of our team's bid for the 2007 FIA GT3 Championship. Last year he showed a great deal of potential in FPA and earlier this year in F3 testing and in the Porsche Carrera Cup. I have no doubt that in 2007 we will be race winners with the Damax developed Ascari GT3, and I'm sure Jon will be a major part of our success.”
Next weekend's Tourist Trophy event at Silverstone will kick off with two one-hour free practice sessions on Friday at 10.45 and 15.30, before qualifying at 10.35 on Saturday. The first one-hour race is scheduled to take place at 15.15 that afternoon with the second race at 14.45 on Sunday.
2007 FIA GT3 Championship Calendar
5 & 6 May – Silverstone, Great Britain
19 & 20 May – Bucharest, Romania
23 & 24 June – Monza, Italy
28 & 29 July – Proximus 24 Hours of Spa (non championship round)
22 & 23 September – Brno, Czech Republic
2 & 3 November – Dubai, United Arab Emirates
For more information visit Jon's website at www.jonbarnes.com
ENDS
For media information: Cathy Metcalfe, MPR Associates
T: 01327 352199, F: 01327 352908, M: 07802 332398