Fox Motorsport has announced that it is set to return to the British GT this year, for a full campaign with a brand new Mercedes AMG GT4.

With this news, the Essex-based team has become the first to announce a British GT programme with Mercedes’ new challenger, and will race with GT Cup graduate Mark Murfitt and former British GT race winner Michael Broadhurst.

“I’ve been buzzing ever since I was told about the plans to return to British GT and I can’t wait to get going,” Broadhurst, who won the British GT’s first ever GT4 race back in 2008, said. “I’ve been away from British GT for a few years so it feels great to be back. If the performance of Mercedes’ recent GT3 cars are anything to go by, the GT4 is going to be an awesome piece of kit, and while it will be a challenge to learn the car in such a short space of time, the team at Fox is hugely-experienced and will do a strong job.

“I’ve won in GT4 cars in British GT and in Europe, so I know what it takes to get the job done, and Mark’s driving has come on in leaps and bounds since the start of 2017, so I’m sure we can surprise a few people.”

Murfitt, who started racing in 2016, is also excited to compete in British GT in 2018, and confident that Fox Motorsport and Broadhurst will provide him with a good platform to improve his skills behind the wheel with this effort.

“I’m incredibly excited to be moving up to the British GT Championship and can’t wait to get on-track with the Mercedes,” he said. “In terms of prestige cars and driver quality, British GT is the best series in the country.

“While this opportunity presents a personal challenge in only my second year of racing, I couldn’t be in a better environment to make the step up. Fox Motorsport are race-winners in British GT4 and have an incredible amount of experience and knowledge. Michael’s been a superb teacher too, so I’m delighted to be continuing my driving partnership with him.”

The outfit, which is a Ginetta single-make regular, has raced in the British GT Championship in the past. The team made its first start in the championship in 2013, with FF Corse in the GT3B division with a Ferrari, before going on to compete in the GT4 class full time for two years 2014 and 2015. It then returned to the GT3 ranks in 2016 with FF Corse, racing a Ferrari 488 GT3 at Silverstone as a one-off appearance.

Its new AMG GT4 will be delivered in mid-March, from there, the team has a testing plan scheduled.

“It feels fantastic to be back in the British GT Championship full-time after two years away,” added team principal Paul McNeill.

“GT4 is the fastest-growing category in sportscar racing right now and there’s more excitement within the team than at any time in the past few years. We’ve had wins in two different British GT classes and have a lot of experience within the team from other series, so we’re optimistic of being able to do a strong job. It’s our first time working with Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing and the level of support we’ve received has been excellent.

“Michael’s a proven race-winner at this level while Mark is a very fast learner and has developed his skills magnificently since making his race debut last year. We can’t wait to get started.”