2008 Avon Tyres British GT Drivers Champions James Gornall and Jon Barnes have signed a last minute deal with Brixia Racing to drive one of the Italian team’s Aston Martin DBRS9s at Silverstone in the opening two rounds of the FIA GT3 European Championship on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 May.

The silver category drivers took the 2008 British GT crown driving the Team Trimite Brookspeed Viper Competition Coupe with four wins and three second place finishes in the UK’s leading GT Championship.

“This was a very late deal, we got the call on Tuesday; by the end of Wednesday we’d sorted it out and here we are,” said James Gornall.  “We’d like to do a full season by at the minute this is just for this weekend.  Jon and I are continuing our successful partnership and hopefully we can keep this going in FIA GT3 this year. We’re getting on extremely well with the team, we met them all this morning.  The FIA GT3 Championship is a step up for us but with the balance of performance testing we will have a competitive car in the Aston Martin and I’m confident that the Pirelli’s are going to go well and may give us an advantage as we are only one of six cars using them.”

“We got the call from Brixia on Tuesday after I had sent some emails out last week saying James and I were available for this weekend,” added Jon Barnes.  “Here we are in a British Car on a British circuit, so hopefully we’ll do well this weekend.  The Aston should be a big difference from the Viper, with different tyres in the Pirellis, more aero grip and a sequential gearbox.  We’ve got no experience in the car yet so we’re looking forward to getting out there tomorrow and giving it some stick.”

“Last season we got a podium finish here at Silverstone in our first race, so this year we need to have a goal of another podium,” said Brixia Racing team manager Marcello Zani.  “We also have two new drivers, who are both English, so they are here to do a good job with an English car here on their home circuit.”

Round 1 of the 2009 FIA GT3 European Championship will get underway on Saturday 2 May at 14:30 (BST) with the second 60-minute race taking place at 11:30 (BST) on Sunday 3 May.