MATTY SECURES BRITISH GT RETURN AT SILVERSTONE 500
A rapid-fire start to 2022 continues for Matty this weekend (May 7/8) as he returns to the British GT Championship for the first time since 2017.
Joining forces with Valluga Racing, Matty will contest the blue-riband Silverstone 500 meeting alongside Scottish driver Ross Wylie, behind the wheel of a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.
The most prestigious race of the British GT season, the Silverstone 500 is a three-hour endurance challenge at the home of British motorsport held on the full Grand Prix circuit.
It’s a race Matty has contested twice before with his strongest showing coming in 2017 whilst driving a McLaren 570S GT4 when a superb drive saw the 25-year-old take a GT4 class podium despite being second to last after taking over driving duties with 45 minutes of the race remaining.
Having made a flying start to the 2022 season with race wins already secured in both the Porsche Carrera Cup GB championship and the Bute Motorsport GT Cup series
The Northumbrian has been in a fine vein of form at the start of 2022, with impressive performances in both the Porsche Carrera Cup GB championship and the Bute Motorsport GT cup, the latter of which earned him his place on the grid for this weekend.
At the opening weekend of the one-make Porsche series that supports the British Touring Car Championship, Graham seized the early championship lead after taking a third-place finish in the first race, before finishing the weekend in the best possible fashion with an impressive win in the second.
An unexpected invitation from Valluga to race in the GT Cup at Brands Hatch last weekend delivered further silverware as Matty took a class win and second in two of the races held over the meeting.
With strong results coming as he drove the Cayman 718
for the first time, team owner Benji Hetherington has chosen to stand down from race duties this weekend and field Matty instead.
It is a partnership that may evolve into further outings, with Matty eager to be fighting at the front of the grid and make a strong start on Sunday.
Graham said: “I’m really looking forward to getting back out in British GT and to be racing in the Silverstone 500 and I’d like to thank Peter Gronberg and AL-2 Teknik UK for the support that has made this possible.
”The 500 is a superb event that really tests a team, its’ cars and the drivers and one that if you do well in, you have had to earn that result.
“It’s around my favourite circuit and I feel like I have unfinished business after 2017. My team that year fought hard and came away with a brilliant GT4 podium, but I think had some little things gone our way it could very well have been a win.
“The GT4 Cayman is a new car to me so the main aim this weekend is to be as competitive as I can be, but it was a lot of fun to drive last weekend at Brands Hatch and has shown good pace in the championships opening races at Oulton Park.
We have to be challenging ourselves and looking to be at the right end of the field at the end of the race on Sunday and put in a good show for everyone”
Valluga Racing team owner Benji Hetherington said: “I’m really excited to have Matty join us in British GT from Silverstone. He has a really strong pedigree in single-make Porsche racing and showcased that for us last weekend in GT Cup when, at the drop of a hat, he shot down to Brands Hatch to drive the Cayman in the absence of a driver.
“Having never driven the car before qualifying in the morning, by the end of the day he had won a race and finished second in the other.
“A huge thank you must go to Peter Gronberg for making this happen; his support to Valluga and Matty is so vital in making this deal reality. I’m very much looking forward to the weekend and beyond.”