Optimum Enters Wilkinson, Ellis for Title Defense

Image: Optimum Motorsport

Optimum has confirmed it will return to defend its British GT Championship title this season with an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 piloted by Ollie Wilkinson and Bradley Ellis.

The pair have already been confirmed in an International GT Open lineup with the Shaun Goff-led team, and have now added a British GT entry to their program.

Optimum won the British GT title last season with Flick Haigh and Aston Martin factory driver Jonny Adam.

It has elected to run an all-Silver pairing for its title defense campaign instead of running in the Pro-Am class, despite the additional ballast that Silver cars carry.

Wilkinson and Ellis scored two Pro-Am class wins in their maiden GT Open campaign with Optimum.

“2018 was superb for us as we adapted to and showed our engineering strengths from the very start of the season,” said team principal Goff.

“We went up against some very tough competition running the same equipment as us and, over the season, our consistency and speed paid dividends.

“2019 brings a new chapter for us with the new GT3 car and again we expect it to be a very tough battle in such a competitive championship.

“It’s a new championship for Ollie and we can’t forget that this is just his second full season at this level and that he’s still learning.

“Together with Bradley – who has tasted championship success in British GT – they have already proved to be a winning combination in GT Open, so even with the Silver-Silver disadvantages in terms of ballast, we look forward to the new season with optimism.”

Jake Kilshaw

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.