Following on from the British team’s announcement that Richard Distl and Alain Valente will take part in selected rounds of the GT4 European Series this season, Whale and Carroll will contest the whole campaign in the number 27 McLaren.
This marks the first full season of racing for Whale for 20 years. The Barcelona-based Briton previously raced in the UK’s Formula Palmer Audi series in 2001 and ’02 and finished in the championship top 10 in both campaigns.
What was intended as a one-off test in a Greystone GT McLaren at Donington Park last Summer led to a comeback with the team in the Pure McLaren GT Series at Portimão, and a commanding victory from pole position in the Cup class for GT4 cars.
Carroll is a familiar name to fans of GT racing, having raced at the highest levels across the world in many different disciplines.
Having won titles in Formula Ford and F3 in the UK as well as races in GP2, AutoGP and the European Le Mans Series, he added the A1GP ‘World Cup of Motorsport’ for Team Ireland in 2008-09 and dominated the 2019 Ferrari Challenge World Finals.
The Northern Irishman, from Portadown, joined Greystone GT to race in the UK’s GT Cup last year and now campaigns a GT4 car on the continent for the first time.
Tim Whale said: “I can’t wait to get started with the season. I hadn’t been in a racing car for 19 years when Adam convinced me to have a day with Greystone GT at Donington last summer, and even then, I swore it would just be a one-off. But that went well, so we did the Pure McLaren event in Portimão too. And when I won there, the need to race was well and truly back. The GT4 European Series suits me because it goes to some incredible tracks and countries, the level of teams and drivers will really force us to be at our best if we’re going to be competitive, and it provides great exposure for our partner GETTRX. I’m particularly looking forward to the Barcelona season finale because some of our key partners are based nearby and it will give them the chance to see how amazing motorsport is first-hand.”
Adam Carroll said: “I’m thrilled to be able to continue my relationship with Greystone GT and to move up to a European programme too, as we’ll be racing on tracks I know well and that I can use my experience of to help Tim. They’re an excellent team that’s continuing to grow in confidence and status and this will be a very good step for all of us to take. Tim and I met when I was racing in GP2 and we’ve kept in touch. We did a track day together a little while back, where I could really see his natural talent. That became a test, a race weekend and now a full season in the GT4 European Series! There’s a lot of potential in Tim so my role will be to do all I can to help him realise that while driving as quickly as I can to try and put us in the mix in what’s a very competitive series.”
Greystone GT team principal Mark McLoughlin added: “It’s great to be able to add a full-time programme in the GT4 European Series, meaning we’ll have a multi-car line-up in half of the rounds we enter. It really helps us build on what we’re trying to establish with the team in the UK and Europe. I think we have a fascinating line-up. When Tim tested with us at Donington last year he was categoric that he wouldn’t be back in a racing car again, but that’s the power of motorsport; it drags you in. After a very impressive win in Portimão, his desire to race again was huge, so it’s great to be able to put this programme together for him. We weren’t expecting Adam to be available to stay with the team this year, but we found out quite late in the day that he could become a part of this first venture into Europe, which we’re very happy about. He’s won on plenty of the tracks we’ll visit and that will be of great benefit to us.”
