Greystone GT will step up to GT3 competition for the first time at Donington Park this weekend as they field a McLaren 720S GT3 in the penultimate round of the hotly-contested GT Cup.

The Silverstone-based team have competed exclusively with the McLaren 570S GT4 so far in 2021, and scored their first victory last time out at Silverstone.

They will now field an additional car in the GT3 class alongside four machines in the GTH division at Donington.

The 720S GT3, examples of which have competed in some of the world’s most prestigious sportscar races, will be raced by GT Cup debutant Andrey Borodin and the highly-experienced professional racer Ed Pead.

Andrey, from Moscow, made his race debut in the Britcar Endurance Series in 2020 with Ed as his co-driver. The pair contested the Snetterton round earlier this year with Greystone GT in a McLaren 570S GT4, twice finishing fourth in class.

Ed has vast experience of British motorsport and finished as the runner-up in the British Touring Car Championship-supporting Renault Clio Cup UK three years in a row from 2003-05.

A regular winner in Britcar, Ed finished sixth in the Asian Formula 3 Championship before switching to motorbike racing and competing in the British SuperSport Championship as recently as 2017.

The Londoner has since returned to four-wheeled motorsport and established a reputation as one of the most highly-respected Driver Coaches in the UK.

The pair have tested the Greystone GT 720S GT3 several times throughout 2021 and will compete as a guest entry, meaning they will not be eligible for championship points.

Ed Pead said: “I’m really excited to be racing the McLaren 720S GT3 with Greystone GT. Since I stopped racing motorbikes a couple of years ago, my focus has mainly been on coaching and instructing, so to be competing against so many pro drivers in the GT Cup is something I’ve been looking forward to ever since we started discussing a race programme with the team. Andrey and I raced a GT4 McLaren with Greystone GT at Snetterton a few months ago in the pouring rain and he did very well once he settled into things. The GT3 is another step up, but we’ve done a good amount of testing to prepare for this weekend. The aim is to help Andrey acclimatise to the series and to racing the GT3 car and to see his confidence continue to grow.”

Mark McLoughlin, Team Principal, said: “Since we established the Greystone GT race team in October last year, it has been our ambition to race the McLaren 720S GT3 alongside the 570S GT4s that have made up the backbone of our programme across 2021. Now we have the chance to showcase the level to which we prepare and run cars in another class of racing, and that’s very exciting. The drivers are well-prepared and Ed brings a wealth of experience to the line-up that goes far beyond what we could have hoped for.”