Townsend Racing powered by Fox Motorsport will field the Vantage in the GT4 Pro-Am division, pairing the race-winning organisation, which is now competing as an Aston Martin Racing (AMR) partner team, with James in the series.
The exciting news brings race-winners Fox Motorsport back to British GT competition for the first time since scoring a GT3 Silver-Am pole position at a one-off appearance at the 2023 ‘Donington Decider’ with a Lamborghini.
The team from Maldon, Essex, which has won multiple championships in single-make Ginetta GT competition, debuted in British GT at Silverstone in 2013 with Team Principal Paul McNeilly and Jamie Stanley winning the GT3B class.
An outright race win at Spa in 2022 for Jamie and Nick Halstead in a GT3 McLaren has added to wins and podiums in GT4 overall and Pro-Am competition with Ginetta, Mercedes-AMG and McLaren machinery.
James is one of Fox Motorsport’s most successful drivers, having been a class winner in the Ginetta GT5 Challenge, Ginetta GT4 Supercup and GT Cup and a podium-finisher in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB.
Between 2018 and 2022 he scored 11 race wins and 42 podiums with Fox and now returns to the team – and the driving seat – for the upcoming British GT season.
He previously contested the series in 2023, three times finishing on the GT4 Pro-Am podium, and made a one-off return at last year’s Donington Park finale.
The Aston Martin Vantage GT4 is the first machine from the legendary ultra-luxury British manufacturer that has been campaigned by either Townsend Racing or Fox Motorsport.
The outfit’s transition into an AMR partner team underlines Fox Motorsport’s position as one of the UK’s premier GT4 teams and creates another step on its racing ladder that is also set to feature the GB4 Championship for entry-level single-seaters in 2026.
The British GT Championship begins at Silverstone, the Home of British Motor Racing, on April 25-26.
James Townsend said: “This is the biggest thing I’ve done in motorsport, so creating Townsend Racing powered by Fox Motorsport and reuniting with the team I’ve achieved most of my successes with, was a no-brainer. This is part of a multi-year strategy to push forwards with my own racing career and to create and strengthen a real relationship with one of the most iconic sportscar manufacturers of all time in Aston Martin. Who knows where this could lead in the future…”
Paul McNeilly, Team Principal, said: “It’s fantastic to be back in the British GT Championship – the series that really enabled us to promote our abilities and achievements at an elite level when we first entered more than a decade ago. To be able to reunite with James – one of our most successful drivers –, to create Townsend Racing powered by Fox Motorsport – is equally thrilling. To become an Aston Martin Racing partner team represents another step forward for our team. It’s our target to establish ourselves as the benchmark Aston Martin GT4 team in the UK and with the championship-winning experience we have in the team, we have every intention of doing just that. We can’t wait for Silverstone.”
