For Season 7 of the World GT Championship on iRacing, series regular Steve Burke will return under his Team Lizard Motorsport banner with two new drivers on their roster. Steve had previously entered the Championship with Thrust Vector, then moved over to Beast Racing in Season 5, before setting up the team to reflect his real-life racing venture, Team Lizard Motorsport. (You can find out about them, here or on their Facebook page!)
Steve had enjoyed mixed success in previous seasons alongside me and our fellow teammate Tom Jacobs, driving both the Ferrari 488 GT3 and Audi R8 LMS GT3. This time around, the team has gone for the reliable Mercedes AMG GT3, sporting the number 23, and I've had the pleasure of adorning it with a striking split livery, as seen on their Porsche 911 RSR in previous runnings of the championship (with added elements due to iRacing's new Spec Maps).
"I'm feeling excited to get back in a GT car, but I'm still recovering from illness, so the pace might be a little down, but I'm optimistic that the team can get stuck into the AM Championship. Also very pleased for Niall and Matt to join me in TLM and push the pretty car around the track!" - Steve
Niall Crowther will be piloting the number 47 machine - not necessarily a newcomer to iRacing after joining in 2015, Niall has worked on his pace massively in recent months, with the help of friends and teammates, and - after a semi-competitive run in the Chazlington Touring Car Championship - is looking forward to being thrown in at the deep end of serious league racing once the season begins.
"I can't wait to get behind the wheel of the AMG GT3! I'm pretty excited to be racing alongside my two teammates Matty and Steve - hopefully, we can get some decent points along the way. Being new to the series, I'm going to be cautious at first to get used to racing with so many other top-class racers - I've just got to keep it clean and stay away from big wrecks, because I can see there being quite a few, having 60 cars piling into the first corner, but it will be a great laugh whatever the outcome." - Niall
He will be joined by Matt Draycott in the number 95 Mercedes. Matt only joined iRacing in May 2019 after first getting into PC Gaming and Sim Racing, following in my footsteps. Straight off the bat, his previous racing game experience shone through and he found pace - coming into WGTC he wants to work on his consistency, but is seriously considering a challenge for the Top 3 spots in the AM category.
"I'm really looking forward to this season. It's great to be going into a very competitive league to see how I can really do. When it comes to the AM Championship, I'm feeling confident, but I'm still getting used to this Mercedes. I'm happy to see a lack of 'three-namers' in the entry list though!" - Matt
The guys are hoping that their very pretty and stand-out car will be seen at the top of the AM standings come the end of the season, but it's a long and winding road until then, and there's been plenty of testing and practicing to make sure it becomes a reality. For now, I hope you enjoy the livery and the pictures of 'the Merc' getting chucked around Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in her first shakedown session.
She's a looker isn't she?