Ecurie Ecosse is Back!

20 FEBRUARY 2012 – 60 years since the team was formed, legendary Scottish outfit, Ecurie Ecosse, is making a full-time return to top level international sportscar racing in 2012. The team will run twin programmes in the Blancpain Endurance Series (including Spa 24 Hours) and the British GT Championship in a BMW Z4 GT3.

The illustrious team which won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1956 and 1957 has been largely dormant on an international level since the 1990's when the team won the British Touring Car Championship running works Vauxhalls. This latest announcement follows a successful one-off return by Ecurie Ecosse last year, when four of its drivers successfully contested the GT3 Pro-Am class of the Spa 24 Hours in a Aston Martin DBRS9.

Ecurie Ecosse is continuing its partnership with two-time British GT Championship winners, Barwell Motorsport, who will run the programmes on the team’s behalf. The British GT Championship rounds will be contested by drivers Oliver Bryant and Alasdair McCaig, with Andrew Smith and Joe Twyman filling two out of three seats in the team’s Pro-Am Blancpain campaign. Barwell are seeking a suitably qualified driver with budget to fill the third Blancpain seat.

Ecurie Ecosse has attracted commercial backing for the campaign from sponsors such as John Clark Motor Group, Cotton Tree, Bremont, and Ragus.

Team boss, Hugh McCaig, sees the 2012 programme as a natural progression towards a return to Le Mans, commented:

“This is a very exciting development for Ecurie Ecosse. We looked at a number of options for 2012 following the race at Spa last year, but I believe with the BMW Z4 and the team at Barwell we have absolutely the right combination for success. We also have a team of ambitious and talented young drivers, who have shown their commitment to this programme through a tireless effort to put the deal together in an extremely challenging economic environment. Ultimately we want to be back at Le Mans, and this is a fantastic step in the right direction.”

Ecurie Ecosse driver, Andrew Smith, comments:

“We are all very excited to be involved in the continuing development of the Ecurie Ecosse comeback.  We are confident the BMW Z4 GT3 is the best chassis out there and I have no doubt that our combination of car, drivers and team will be competitive.”

Barwell Motorsport Managing Director, Mark Lemmer, is looking forward to getting on with the team’s pre-season testing:

“We are absolutely delighted to announce that we will be running the Ecurie Ecosse programme with the BMW Z4, and I believe this is the start of what will be a very exciting and fruitful partnership.”

The team is exploring a number of new commercial partnership opportunities with interested sponsors.