Father-son duo Richard and Sam Neary return to British GT for a fifth season together at Team Abba Racing this year.
The family-run team has become a staple of the series since Neary Snr debuted with Martin Short in 2015. Adam Christodoulou also raced with Richard before Sam made his British GT bow in 2020.
Abba switched to the Evo-spec Mercedes-AMG midway through last season and will continue with the same chassis this.
The team has one overall victory to its name and will be hunting further giant-killing acts when it again goes up against the factory-supported crews in 2024. However, the primary focus is on finally winning the Silver-Am title – something that has eluded Richard and Sam since its inauguration in 2021.
“Obviously we want to win overall and proved that we could a couple of years ago. But British GT is a very different beast now and looks set to be full of factory drivers once again,” said Richard. “That makes things tough for Sam and I who have full-time jobs away from the race track. So, for us, Silver-Am is definitely something worth winning.
“And I’m expecting it to be stronger than ever this year. For starters, several crews are stepping up from GT4. So we’ll have to bring our A games every weekend. We know we have the speed to contend for class wins and overall podiums. It’s just putting that potential into practice consistently enough across the campaign.”
Sam, meanwhile, brings with him a season’s worth of European experience after dovetailing his British GT programme with Fanatec GT Europe last year.
“Racing the new Lamborghini really underlined how good our Mercedes-AMG is,” he said. “That was a latest-gen GT3 car but no better than our Merc, which is essentially the same as the previous model barring a facelift and some aero tweaks. It’s a great all-rounder and well suited to the British circuits.
“Having said that, and if I’m completely honest, last year wasn’t our best. To be successful in British GT a team like ours must maximise every opportunity, and a couple slipped through the net. Of course, we are always looking towards the very front, but prioritising Silver-Am is also a major consideration this year.”
Oulton Park hosts British GT’s season opener on March 30 + April 1, while this year’s full-season entry list will be revealed at media day on March 12.
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