The 2018 Porsche Carrera Cup GB season is officially underway following the season launch at Silverstone today.

In typically English weather rain greeted the teams and competitors as the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship supporting series unveiled a grid of twenty-three competitors.

2018 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Pro class

Lining up in the Pro class is 2017 runner-up Dino Zamparelli, who starts the season as the most successful driver in the Pro class with eight victories to his name for the most successful team in the series, Redline Racing.

Tio Ellinas returns for a championship assault after finishing his first season in the Carrera Cup in sixth place, following a promising end to the season. For 2018 Ellinas switches to Slidesports.

Lewis Plato is back with JTR as the looks to build on the podium finishes he achieved in 2017, leading him to fifth in the series.

Another familiar name in the Pro class is Tom Wrigley, the 2016 Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup champion. After a season with IN2 Racing learning the series, Wrigley makes the jump to JTR for 2018.

2018/2019 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Junior Scholarship shootout winner Dan Harper lines up on the grid with JTR, with Junior finalist George Gamble joining Team Parker Racing.

2018 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Pro-Am class

The newly renamed Pro-Am class (formerly Pro-Am1) sees a return for 2017 runner up Justin Sherwood, who will once again line up for the Team Parker squad.

Joining Sherwood at Team Parker is Seb Perez, who steps up from the Ginetta GT4 Supercup.

G-Cat Racing line up with two entrants in the class, Gary Eastwood, makes the switch from racing Ferrari’s in GT Cup, British GT and Ferrari Challenge Europe over the last few seasons. Team owner Greg Caton lines up alongside Eastwood after making a handful of appearances in the Carrera Cup GB in the last two seasons.

Jamie Orton lines up with JTR, after spending a challenging year in the Pro class of the Carrera Cup last season.

Motorbase Performance make a return to the Carrera Cup GB grid with former Radical racer Dan Vaughan, while another name in the BTCC circle, Richard Hawken lines up with Slidesports.

Former Clio Cup racer Rory Collingbourne joins the grid with Welch Motorsport after a year away from the TOCA package racing Lamborghini’s.

Esmee Hawkey will also make her Porsche Carrera Cup GB debut with GT Marques after making it through to the finals of the Junior Scholarship shootout, although she is still yet to confirm which class she will be racing in.

2018 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Am class

The former Pro-Am2 class in rebranded as the Am class for 2018, and will see Shamus Jennings back with G-Cat Racing to defend his 2017 title.

Having missed out on championship glory to Jennings in 2017 by just one point, Peter Kyle-Henney rejoins IN2 Racing for the new season.

Another familiar name in the class is Iain Dockerill, back with Asset Advantage Racing and looking to build on the victory and multiple podiums he claimed in 2017 on the way to third place in the championship.

New names on the grid for 2018 include former BTCC racer Dan Welch, who’s Welch Motorsport team line up with a two Am entries, one for the boss and another for Matt Telling, who finished sixth in class in 2017.

Ginetta GT4 Supercup regular Fraser Robertson makes the move in to Porsche’s with Rob Boston Racing, and will be hoping to use the twenty-two podium finishes he achieved in four years of Ginetta’s as a springboard to glory.

Peter Mangion lines up with Team Parker Racing, and Michael Igoe joins the grid with JMH Automotive.