Reigning British GT champion Ricky Collard will return to the GT3 hot seat by rejoining Barwell Motorsport for the upcoming GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup events at both Misano and Magny Cours.
Collard, 28, will slot into the #76 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 alongside regular driver Bijoy Garg for the twin sprint events in Italy and France, with the car switching to compete in the Gold class as a result.
Ricky was one of the standout drivers in British GT last season, scoring two race wins alongside his father, Rob, on their way to the championship crown. Having not raced since the end of last season, Ricky made an impressive return to action during the recent CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, joining Garg, Adam Ali and Rob Collard aboard the Huracan. Ricky’s skill was highlighted by him going second-fastest overall of the 48 cars that took part in the opening Qualifying session and finishing as top Lamborghini, showing he had lost none of his raw pace.
Ricky will now join the team for the next two Sprint Cup events, starting at Misano this weekend (Jul 18-20) plus Magny Cours (August 1-3). The team will announce the driver line-up for the Sprint Cup finale in Valencia in September in due course.
“I’m really excited to be back with Barwell Motorsport and to be sharing with Bijoy for the next four Sprint Cup races. I’ve been working with Bijoy for much of the year on the coaching side and I can see the improvements that are being made, so it will be great to get into the car myself for an extended period and hopefully help to accelerate that progress.
“I love Misano, it’s a great circuit. It’s very tight, twisty and challenging, like a go-kart track. It reminds me a lot of a British circuit with its layout, and last time I raced there back in 2019 I qualified second overall in an R-Motorsport Aston Martin, so I hope to hit the ground running this weekend and help the team as much as I can.”
