Barker: GR Racing Stint “Put Me on a Pedestal” for Ford Deal

Ben Barker has expressed gratitude to Mike Wainwright and GR Racing for the “amazing relationship” that they enjoyed, which he sees as a key stepping stone en route to securing a factory driver deal with Ford.

The British driver first aligned himself with the team then known as Gulf Racing in 2014, doing four races in the European Le Mans Series.

From 2016 onwards, Barker became a key part of the British squad’s FIA World Endurance Championship efforts, taking part in 53 races with the team and securing seven GTE-Am class podiums including at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

For the 2024 season, he moved to join Ford’s roster of factory drivers that will be racing the new Mustang GT3 and is set to drive the car alongside Ryan Hardwick and Zach Robichon at Proton Competition.

Barker told Sportscar365 that his time with GR Racing “definitely” was a significant step in the journey that resulted in him signing with Ford, although it means he will be parting ways with the team as a result.

“They’ve put me on a pedestal,” Barker said. “Like Mike doing WEC for eight years, if he didn’t enter into WEC I probably wouldn’t be racing in WEC.

“So for that I’m super thankful and I’ve developed an amazing relationship with the whole team and that’s why it lasted for so long.

“It could have lasted longer. I wanted to continue with them. But obviously this opportunity came and it was a very good opportunity. One that was very hard to refuse.”

Barker’s last race for the team came during the penultimate Asian Le Mans Series round in Abu Dhabi, which was cut short due to a crash for co-driver Riccardo Pera that also ruled the team’s Ferrari 296 GT3 out of the final round.

“That was nice, the Ferrari was a fun car to drive,” he said.

“It was good to do it with GR. It’s just a bit of a shame of how it ended, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”

GR Racing has dropped off the WEC grid, ending an involvement that dated back to 2016, as Manthey Racing received Porsche’s pair of LMGT3 entries.

Instead, the team switched to Ferrari with confirmed entries in the ELMS and at Le Mans, although with at least a partially revised lineup as Barker has left their ranks.

So far, only Bronze-rated driver Wainwright has been confirmed as part of the three-driver crew.

“It would have been nice to do something with them further in ELMS but the calendars didn’t really align,” said Barker.

“But for them it’s a new journey now with another pro, which is exciting for them as well. So it’s exciting for everyone. You just look at the positives of the new roads.”

Barker, for his part, spoke with anticipation about the challenges of racing the Mustang GT3 in WEC.

“Yeah, it’s good,” he said. “I’ve driven some other stuff so it’s not completely unusual. But equally, knowing that this is going to be my full time thing in this car, it’s exciting.

“It’s a new journey. A new direction. I’m super pumped to get going with it and get the program happening.

“It’s been quite a lot of just sitting around, waiting and anticipation I just want to get going with the whole thing, get driving an get my teeth into it.”