Tomas Scheckter to return to racing for Britcar outing
Former Jaguar Formula 1 test driver and IndyCar race winner Tomas Scheckter will end a two-year absence from competition in next month's Britcar 1000 at Silverstone
The 33-year-old will drive a Nissan 370Z in the blue-riband round of the British Endurance Championship at Silverstone on September 22 as part of his judging and mentoring role with the South African Nissan GT Academy competition.
He will share the RJN Motorsport-run car in the production sports class with South African academy winner Ashley Oldfield and the triumphant driver from the Middle East academy, Salman Al Khater of Qatar.
Scheckter, who had a successful test in the Nissan at Silverstone earlier this month, said: "I've really got into the academy idea and seen some of the talent that it has produced.
"This opportunity came up and I thought it would be a good chance to get the adrenalin going."
A full-time return to the track has been ruled out by Scheckter, who undertook a series of IndyCar one-offs in 2011.
He said he was too busy working on the organic farm in Hampshire owned by his father Jody, the 1979 world champion.
"I've barely thought about racing since 2011," he said, "but I wouldn't mind coming back and doing a few races in a GT3 car if it was at the right level."
Scheckter added that he is expecting 29-year-old Oldfield to impress at Silverstone.
"A lot of quick guys with a lot of talent came through our academy," he said, "but Ashley has got a brain behind the talent."
Oldfield and Al Khater will be the final academy drivers to land the prize of a one-off drive in an endurance race such as the Britcar 1000 or the Dubai 24 Hours.
Subsequent winners will go straight into a full season of competition in a series running to GT3 rules.
Nissan global motorsport director Darren Cox said: "We are confident after the past four years that all our academy winners are good enough to go straight into a full season in a GT3 car somewhere."
Slovakia FIA GT: Pro-Am pair Afanasiev/Simonsen take outright win
Audi handed performance break for Blancpain series finale
How to get the best out of amateur racers
Pro-Am GT racing is booming. But how should drivers approach working with an amateur? Autosport sought out a panel of experts to explain the pitfalls amateur drivers should avoid and how professionals can help them to achieve their goals
The remarkable career of a 'classy' champion who rejected politics
Over two decades as a factory driver with Audi and BMW, Martin Tomczyk earned the respect of team-mates and rivals as a hard but fair racer. After calling time on his racing career, the 2011 DTM champion sat down with Autosport to look back
The ex-IndyCar racer in "uncharted territory" of British GT team ownership
This weekend’s British GT finale will be a tense title showdown for some but, for those not in the championship fight, it’s a chance to end a challenging year on a high. In the latter camp is Paddock Motorsport's team owner Martin Plowman, whose 2021 season has been a rollercoaster ride of non-stop learning
The unpopular BMW stalwart built for the big occasion
It has won most of the big prizes in endurance racing across its six years in service, but the BMW M6 GT3's key weaknesses meant only a devoted few teams persisted with running it. As it prepares to bow out at season's end, the teams and drivers involved in its story share the secrets of an unpopular winner
The unwanted GT car that changed sportscar racing forever
Had FIA GT boss Stephane Ratel had his way, the Maserati MC12 would never have been allowed to set foot in his series. It duly proved the class of the field that most had expected, but the Balance of Performance that its superiority spawned would keep GT1 battles tight and bring long-term benefits that sportscar racing enjoys today
Why Britain's greatest sportscar was eclipsed on the world stage
The E-Type may be the most famous of all road-going Jaguars, but that didn't always translate into success on the track. After winning on its competition debut in 1961, motorsport success seemed an inevitability, but things didn’t turn out to be quite that straightforward
Why the Jaguar E-type remains special at 60
It’s 60 years since the Jaguar E-type arrived and caused a sensation. As our resident racer Ben Anderson discovered when he got behind the wheel of two special racing versions at Brands Hatch, the thrill of driving them hasn't diminished over time
The rise of a GT squad responsible for a unique 24-hour racing feat
It's a significant achievement to win one 24-hour race in a year, let alone two, and with different manufacturers, but that's exactly what ROWE Racing did in 2020 at the Nurburgring and Spa. This weekend's German classic offers the DTM newcomer a chance of another unique double to add to its growing collection of accolades