Greystone GT’s history-making driver duo Rich Mason and Jon Lancaster are the first pair to be confirmed for the team’s GT Cup Championship campaign in 2022.
The Yorkshire duo scored a landmark race victory in the GTH class - the first for the Silverstone-based team - on home soil last August in their McLaren 570S GT4 and will continue to race the same car across the full season this year.
Rich and Jon’s McLaren will form part of a multi-car line-up in the GT Cup this year for recent Gulf 12 Hours GT4 winners Greystone GT, with further crews to be announced in the coming weeks.
Rich made his racing debut in 2021 in the GT Cup, having prepared for his rookie season with a year-long testing programme centred around Greystone GT High-Performance Test Days in the McLaren.
Despite the Harrogate driver missing two events due to clashing commitments, it was he and Jon who took Greystone GT’s maiden race win at Silverstone midway through the season.
Leeds racer Jon, 33, has made winning international races a habit during a professional circuit-racing career that began in 2006.
Runner-up in the Formula Renault Eurocup in 2007, the Leeds driver later won races in the intensely competitive Formula 3 Euro Series, Formula Renault 3.5 and GP2 Series while on the single-seater ladder towards F1.
He began racing sportscars in 2013 in the FIA World Endurance Championship and brilliantly claimed the overall European Le Mans Series title two years later. Last season his race activities were focused on his GT Cup programme with Greystone GT.
The pair’s McLaren will again carry its distinctive red-and-white colour scheme that made it a favourite with fans in 2021; both Rich and Jon aiming to improve on their 10th place in the GTH standings last year.
The GT Cup is a seven-round series for GT racing cars of various specifications. Every* event features two Sprint Races of 25-minutes duration and two Feature Races featuring a mandatory pitstop and optional driver swap.
Professional drivers are permitted to drive in free practice and the second half of Endurances Races only, meaning the emphasis is put on the performances of the teams and of the non-professional, ‘Sporting’ Drivers.
Rich Mason said: “I’m raring to go for another season in the GT Cup. My rookie year was one of the best things I’ve ever done and to be able to take the first win for Greystone GT at Silverstone is something I’ll never forget. I’m pretty pleased with the progress I made across the season, especially in qualifying and the Sprint Races and I have to say a huge thanks to Jon and the team for that, but now the target is to continue that progress. If I can start the new season where I finished 2021 then I think we’ll be in good shape to challenge for podium finishes much more regularly.”
Jon Lancaster said: “It’s great to be back with Greystone GT and to have a chance to build on what Rich and I achieved in the GT Cup last year. If Rich can make as big a step as he did across the 2021 season then we’ll be in the mix for podiums, and this should be our target anyway. Rich has really stepped up his commitment to his racing this winter, both with his fitness and his training on the sim. He knows what he has to do and we’ll be there every step of the way to help him. I’m particularly looking forward to racing at Silverstone - my favourite track and one where I’ve won in lots of different categories - and Brands Hatch GP because I’ve never raced there before.”
Mark McLoughlin, Team Principal, said: “We’re extremely pleased to confirm our return to the GT Cup - the series in which we made our race debut last April and the series that gave us our first win at our home circuit - Silverstone - in August. It’s great to be able to keep Rich and Jon - who were behind the wheel for that historic victory - in the team and I’m sure that they’ll be a much more consistent threat for top results with the added experience and confidence Rich brings this year.”
