Greystone GT are delighted to confirm an entry into the GT4 European Series in 2022 with a three-round campaign for German racer Richard Distl and rising Swiss star Alain Valente.
The Silverstone-based team debuted less than a year ago in the UK’s GT Cup Championship, but have been race winners in three different series since then and in January scored their biggest victory to date with GT4 success at the Gulf 12 Hours.
This is the first of two cars that will feature for the team in the series - the other to be announced at a later date - and represents a maiden European campaign comprising multiple events.
Richard and Alain will drive a McLaren 570S GT4 in three of the six race weekends in the Pro-Am category, starting at Paul Ricard, France, on June 3-5.
The duo will contest the mid-season double-headers at Paul Ricard, France, and Misano, Italy, in June and July respectively. They will also race at the season finale at Barcelona, Spain, in October.
Munich-based Richard began racing in 2019 in the Pure McLaren GT Series, finishing in the top six in the Cup class for GT4 machinery in every race he entered.
After a year away he returned in 2021 with selected outings in the more powerful 570S Trophy division, scoring a best finish of fourth at Portimao with Alain co-driving. He also made a one-off appearance in European GT4 at Paul Ricard.
Pro racer Alain began his racing career in karts aged seven; winning the Swiss title and the prestigious Trofeo Andrea Margutti before graduating to cars in 2014 in FIA Formula 4 and scoring six podiums on his way to fifth in the points.
Since switching to GT racing he has been a member of both the Lamborghini Young Drivers and the McLaren Automotive Driver Development Programmes.
During this period the 25-year-old has scored wins in the Italian GT Championship and the ADAC GT Masters GT4 Trophy in Germany. Last year he finished on the podium three times in British GT’s Silver Cup class.
The GT4 European Series comprises six rounds in 2022, every event featuring two hour-long races with a dedicated qualifying session held for each. A mandatory mid-race pitstop encourages two drivers to share each car. There are classes for Pro-Am, Silver and Am pairings.
Richard Distl said: “I’m very happy to be competing in the GT4 European Series with Greystone GT. I’ve come to racing quite late and don’t have that much experience, so this will definitely the biggest challenge I’ve faced on the track so far. I want to have fun, and also to keep improving my performances. We’ve decided not to do the first races at Imola because I don’t know the track and won’t be able to test there, but the programme we’ve put together looks very exciting. Alain is a fantastic young driver who I’ve known since we were put together on a track day in 2017 and who has lots of experience of the 570S GT4, and Greystone GT have proven that they are a highly-skilled team with McLarens. I think we’re going to have a very enjoyable programme of races.”
Alain Valente said: “I’m excited to join Greystone GT and Richard in this programme in the GT4 European Series. It’s become very popular over the past couple of years and in 2021 the grid was usually over 30 cars, so I think the competition will be quite intense. The experience I’ve gained in all kinds of GT racing cars over the past few seasons will help push us up the order, but mainly we’re here to help Richard enjoy things as much as possible. We are friends and we’ll drive like that. I met the team at Greystone GT when I tested with them at Oulton Park last year and instantly had a good feeling with them. I think there’s a lot of potential in this project.”
Mark McLoughlin, Team Principal, said: “To launch a multi-race programme in a series as intensely-fought as the GT4 European Series, and to be attracting drivers from across the continent to what is a very ambitious, but still very young, team, make us all feel very proud. We really enjoyed testing with Richard in Barcelona last year and are delighted to have him on board for 2022 as we work together to help him take a step forward with his racing. In Alain we have a young racer who has already been recognised as having the talent to join two major manufacturers’ Young Driver programmes and who gave a very good impression of himself when he tested with us last year at Oulton Park. I can’t wait to see what we can potentially achieve in the series together.”
